Alleluia! A global celebration of Holy Week & Easter 2024

It is with joyful hearts that we look back at a truly glorious celebration of Easter for some of
our MSC communities at home and around the world.

A message of hope from Mozambique

The Easter celebrations in Mozambique were led by Fr José Eduardo Paixão and Fr Roney Lima, where local families and communities came together throughout the district of Metuge. A beautiful Palm Sunday procession was followed by several Holy Week ceremonies celebrated by Fr Eduardo in the parish of St Anthony of Metuge, including the washing of the feet on Holy Thursday in a prayerful “moment of deep spirituality and communion”.

Fr José Eduardo Paixão celebrates Palm Sunday with MSC Missions Mozambique. (Images via @peduardopaixaomsc on Facebook, with credit to Abudo Manara.)

Fr José Eduardo Paixão leads the ceremony of the washing of the feet in Metuge, Mozambique. (Images via @peduardopaixaomsc on Facebook, with credit to Abudo Manara.)

Good Friday saw Fr Roney mark the Passion of the Christ with the community of St James in Ngalena, before presiding over the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday in the community of São Carlos Luanga, where he was joined by the Santa Bakhita and São Tiago communities. The Facebook page for the Mozambique mission posted a selection of wonderful photographs from this Vigil Mass, saying “Father Roney Lima presided over this solemn moment when the Church, all over the world, breaks the silence and sings Hallelujah!”.

Fr Roney Lima celebrates the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday in in the community of São Carlos Luanga, Mozambique. (Images via peduardopaixaomsc on Facebook.)

On Easter Sunday, Fr Eduardo celebrated Easter Mass in the Sede community, welcoming the parishioners of St Anthony of Metuge, and sharing a great message of hope for us all: “Celebrating the Lord’s Passover is living in the hope that we can be better, we can be Light in the midst of darkness. Sin cannot take away the brightness of the resurrection that reaches upon us.”

Fr José Eduardo Paixão MSC celebrates Easter Sunday Mass in the Sede community in Metuge, Mozambique. (Images via peduardopaixaomsc on Facebook.)

Easter celebrations in the Province of the Pacific Islands and the Philippines

The Facebook page for the MSC Province of the Pacific Islands shared a whole host of photographs from Easter celebrations across the Province and beyond, including:

The Stations of the Cross at the Pacific Regional Seminary in Fiji

The Stations of the Cross at the Pacific Regional Seminary in Fiji (Images via @mscprovinceofthepacificislands on Facebook.)

The Easter Vigil at the Pacific Regional Seminary in Fiji

Easter Vigil Mass at the Pacific Regional Seminary in Fiji (Images via @mscprovinceofthepacificislands on Facebook.)

The Formation Communities at the Holy Spirit Parish in Veivatuloa, Fiji, on Easter Sunday

The Formation Communities at the Holy Spirit Parish in Veivatuloa, Fiji, celebrate Mass on Easter Sunday. (Images via @mscprovinceofthepacificislands on Facebook.)

Easter celebrations in Indonesia

Easter celebrations in Indonesia. (Images via @mscprovinceofthepacificislands on Facebook.)

Celebrations in Caloocan, in the Philippines

Easter celebrations in Caloocan, in the Philippines. (Images via @mscprovinceofthepacificislands on Facebook, with credit to Fr Rataro Raimon MSC.)

Sunrise celebrations at the Sacred Heart parish in Cork

The much-loved tradition of the annual Easter Dawn Mass took place once again this year at the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road, Cork, where mission friends and parishioners gathered to pray together as the sun rose on Easter Sunday 2024.

Over the course of Holy Week and Easter, almost 6,000 people joined us via our website to pray with us on our live stream, including viewers from Ireland and the UK, across Europe and America, and far-flung corners of Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Tanzania – to name but a few!

Our annual Easter Garden has lit up the Sacred Heart Church once again this year, with our heartfelt gratitude to all who take such care with its construction and maintenance. As ever, the Family Tree of Life Book has enjoyed a special place in our Easter Garden, celebrating the joy of family and the importance of unity as our MSCs pray for all those enrolled throughout the Easter season.

Easter Dawn Mass 2024 at the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road, Cork.

Strengthened by the Easter hope that radiates its redeeming light over us all, from the Western Road in Cork to Mozambique, Fiji, Indonesia, the Philippines, and everywhere in between, we welcome and embrace the brighter days ahead, with every grace and blessing of the Sacred Heart to our mission friends everywhere, this Easter season and throughout the year ahead.

Photos from Mozambique via the Facebook page for MSC Mozambique
Photos from the Province of the Pacific Islands and the Philippines via the Facebook page for the MSC Province of the Pacific Islands