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Masses, prayers to mark 1 month after Yolanda in Leyte


Prayers and Masses will be offered to victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) during Masses in Leyte on Sunday, one month after the cyclone battered the Visayas and Southern Luzon.

In Tacloban City, local officials are dedicating the Dec. 8 Mass to those who died in the typhoon's wake, radio dzBB's Rodil Vega reported on Friday.

But the city officials also want Sunday's Mass to offer hope for residents that they will recover from the destruction brought by Yolanda, the report said.

Tacloban City is one of the areas hit hardest by Yolanda, which has left more than 5,600 dead and over P30 billion in damage.

Yolanda barreled through the Visayas and parts of Southern Luzon last Nov. 8, making landfall six times.

Meanwhile, the city government is also trying to spread Christmas cheer by asking city residents to place Christmas trees in public places, the report said.

City administrator John Tecson Lim said this will boost the morale of residents affected by Yolanda.

As of Friday, the dzBB report said power has yet to be fully restored in Tacloban, even as workers continue to repair damaged power facilities.

Day of prayer, remembrance

Meanwhile, the archdiocese of Palo, Leyte, has also set Dec. 8, Sunday, as a “Day of Prayer and Remembrance” for victims of the monster typhoon.

Palo Archbishop John Du urged Catholics to gather in their parishes this Sunday and pray for the faithful who died in Yolanda’s wake.

“A Mass will be celebrated, and then a funeral service will follow where all, including all the people of other faiths are invited to [say] a prayer for the victims who have not survived the devastation,” Fr. Amadeo Alvero, the archdiocesan spokesperson, said in a post on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines news site.

The archdiocese also urged families to write the names of their loved ones who died in Yolanda’s wake.

Alvero said one corner in all parishes in the archdiocese will be prepared “where the people can write the names of our departed brothers and sisters.”

The CBCP scheduled a triduum or three-day prayer for the dead before the Day of Prayer and Remembrance. — LBG, GMA News

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