Easter is the most important holy day in the Eastern Orthodox faith.

It is a religious holiday that is associated with a host of traditions that are faithfully observed by the vast majority of Greeks, including those who are not religious.

As difficult as it may be for the faithful to be denied the opportunity to fulfil their religious duties and for everyone to be deprived of the freedom to follow beloved traditions there is only one way for us to get through this epidemic and that is self-restraint.

The battle against the pandemic cannot be waged with prohibitions alone.

Easter must be celebrated in the manner mandated by tough conditions which is to say with prayer at home.

Society with its stance will find another way to mark this great holiday -with self-discipline and an expression of love for other people by abiding with restrictive public health measures that save lives.

Greek society is in the midst of a very difficult battle.

Its stance with few exceptions is why the effort to contain the epidemic and flatten the curve has been successful until now.

That course of events must under no circumstances be marred as we enter the last stretch.

After all, at Easter we celebrate the victory of life over death and today we are struggling against a virus which, alas, for some of our fellow human beings is deadly.

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