By Felix Anthony –
Miao: Christians in the remote corners of Arunachal Pradesh in the North-East India responded to Pope Francis’ universal prayer appeal on 25 March 2020.
In the wake of the pandemic coronavirus outbreak, the Holy Father had made an appeal to the whole world to pray the ‘Our Father’ on Wednesday, which coincided with the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord.
Responding to the Holy Father’s prayer appeal, every family in Miao Diocese of Arunachal Pradesh prayed the Lord’s Prayer at 4.30 pm, corresponding to 12 Noon in Rome.
People across the eight districts in the eastern part of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering Myanmar and China joined the universal prayer event. Mr. Kamlung Mosang, a Cabinet Minister in the Government of Arunachal Pradesh, who visited the Carmelite Sisters in Changlang District to request them to make mask for the patients in the isolation wards in Miao, joined the Sisters to pray for the whole world.
“I am happy to join the Sisters in this universal prayer appeal of Pope Francis. With the daily increase in the number of positive cases of the deadly Covid19, prayer seems to be the only solution. We raise our eyes and open arms and pray that there will soon be respite from the pandemic disease”, said Mr. Mosang, the Minister for Civil Supply & Consumer Affairs and Urban Development.
The Bishop of Miao Diocese, George Pallipparambil, had appealed to the whole diocese to join the Holy Father in praying together the ‘Our Father’, the Angelus and Divine Mercy chaplet for relief during this critical time. “I know all our churches are closed and our country is lockdown for the next three weeks. Let us spend this time to engage ourselves usefully by reading the Bible and reflecting on the deep lessons this deadly virus can teach us. I invite everyone to pray at home to participate spiritually with the Holy Father in praying for the world”, read a note from Bishop George to the faithful.
People gathered in their families and prayed the Lord’s Prayer in their own dialects. Some families recorder their prayer and shared it in social media platforms. The social communication wing of the Diocese has made a collection of these videos and shared in its social media page to encourage others to pray during this distressing time.