Vailima Prayers and Sabbath Morn

Excerpt

In every Samoan household the day is closed with prayer and the
singing of hymns.  The omission of this sacred duty would indicate,
not only a lack of religious training in the house chief, but a
shameless disregard of all that is reputable in Samoan social life. 
No doubt, to many, the evening service is no more than a duty
fulfilled.  The child who says his prayer at his mother’s knee can
have no real conception of the meaning of the words he lisps so
readily, yet he goes to his little bed with a sense of heavenly
protection that he would miss were the prayer forgotten.  The
average Samoan is but a larger child in most things, and would lay
an uneasy head on his wooden pillow if he had not joined, even
perfunctorily, in the evening service.  With my husband, prayer,
the direct appeal, was a necessity.  When he was happy he felt
impelled to offer thanks for that undeserved joy; when in sorrow,
or pain, to call for strength to bear what must be borne.