MIAO, Mar 25: Responding to Pope Francis’ universal prayer appeal, the believers of Christ in the remote corners of Arunachal Pradesh under Miao Diocese on Wednesday prayed to the Lord for the wellbeing of the entire world battling the Coronavirus pandemic.
In the wake of the novel 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.
People across the eight districts in eastern Arunachal, bordering Myanmar and China joined the universal prayer event. Kamlung Mosang, a Cabinet Minister in the Govt 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, also 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 COVID-19, 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 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 recorded their prayer and shared it in social media platforms.