THE streets of San Fernando came alive on Good Friday morning as a long procession of devout Roman Catholics, one bearing a cross, re-enacted Jesus’s journey to Calvary where he was crucified.
Taxi drivers and people conducting business in San Fernando stood in reverential awe, as the procession of singing and praying Roman Catholics, clad in red tops, symbolic of the sacrifice of the ultimate blood donor, made its way from the Cluny at Mt Moriah Road, Pointe-a-Pierre Road, St James Street, Mon Chagrin Street, High Street, and the Promenade, ending in the grotto of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church.
Usually the traditional procession depicting the 14 stations in which Jesus carried the Cross via the Dolorosa in Jerusalem, is held on the San Fernando Hill.
Fr David Khan who led the procession, and was one of the many who carried the makeshift cross from one station to another, explained they were denied permission this year owing safety protocols established after the tragic death of school teacher Renee Mitchell in January. Mitchell fell over 100 feet to her death at the San Fernando Hill where she had gone to a carnival fete with her boyfriend, Peter Ribero.
“Due to the tragic incident, the Occupational Health and Safety authority has stopped the use for public events. They claim the hill requires proper fencing.”
He said an alternative course had to be taken and having embarked on that route during the COVID shutdown, they decided to make the 2024 journey from the Cluny on Mt Moriah Road to the Church on Harris Promenade.
“The only difference is that it is a smaller crowd than what we normally have on the hill, but for the streets of San Fernando, it was quite a good turnout.”
In terms of continuing this route, Fr Khan said while individuals only had positive responses, the church will have to pray about it before making a final decision.
Expressing the mysteries of God’s wondrous ways, Fr Khan said while the Hill was remote and only people who wanted to participate attended, and this year, they were happy to commemorate the sacred event on the ground, with other people.
“Today was an opportunity for those who do not normally come to the hill to experience the Way of the Cross and hear the message of Christ.”
He underscored, “the journey was not a morning exercise. It was a morning of transforming the people that embrace the Cross. Even in suffering, people experience salvation and do what is right and good.”
He said the takeaway message of this Good Friday was to leave sin behind. He said that could only be achieved if there was respect and truth.
“We cannot achieve our national watchwords of discipline, tolerance, and production if we do not have respect. Added to that, the message of truth is very important to the world we live in where there is not enough truth. “Love is supposed to be our journey.”
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