Palm Sunday is the final Sunday of Lent and commemorates the triumphant arrival of Christ in Jerusalem, days before he was crucified.
Palm Sunday is known as such because the faithful often receive palm fronds, which they use to participate in the reenactment of Christ’s arrival in Jerusalem. In the Gospels, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a young donkey, and to the lavish praise of the townspeople who threw clothes, or possibly palms or small branches, in front of him as a sign of homage. This was a customary practice for people of great respect.
Palm branches are a widely recognised symbol of peace and victory, hence their preferred use on Palm Sunday.
The use of a donkey instead of a horse is highly symbolic, it represents the humble arrival of someone in peace, as opposed to arriving on a steed in war.
A week later, Christ would rise from the dead on the first Easter.
This year we celebrate Palm Sunday on Sunday, 28th March, with the rest of Holy Week as follows.
- Palm Sunday – 10th April
- Holy Thursday – 14th April
- Good Friday – 15th April
- Holy Saturday – 16th April
- Easter Sunday – 17 April
Leon Bolding
Principal