Samoa began Easter celebrations on Thursday night with various churches hosting services to commemorate the holiest time on the Christian calendar.  

And the Immaculate Conception Cathedral at Mulivai was one of those churches that held a mass last night to mark Holy Thursday.

The Catholic service was led by Father Kolio Kelekolio and was attended by various congregation members from Saleufi, Togafuafua and Taufusi. 

Fr. Kelekolio said that Holy Thursday marks the end of Lent and the beginning of three sacred days in the church calendar. 

“God almighty came down to us to bring salvation through Jesus to cleanse us,” he said.

He also added that the Passover was a ritual and a command from God.  

“Everything was commanded by God, Moses did not institute it, God himself did.”

Fr.  Kelekolio said that one of the main purposes of the service is to commemorate the last supper and re-enact Jesus washing his apostles' feet.

“Who are you that I may come down and wash your feet but that was Jesus’ order for us to continue on, the washing of the feet represents the spirit of uniting us in harmony rather than being divided and in bad terms.”

One of the congregation members, David Teleni told the Samoa Observer that as a Christian, one of the most important times of the year is during Easter.

Mr. Taleni added that when talking about Easter or the holy week, “we instantly think about Jesus, his sacrifice for us all.”

“As a Catholic, this journey started on Ash Wednesday which is the beginning of Lent where we give up something we usually do, for 40 days, as a reminder of how Jesus was tempted for those days but never gave in.

“But most importantly, the significance of Easter to me is forgiveness. For some of us it is a reminder that it is a time to forgive and forget all the wrongs others have done because Jesus gave up his life for us sinners.” 

The father of five added that even though we should forgive daily, during the time of Easter that is like a wakeup call in your life that Jesus loved us even though we are sinners.

“I believe that we must follow Jesus's footsteps by doing the same.

"Remember in Ephesians 4:32 it states that we must be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

“If Jesus forgave us even though we did not deserve it, then you should forgive others who have wronged you.”