GUJRANWALA/ MUZAFFARGARH-Like all over the world, Easter was celebrated in Gujranwala and Muzaffargarh districts with full zeal and zest on Sunday.
In Gujranwala, special prayers were offered at churches throughout the city. The first Easter mass began at midnight with the lighting of the big Easter candle. The midnight mass included readings from the first book of the Bible where it says how God created the heavens and the universe and how and why God sent His prophets to His people. At the St Patrick’s Cathedral, everyone came dressed in new clothes. The girls sang joyful hymns. Prayers were offered for all the dead, the sick and those going through pain in their lives.
In MUZAFFARGARH, the Christians celebrated Easter in all four tehsils of Muzaffargarh including Alipur, Jatoi, Muzaffargarh and Kot Addu. According to the district administration, more than 100 security personnel were deployed at local churches to ensure foolproof security and frisk the people visiting the churches for prayers.
A procession was taken out at 4am from All Saints Churches in which nearly 1,000 people participated. They marched different streets and returned to the Catholic Church. The Easter prayers were held at eight churches and were attended by a large number of people from the Christian community. Security remained on high alert across the district the entire day.
The main Easter procession, led by Pastor Ashraf Mashi, MQM leader Makdoom Syed Ghulam Ali Shah Bukhari, Councillor Shahmoon and Adgher Anwar, was taken out from Fayyaz Park and ended at a local church.