Churches around the country celebrated Palm Sunday with churchgoers marking the occasion with services in their different denominations.

The celebration on Sunday – which Christians believe marks Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem – saw both the young and old dressed in their best attire to go to church with some carrying palm trees symbolising the occasion.

For the Catholic faithful, the Palm Sunday celebration marked the start of the holy week in the lead up to holy Thursday, Good Friday, holy Saturday and Easter Sunday this coming weekend. 

For the congregation members of the Laulii Catholic Church, their celebrations were no different to those in other parishes.

They did a procession from their chapel’s hallway to the venue of their Palm Sunday celebrations due to rain in the morning.

But not before the service’s main celebrant Father Ameto Ulugia blessed the palm trees that the men, women and children including the elderly had brought for the service. 

The church service then got underway with the congregation members with Father Ameto reflecting on the colors of the Palm Sunday mass being red and white, and how they symbolised the blood that Christ paid for the sins of the world.

He said this week is holy week with holy Thursday marking Jesus and his disciples at the last supper, where the sacrament of the holy communion was established, and he celebrated it as a passover feast. 

Christ washed the feet of his disciples who would become the first priests, according to Father Ameto and the establishment of the priesthood is reenacted at mass with the priest washing the feet of several parishioners. 

On the night of holy Thursday, Catholics observe the eucharistic adoration of the blessed sacrament, where Father Ameto said the faithful remain in the presence of the eucharist just as the disciples kept a vigil with Christ.