Palm Sunday

posted in: Holidays, Holy Week | 0
Palm Trees

Palm Sunday always occurs exactly one week before Easter. The day is also known as Yew Sunday or Branch Sunday.

Palm Sunday is officially known as The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday.

The feast celebrates Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event that is mentioned in all four of the gospels found in the New Testament.

According to the gospels, Jesus rode a donkey, which is a symbol of peace,  into town as the people laid their cloaks and small branches of trees in front of him.  As he entered the town the people sang, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

From the book of John, we discover that these branches were “fronds of palm.”  In the Roman Empire the palm tree was seen as a symbol of triumph and victory.

It was customary in the ancient Near East at that time to cover the path of someone the people thought of as worthy.  This was seen as a highest honor. 

As Jesus looks over the city of Jerusalem he weeps over it and foretells of his coming death.

Palm branches symbolized goodness and victory in ancient times.

Palm Sunday begins Holy Week, which ends with Easter, and is the final week of Lent.

In many of the Catholic and Episcopal Churches, the palms are blessed and after the Palm Sunday celebrations saved for a year.  Then they are burned on Shrove Tuesday and used as the ashes for Ash Wednesday.

Palm Sunday begins the last week of Lent, and marks the beginning of Holy Week, which remembers the last week of Jesus life and his death and cumulates with the celebration of his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

“In Spanish, it is sometimes called Pascua florida, and it was from this day in 1512 that the state of Florida received its name.”

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