(Angie Rolheiser/northeastNOW staff)

By Angie Rolheiser

Day of Hope

Virtual covid vigil aims to bring Sask. residents together

Mar 5, 2021 | 3:00 PM

Saskatchewan residents will have the opportunity to light a candle in solidarity through an online vigil that marks one year of the global pandemic.

Reverend Marie-Louise Ternier is an Anglican priest in Central Saskatchewan who is also part of the planning committee for the vigil next Thursday evening.

Ternier said it is important to mark these types of milestones whether it is something positive or something that hurts us.

“It was nearly a year ago that we got the orders to close down almost overnight and there was this invisible enemy out there and it was pretty shocking,” Ternier said.

The initiative came from a few individuals from Saskatoon and the committee grew from there. The vigil will include a wide diversity of people, both rural and urban, and different faith traditions to pull the province together.

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“All of us can tell stories about how we have lost lots of things this past year and maybe this is a moment to stop and take stock as a province,” Ternier said.

Participants can join on Zoom in real time or watch the service on YouTube in an effort to accommodate as many people as possible. At one point in the vigil, participants will be asked to light a candle.

It was on March 11, 2020 that the World Health Organization declared the pandemic. The committee wanted to recognize the global nature but it was more feasible to come together as a province rather than a nation.

On the website Covidvigil.ca, residents of Saskatchewan are being asked to submit photos of what they are hoping for post-pandemic.

“To move towards that hopeful future is really, very important,” she said.

Ternier is the priest for the Lutheran and Anglican churches in Watrous and continues Sunday worship services on Zoom which she said is not quite the same as in-person.

“I think we have all become more aware of the importance and precious nature of face-to-face encounters,” Ternier said. “Before this pandemic, I think that is something we took for granted.”

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angie.rolheiser@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Angie_Rolheiser