On Palm Sunday, the Catholic Church commemorates the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, which leads us through Jesus' suffering and death on the cross to the celebration of his resurrection, Easter.
The Mass on Palm Sunday begins with a procession commemorating the entrance, during which the faithful greet the priest and his entourage entering the church with palm branches and crowbars, just as the people of Jerusalem once bowed before Christ. Many of the people spread their clothes on the road, others broke branches from the trees and scattered them in front of him: "Hosanna to David's son! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:8).
Photo: MTI/Zsolt Czeglédi
Part of the Palm Sunday liturgy is the ceremony closely related to the procession, during which the priest blesses the barges brought by the faithful:
"Almighty, eternal God, sanctify these branches with your blessing, so that we, who now joyfully follow the footsteps of Christ the King, may one day also reach eternal Jerusalem through him."
This Sunday is known as the Sunday of the Passion of the Lord in the liturgy, and we can hear the suffering story of Christ, the passion. The Church expresses its belief that
the glorious entrance is the beginning of the sequence of events that continues with the suffering and death of Jesus, and then is completed with his resurrection.
Thereby bringing about redemption, which nurtures the hope of eternal life in every believer.
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