Last night, at the suggestion of some local people, Deb and I went to a candle light service at a nearby church. The beginning of the service was conducted outside by a bonfire and after singing hymns, candles were lit and everyone processed in to the church.
The service was in Tongan, so it was a bit difficult to get it all, but it took the form of the Easter Story with passages being read from the bible interspersed with hymns and the homily. While Catholic, it was quite different from other Catholic services we have attended. In the pews, there were no bibles, hymn books or orders of service. There was no organ, piano or choir. All the singing – and it was awe inspiring – was by the congregation.
As we gathered it, this service was even more important then the Easter Day service. It almost felt like and took the form of a vigil and, while we did not stay for the whole 4 hour affair, my sense that it continued until after midnight welcoming in Easter Day.
The following short clip starts with the candlelight procession followed by a part of the service. Due to size limitations, the footage has been greatly compressed, but, hopefully, you can get a sense of the service and the people including their traditional dress.
Happy Easter.
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