Christian Holidays · Holy Week
Palm Sunday
Jesus's entry into Jerusalem, welcomed by crowds waving palm branches; the first day of Holy Week.
When: The Sunday before Easter
Origin and history
All four Gospels describe how Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey a few days before his death, while crowds spread cloaks and palm branches on the road to greet him. The Gospels connect the scene with a prophecy in the book of Zechariah: 'See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey.' Palm Sunday begins Holy Week, the last week before Easter.
Customs
- Blessing and handing out palm branches in church, often with a procession.
- Folding palm leaves into small crosses.
- Where palms are hard to find, branches of local trees such as box, olive, willow or yew are used instead.
- Keeping the palms through the year; in many churches they are burned the next year to make the ashes for Ash Wednesday.
How traditions differ
Palm Sunday is kept by Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, Moravian, Anglican, Methodist and many Reformed churches. In the West it falls in the last week of Lent; in the East, Holy Week begins after Great Lent has ended.
In the library
Works: The Bible
More in Holy Week
Sources checked: Palm Sunday (Wikipedia); Ash Wednesday (Wikipedia); Holy Week (Wikipedia).