March 23, 2024 / 05:39 PM
This Palm Sunday, Catholics will begin Holy Week commemorating the moment when Jesus Christ made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and was hailed as the Messiah by a crowd that received him with palms and olive branches.
On what is also called Passion Sunday, the faithful will accompany the priest in a solemn procession before the Mass, in which the story of the Passion of Christ will be read. As is tradition, the faithful will carry palms or olive branches in their hands, which can also be made from other types of local plants, but which essentially seek to honor the Son of God.
According to the Vatican’s Letter of Easter Celebrations, during the procession Christians celebrate the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem, “imitating the acclamations and gestures that the Hebrew children made when they went out to meet the Lord, singing the fervent ‘Hossanna'” , shout of joy with messianic meaning.