BBC: [2] “Coronavirus will not overcome us,” the Queen has said, in an Easter message to the nation.
[3] While celebrations would be different for many this year, she said: “We need Easter as much as ever.”
[4] Referencing the tradition of lighting candles to mark the occasion, she said: “As dark as death can be – particularly for those suffering with grief – light and life are greater.”
[5] It comes as the number of coronavirus deaths in UK hospitals reached 9,875. [6] Speaking from Windsor Castle, the Queen said many religions had festivals celebrating light overcoming darkness, which often featured the lighting of candles. [7] She said: “They seem to speak to every culture, and appeal to people of all faiths, and of none. [8] “They are lit on birthday cakes and to mark family anniversaries, when we gather happily around a source of light. It unites us.”
[9] The monarch, who is head of the Church of England, said: “As darkness falls on the Saturday before Easter Day, many Christians would normally light candles together.
[10] “In church, one light would pass to another, spreading slowly and then more rapidly as more candles are lit.
It’s a way of showing how the good news of Christ’s resurrection has been passed on from the first Easter by every generation until now.”