Catholic communities under Visale parish in North West Guadalcanal are preparing well for the 2015 Easter celebration this weekend.
Solomon Star North West Guadalcanal stringer John Toki said, the parish members are now cleaning up the station ready for the Easter weekend celebration.
He said, Visale Catholic station is the main place for catholic local communities around North West Guadalcanal to come together and celebrate such big evens.
He said, the celebration is expected to include games as part of celebrating the resurrection of the lord Jesus Christ.
The Easter celebration will start tomorrow (Holy Thursday).
Mr Toki said on Good Friday the parish will organise a station of the cross as part of remembering the suffering of Christ. On Saturday and Sunday the celebration of holly mass by the Auxiliary Bishop of Honiara John Doaninoel will be conducted.
According to Wikipedia the Easter festival is kept in many different ways among Western Christians. The traditional, liturgical observation of Easter, as practiced among Roman Catholics, Lutherans and some Anglicans begins on the night of Holy Saturday with the Easter Vigil.
This, the most important liturgy of the year, begins in total darkness with the blessing of the Easter fire, the lighting of the large paschal candle (symbolic of the Risen Christ) and the chanting of the Exulted or Easter Proclamation attributed to Saint Ambrose of Milan.
Easter was considered the ideal time for converts to receive baptism, and this practice continues within Roman Catholicism and the Anglican Communion.
Whether there are baptisms at this point or not, it is traditional for the congregation to renew the vows of their baptismal faith. This act is often sealed by the sprinkling of the congregation with Holy water from the font.
The Catholic sacrament of confirmation is also celebrated at the Vigil.
The Easter Vigil concludes with the celebration of the Eucharist (known in some traditions as Holy Communion). Certain variations in the Easter Vigil exist: Some churches read the Old Testament lessons before the procession of the Paschal candle, and then read the gospel immediately after the Exulted.
Some churches prefer to keep this vigil very early on the Sunday morning instead of the Saturday night to reflect the gospel account of the women coming to the tomb at dawn on the first day of the week.
These services are known as the sunrise services and often occur in outdoor setting such as the church cemetery, yard, or a nearby park.
By SOLOMON LOFANA
