Rays of light peak over the horizon illuminating the port of Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates with their warm orange glow. A wooden cross, ornate with a purple cloth, becomes visible in the darkness. Sailors bow their heads, silent, as the chaplain recites the opening prayer during an Easter sunrise service in the hangar bay of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3). 

Kearsarge’s command religious ministries department facilitated several services for the crew during Holy Week starting Palm Sunday, April 14. The services included a Roman Catholic Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Roman Catholic Stations of the Cross, Roman Catholic service of the Lord’s Passion, Protestant Communion, Roman Catholic Holy Saturday, Easter sunrise service, Protestant Easter service, Roman Catholic Easter Mass and a Jewish Passover meal, as it happened to coincide with Holy Week. 

“Sailors have a constitutional right to the free exercise of their religion,” said Lt. Reginald Jones, a chaplain assigned to Kearsarge. “We have multiple chaplains who provide services and facilitate for different faiths. For example, I am Protestant but I helped set up a time and place for those of the Jewish faith to celebrate the Passover meal during Holy Week.

Throughout Holy Week, Roman Catholics trace Jesus’s journey from his entrance to Jerusalem all the way to his resurrection while Protestants focus on the resurrection. But despite their differences, they come together to practice their faith alongside one another.

“Even though Holy week may have a different meaning to the Sailors who attended the services, they all unite to remember and celebrate the same events,” said Religious Program Specialist 1st Class Shonda Bunch. “Additionally, we provide our Sailors an opportunity to observe Holy Week at the same time as their friends and family back home so they don’t miss out on an event that is near and dear to their hearts.”

In addition to celebrating Holy Week, the crew also used this time of prayer and worship as a means to let go of their stress and give them the resiliency to get through deployment.

 “Attending the Easter Vigil Mass was amazing, and one of the best (religious) services provided since we left for deployment,” said Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Desmond Pobdinga. “I’m thankful for the chaplains for being able to provide these services. I internalize a lot of the stress from work, but because I have the time and opportunity to pray it gives me a sense of ease and a release from the difficulties of the day. After these Holy Week services, I can go back to work refreshed and focused on doing my job.”

As the chaplain, silhouetted against the sunrise, finishes his prayer the Sailors raise their heads and listen to the sermon describing how Jesus rose from the grave free from sin. They bow their heads. The chaplain gives a benediction and as he finishes his prayer, they collectively say amen, concluding the service.

Kearsarge is the flagship for the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group and, with the embarked 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and the Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points.

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For more news from USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), visit www.navy.mil/.