9 years and below
Holidays
Holidays are enjoyable. This year we got April holidays on April 5th. I was waiting for the April holidays. During the April holidays we went to Ella for four days. We were staying in a bungalow. We left home around 4 o’clock in the morning. There were five families including us.
On the first day we went for a walk in a tea estate. Then on the second day we went on the Flying Ravana ride. That ride was fun and scary. After that we went to have a drink. The nest day we went to see the Nine Arch Bridge. In the evening we went to a waterfall. The water was very cold in the waterfall.
The next day we went to the church in the morning because it was Palm Sunday. Then we went to Nuwara Eliya. We walked in the town and we had lunch at Araliya Hotel. After having lunch we got ready to go home. It was an enjoyable trip.
Serusha Wijesinghe (9 years)
Ladies’ College, Colombo
10 – 12 years
Celebrating Easter
Easter is a very special day for Christians because it celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Saviour. For Easter, children and people decorate eggs. This year I decorated my eggs as strawberries.
This year we celebrated Easter on April 21. At 5.30 in the morning we had a procession. The Easter candle was taken in the procession by the wardens in the church and there was a western band too. We went on the roads and in some places the priest prayed for the people who live in the vicinity. At around 6.30 in the morning we reached the church and the service started. Then the children and people who had brought eggs, handed them over to the church. After church we had breakfast with the congregation. There was stringhoppers, Fish curry, sambol and dhal curry. After breakfast we had a game in the church premises. We had to find the Easter egg. We had fun looking for the egg and soon it was found by a boy. Then we went home.
At that time we got to know about the tragedy. We were feeling so sad when we got to know that innocent people were killed during the Easter services. We had lunch with the family but it was not an enjoyable Easter day.
Suhasha Wijesinghe (11 years)
Ladies’ College, Colombo
13 – 15 years
The festival of Easter
The festival of Easter is the most important day in the Holy Catholic Church Calendar, which commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ after he died on the Holy Cross on Good Friday. Easter Sunday carries great significance as it is the greatest miracle on Earth. Christians all over the world celebrate this day wishing all their friends and relatives a happy and a holy Easter, soon after the Holy Mass rejoicing to mark the overpowering of death by the resurrection of Our Saviour. (But it was very sad this year in Sri Lanka because only those who were present for early morning Easter Sunday Holy Mass got the opportunity to wish each other).
Well, Christians celebrate special feasts after they return home after Holy Mass. These feasts include roasted meats, salt beef, hot-cross buns, Easter breudher and not to forget the traditional Easter eggs made from chocolate. Some Christian churches celebrate this great day with egg-hunts, where Easter eggs are hidden for the kids to find.
The Easter Triduum of Jesus Christ’s passion and death (Good Friday), burial (Holy Saturday) and resurrection (Easter Sunday) is the most solemn celebration in the liturgical year and in all the Holy Masses on Easter Sunday culminates our Lenten Observance. In fact the sprinkling of Holy Water and lighted candles in our hands evoke the most significant moment in our lives; our baptism, when God claimed us as his sons and daughters.
But this year, the joy of Easter lasted only up till 8.45 a.m., until the chant of Alleluia; even though the lighted Paschal Candle kept alive the solemn and memorable celebration of the Easter Vigil.
May the last Easter Sunday Holy Mass that the deceased offered on this fateful day, open for them the gates of Heaven – our final Home! In fact our hearts are still burning within us. May their souls rest in peace…
Neyali Abeyratna (14 years)
De Mazenod College, Kandana
