Starting at 11:59 a.m. on Sunday, February 7, 2021, and lasting for one minute, church bells across the country will ring to mark the start of five minutes of prayer nationally, part of the continuing effort by Government to bring Barbadians together in the fight against COVID-19.
In support of the initiative, all the stations of the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation as well as participating privately-owned broadcasters, will join the effort to signal to Barbadians that the exercise is about to start.
While Barbadians are praying in their homes, the stations of CBC will adjust their programming to reflect the solemnity of the five minutes. It is also anticipated that churches that are conducting online services will engage in five minutes of prayer, starting at noon.
When she addressed the country on February 2, 2021, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley said: “I am asking for, at midday, everyone in this country to pause, literally pause, to pray and to reflect on what we must do to save our nation and to save our people.
“I believe that … whether you are Christian or whether you belong to another religion, we are a country that literally believes in a higher force. And I hope that we can collectively,as a nation, pause on Sunday at midday for five minutes for us to pray, for us to meditate, for us to reflect, to do whatever you do best.
“And I’m not talking just to the people who are accustomed to going to church. I’m talking about all of us, because youngsters will tell you about the higher force and tell you about Jah and all of those things, but I want us to do that on Sunday, while recognising that for the full two weeks (February 3 to 17, we should) reflect, relax, renew.”