It was October 2004 that the Marist St. Joseph Old Boys’ Association started the first Toa o Samoa church services to pray for the safety of the territory’s military servicemen and women deployed to war torn countries and this month marks ten years since the services began.

Every month for ten years, the members of the Marist St. Joseph Old Boys’ Association has hosted prayer services for the territory’s Toa o Samoa, in different churches across the island.

Parents, spouses, children, friends, and supporters of the deployed soldiers are usually in attendance. Candles are lit and prayers are offered for the soldiers’ safe return home.

A member of the Marist St. Joseph’s Old Boys Association said that the idea of the church services came about after consultation with nuns from the Carmelite Monastery in Vailima, Samoa, who told them that the best thing they can do for the deployed soldiers and their families is to get everyone together to pray for them.