CINCINNATI — The Good Friday tradition of "praying the steps" at Holy Cross Immaculata Church will resume this year after it was canceled in April 2020 because of coronavirus concern -- the first time it had been called off in church history.

"Since Governor DeWine has lifted many of the COVID-19 restrictions for church services, Mayor John Cranley has given the parish permission to move forward with plans to provide a safe environment for the large crowds who are likely to be present," read the church's announcement Friday.

For almost 160 years, pilgrims would come to the Mount Adams church to slowly climb the 96 steps from St. Gregory Street up to Holy Cross Immaculata, praying or reflecting on their way up. At the top, people could confess to a priest or grab donuts, coffee or a fish sandwich to celebrate completing the steps.

For those who wish to participate this year, especially people with compromised immune systems, church officials advise praying the steps and visiting the church earlier during Holy Week, when fewer people are likely to be present.

The only Good Friday worship service will be at 7 p.m. No food or drink will be offered at the top of the steps this year, but church officials encouraged worshipers to support surrounding businesses in Mount Adams. Reconciliation will be offered when priests are available, according to the church's announcement.

The upper steps begin below the church entrance on St. Gregory Street; the middle steps begin on Columbia Parkway, and the lower steps begin on Riverside Drive across from the Montgomery Inn Boathouse. Those steps, repaired in 2009, now feature wider steps, lighting, new landscaping and signage. There is also an improved pedestrian overlook at the top of the steps outside the main entrance to Immaculata Church.

The church will be open for private prayer March 29 through April 1 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

After Mass on Holy Thursday, the church will remain open all night and all day Friday until 11 p.m. Masks will be required in the church, and social distancing and occupancy guidelines will be observed.

For more information about praying the steps, visit www.hciparish.org or call (513) 721-6544.

CINCINNATI — Aglamesis Bros. Ice Cream and Candy Company offers sweet treats all year round, but this time of year they offer chocolate bunnies and crosses as well as cream eggs to make anyone's Easter that much tastier.

"It's just the feel of the place," Nancy Gottschalk, who has been coming to the store since she was a teenager, said. "Aglamesis is an institution."

Some adults have memories from their childhood of Jim "Mr. A" Aglamesis in his signature white coat wrapping their Easter candy for them.

Randy Young, the current president of the business and stepson of Algamesis, said Aglamesis was still very active in the business well into his 90s.

However, this is the first Easter celebration for the shop since Aglamesis died.

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"He's still here," Young said. "Our traditions are kept alive and he's still here. He's still here; we all feel him. We know he's looking down, and watching over us, and making sure we're doing it right."

There is still time to stop in to the shop and pick up some Easter candy before Sunday. The store is open Saturday, but they are closed on Sunday.

Christianity’s most joyous feast day was celebrated worldwide with faithful sitting far apart in pews and singing choruses of “Hallelujah” through face coverings on a second Easter Sunday conditioned by pandemic precautions.

From Protestant churches in South Korea to St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, worshippers followed national or local regulations aimed at preventing the transmission of the coronavirus.

At a hospital in the Lombardy region of Italy, where the pandemic first erupted in the West in February 2020, a hospital gave a traditional dove-shaped Easter cake symbolizing peace to each person who lined up to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Many of the ones who came were in their 80s and accompanied by adult children.

In Jerusalem, air travel restrictions and quarantine regulations prevented foreign pilgrims from flocking to religious sites during Holy Week, which culminates in Easter celebrations.

Inside St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis sprinkled incense near an icon of Jesus and said, “May the joy of Easter extend to the whole world."

The 200 or so faithful who were allowed to attend looked lost in the cavernous cathedral. Normally, thousands would attend the popular service and a crowd would gather outside in St. Peter's Square, with more than 100,000 sometimes assembling to receive the pope's special Easter blessing after Mass.

But this year, like last year, crowds are banned from gathering in Italy, and at the Vatican. So Francis scheduled his noon Easter address on world affairs to be delivered from inside the basilica.

Intent on tamping down weeks of surging infections, the Italian government ordered people to stay home during the three-day weekend except for essential errands like food shopping or exercise. Premier Mario Draghi did grant a concession. permitting one visit to family or friends per day in residents' home regions over the long weekend, which includes the Little Easter national holiday on Monday.

In Jerusalem, the Easter service at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was celebrated by Latin Patriarch Pierbattista, the senior Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land. The site in Jerusalem's Old City is where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead.

Israel has launched one of the world’s most successful vaccination campaigns, allowing the country to reopen restaurants, hotels and religious sites. Israel captured the Old City, home to holy sites of the three Abrahamic religions, in a 1967 war and later annexed it in a move unrecognized by the international community.

In South Korea, Yoido Full Gospel Church, the biggest Protestant church in the country, allowed only about 2,000 church members to attend Easter service, or about 17% of the capacity of church's main building. Masked church members sang hymns, clapped hands and prayed as the service was broadcast online and by Christian TV channels.

Seoul’s Myeongdong Catholic Cathedral, the biggest Catholic church in South Korea, limited Mass attendance to 20% capacity and livestreamed the Easter service on YouTube.

In Italy's southern region of Puglia, the governor and many mayors urged the faithful to stay home and watch Mass on TV. The region is one of many in Italy under the most severe ‘’red-zone'' restrictions due to the COVID-19 infection rate.

Attending a Saturday night Easter Vigil Mass is a popular practice for many in Italy. But with the nation under a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew, churches moved up the traditional starting times by a couple of hours. Church bells in Italy summoned people to services unusually early, tolling before sunset in some places.

A similar scenario played out in France, which is reeling from a frightful uptick in COVID-19 cases that are overtaking already strained hospitals. Some French churches held their traditional midnight Easter services just before dawn Sunday instead of on Saturday night because of a nationwide 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

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AP reporters from around the world contributed.

Abby Friedman was met with laughs when she first proposed the idea to her family of having Seder — the ceremonial dinner for the first night of Passover — over the conferencing platform Zoom.

“At first, my dad laughed at it, and said 'well I don’t really think so,'” she said. But once they fully absorbed the gravity of the ongoing pandemic, everyone was quick to get on board.

“Now we are going to have about 26 people on a Zoom link participating in a Seder,” Friedman, a corporate event planner, said.

Friedman’s family isn’t alone. With churches and synagogues closed around the country, many will be turning to technology to stay connected during Passover, Easter and later this month, Ramadan.

With stay-at-home orders still in effect, officials aren’t mincing words.

“We have got to stay home and stay away from each other,” Gov. Phil Murphy said during a briefing Wednesday. “It brings me no joy saying that during Passover, Easter or Ramadan or any other moment.”

With food playing a central role in celebrating religious traditions, Citymeals on Wheels, New York City’s emergency meal provider for seniors, delivered 10,000 Passover meals to those observing.

“It’s helping them feel a little less lonely and isolated to get this comforting food,” Beth Shapiro, executive director at Citymeals said.

Meanwhile, faith leaders came together for a virtual town hall with Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, encouraging believers to use the time at home to reflect.

“In the first Easter, the disciples of Jesus were locked in a room — they were fearful,” noted Monsignor Michael Andreano of St. Peter & Paul Church, likening it to the current climate where many are practicing social distancing.

Many places of worship are turning to live streams and telecasts, offering parishioners another option to participate.

This article was written by Andrew Ramos for

WPIX

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