This Palm Sunday, Catholics will begin Holy Week commemorating the moment in which 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 the so-called Passion Sunday, the faithful will accompany the priest in a solemn procession before Mass, in which the account 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.
As the Vatican’s Easter Holidays Charter recalls, during the procession Christians celebrate Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, “imitating the acclamations and gestures made by the Hebrew children when they went out to meet the Lord, singing the fervent ‘Hosanna’”. , shout of joy of messianic meaning.
The liturgy of the palms has a deep meaning, as it anticipates the triumph of the resurrection, which we will celebrate at the end of Holy Week at the Easter Festival, the most important celebration in the life of every Christian.
At the end of the Palm Sunday Mass, many of the faithful customarily place their blessed palms in their homes or workplaces. However, it must be remembered that the palms are not kept as amulets, because that would be superstition, but that they are “signs of messianic peace” that remind us to make a gift of our lives for God and our brothers.
Next, we share a simple prayer to place the blessed palms at home:
Bless, Lord, our home.
May your Son Jesus and the Virgin Mary reign in it.
Give us peace, love and respect,
so that by respecting and loving each other
we know how to honor them in our family life,
be You, the King in our home.
Amen.
(ACI Prensa)