By Felix Anthony
Miao, April 13, 2019: A group of 200 youth of Arunachal Pradesh on April 13 walked for 17 kilometers to pray for better government in India.
Young people from various parts of Miao joined walking pilgrimage to Christ the Light Shrine in Miao in the Changlang district of the northeastern Indian state.
Arunachal Pradesh was among 18 states and two Union Territories that voted on April 11, the first of the seven-phase general elections in India.
Junem Langching, a youth leader, organized the pilgrimage that began from Sacred Heart Church in Neotan at 5:30am and reached the shrine in Miao four hours later. The youngest pilgrim was 7 years old and the oldest 76.
“We make this pilgrimage as part of our Lenten penance to prepare well for the Holy Week as well as to pray for our country in this season of elections,” she told Matters India before the start of the walk.
Bishop George Pallipparambil of Miao commended the youth for taking up such a novel way of praying for the country and for preparing well for the Holy Week that begins from April 14.
The four-hour walk saw the youth reciting several Rosaries and Divine Mercy chaplets interjected with hymns and short prayers for a better government in this election year.
James Mossang, another youth leader thanked the youth for coming in large number to pray for the country at this crucial time.
About 100 men, women and children from nearby villages also joined the youth in the pilgrimage that concluded with Mass led by Father Joy Manickathan, the rector of the Christ the Light seminary in Miao.