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Lent

Holy Saturday Amid COVID-19

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Each Holy Week, I have made it a practice to watch Ingmar Bergman’s film Winter Light (1963). In black-and-white, and with the starkness characteristic of most of his films, it…

Each Holy Week, I have made it a practice to watch Ingmar Bergman’s film Winter Light (1963). In black-and-white, and with the starkness characteristic of most of his films, it depicts one day in the life of a Lutheran pastor named Tomas Ericsson. To say that his congregation has diminished, that it has fallen on hard times, is an understatement. While a smattering of worshippers still show up for services, his church is nearly as barren as our own have become, after having been cleared out by the COVID-19 pandemic.

And more, he has lost the touch. He no longer knows how to reach his people. He struggles to speak to their fears, their anxieties and their crises of faith. He lacks the words to help them confront the globalized fear of his own day — the Cold War prospect of imminent nuclear annihilation. And so he is left with this overwhelming sense of his own helplessness and the futility of his efforts.

Perhaps amid the crisis of our day we experience that helplessness, too, and are confronted with that same sense of futility. It is certainly futile to think we can resolve the challenge that confronts us. For as comforting as it might be to believe, we do not in fact control the pandemic, we are subject to it.

The questions that Tomas is met with, like our own, are simple. What do we do in the face of the helplessness and inability to make things come around, as we would want them to? In whom do we place our faith? Or do we give up faith all together?

These questions, I think, are at the heart of Holy Saturday. It follows the death of Christ on Good Friday but comes before his triumph at Easter. In this interlude, which is really a spiritual chasm, we are confronted with apparent failure. The tomb door is still closed. The forces of sin and death still seemingly have their sway. It is the time of supreme Godforsaken-ness.

On Good Friday is the cry, “my God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” And as of Holy Saturday, there is no answer. Likewise, we await the answer to our own cry: “God, where are you in the midst of all this?” “God, do not abandon me, do not abandon us, to it.”

The invitation of Holy Saturday is not to retreat into simplistic piety that ignores the enormity of what we face. Empty theology and shallow culture are now exposed for what they are — smokescreens to hide from us what we would rather not confront. But if we take Holy Saturday and this time of pandemic seriously, that smokescreen and the evasion it enables will simply not do.

The entire purpose of this Holy Week — as is the case with the life of discipleship more generally — is to become ever more intimately united to the mystery of Christ’s life. The prospect of uniting ourselves with Christ’s triumph is for us no problem. Uniting ourselves, however, with his suffering is a different story. And to unite ourselves with his apparent failure, that might simply be a bridge too far.

In one of Winter Light’s more notable scenes, the church sexton Algot discusses Christ’s passion with Tomas. For years he has been plagued by enormous pain, to the point — as he cheekily observes — that he has almost certainly endured more physical suffering than that of Christ. But he brings this up only to make clear that the emphasis on Christ’s physical afflictions is misplaced. That is not his greatest trial. Instead, it is Christ’s experience of total alienation. His efforts are now seemingly pointless. His actions are met without comprehension or even the slightest understanding. He is abandoned by almost all who had previously professed their love for him. Most of all, there is that still unanswered cry of his: “my God, my God, why have you abandoned me.”

To unite ourselves with Christ on Holy Saturday is to unite ourselves with him in his helplessness and apparent futility, awaiting that answer — to really go to the end with him.

And there, what will we say? Will we still have faith?

Staring out at an empty church, having failed in almost every conceivable way, the words roll off Tomas’ lips: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.”

What words will come forth from our lips, if we decide to truly be with Christ this Holy Saturday, amid the pandemic that surrounds us?

Father Andrew Clyne writes from Maryland.

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Lent

Good Friday Amid COVID-19

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Good Friday’s is the starkest of the Church’s liturgies: the sanctuary is divested of every encumbrance, the altar left bare, the tabernacle emptied of the Lord’s Eucharistic presence. Such starkness…

Good Friday’s is the starkest of the Church’s liturgies: the sanctuary is divested of every encumbrance, the altar left bare, the tabernacle emptied of the Lord’s Eucharistic presence. Such starkness takes on new meaning, though, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it is not just the gathering place of the church, which is so stripped, but the social spaces of the world as well.

And not just these gathering spaces; increasingly, as time marches forward toward an indefinite future, each one of us is being stripped as well. The layers of performance we have developed for the world’s benefit are rendered pointless, as the stages for those performances are made one by one to disappear. We are left only with ourselves, as we truly are, hovering over the abyss of the nothingness from which we emerged and to which we can always return.

When confronted with this — having been unburdened of our delusions of control and power — we become acutely more aware of our need for salvation, for a savior. But the real one: not the innumerable impostors that are the stuff of advertising and politicking. We need the one who actually has the power to lift us from the abyss, because he is the same one who entered fully into our powerlessness, and unlike us, did not reject it, knowing that “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).

The power of God’s incarnate weakness is most visibly manifest on his cross, the object of Good Friday’s veneration. We, who have not yet learned to embrace that weakness, are made to confront this instrument of torture, which is the consummate symbol of those who seek to wield power and impose control, when in truth they lack both. The enemies of Christ (which we are through sin) think they can keep him at bay. Wood, nails, hatred or even indifference should do the trick. Only they will not, and for that, thank God. Thank God that our powerlessness before him has not excluded us from being the recipients of his power made perfect in weakness. For as St. Paul reminds us, Christ “while we were still helpless…died at the appointed time for the ungodly,” and in doing so, he “proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners [he] died for us (Rom 5: 6-8).”

Beyond venerating the cross, Good Friday is defined by its silence. The silence with which the service begins, the silence in which it ends: the cry of the crucified Christ enveloped in the silence.

Increasingly our world is enveloped in silence. Not on our screens, surely, from which much noise and silliness continues to spill. But in the places of flesh and blood, in the face to face encounter, the stuff which goes to make up a human life fully realized. There, only a haunting silence.

Silence though, is an interesting phenomenon, for not all silences are in fact the same. Especially with respect to the relationship between silence and love, the type of silence involved speaks volumes.

There is the silence that manifests love’s absence: the silence which refuses to speak the necessary and life-giving truth, the silence of fear which true love casts out, the silence of conspiracy, the silence of indifference, the silence of brooding hatred, the silence that refuses to impart forgiveness. These are a type of silence, the silence which is love’s enemy.

But there is another kind of silence. Adoring and restful silence before the beloved, the contented silence that follows the mutual declaration of love, the silence that follows the exhausting sacrifices of love made visible in action.

Perhaps the last of these is most beneficial to dwell on in this moment. There are all kinds of malicious silences plaguing our world. The trajectory of our hyper-individualistic technologically oriented culture is toward the silence of indifference and neglect. The coronavirus pandemic presents the strong possibility of pushing us further in that direction.

But there is another possibility. We consciously embrace our enforced distance from the flesh and blood encounter and its silence, not out of indifference, but out of concern for others, making it a silence of love. We do whatever we can for those on the front-lines of this struggle, who have been rendered silent by their exhaustion, reduced as they are to speechlessness by their self-giving love. And we take some time to silently and delightfully bask in the wonder of other persons, most especially the person of God.

We embrace these silences of love, knowing they are made possible by God’s own loving silence. For we belong to a God left silent on the cross after saying “it is finished” (Jn 19:30), because with such love expressed, what more needed to be said?

Father Andrew Clyne writes from Maryland.

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Lent

Holy Thursday Amid COVID-19

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With Holy Thursday, we arrive at the Triduum, the most sacred time in our liturgical calendar. These days sometimes have been referred to as the “still days,” but for most…

With Holy Thursday, we arrive at the Triduum, the most sacred time in our liturgical calendar. These days sometimes have been referred to as the “still days,” but for most of us, our prior experience of them has involved very little stillness. While the Church sets aside extra time for special liturgies recalling the mystery of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, the world generally takes very little notice. It continues on, with its hustle and bustle, with commerce and the cacophonous noise of lives simply moving without pause. And while we might be members of the Church, we are also creatures of this world. It is difficult for us to resist the inertia of that hustle and bustle that too often moves us along unthinkingly, and that makes these days just like those on the rest of the calendar: markers of time come and gone.

This continuous flow of activity impedes us from entering into the requisite stillness to which we are invited. But this year things are markedly different. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has ushered in an unanticipated and enforced interruption of activity. The hustle and bustle we simply assumed as a given, that we took to be as natural as the passing of days, is revealed now as what is truly artificial: it is, it turns out when all is stripped away, the stillness that is the constant, not the busyness.

We can resist that disclosure or we can accept it. We can choose to embrace the privileged time and silence to which God has constantly been inviting us. Or we can once more rebuff that offer by desperately searching for distraction instead, as so many will be tempted to do. This moment affords us, though, the possibility of allowing ourselves now to take the plunge into the mystery of God in ways previously unimaginable.

And it is a special challenge leveled at the Church and her members. The world does not know what to do with itself now. But we do. We have this knowledge not through our own merit, but only as those who have already received the gift of God’s largesse. We have been given God’s life and made stewards of it in order to extend it to others. That is the nature of God’s very life — a Triune exchange of giving. Our privilege as the Church is to be invited into this; but that privilege comes with a mandate to draw others — through our service — into this same life. And that summons to service is especially what Holy Thursday and the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper brings to the forefront.

The collect, or opening prayer, of Holy Thursday’s Mass reminds us that the God who has “called us to participate in this most sacred Supper,” is the same God who has entrusted to us “a sacrifice new for all eternity, the banquet of his love,” so that we might draw from so great a mystery “the fullness of charity and life.” In case the meaning of what we have been so entrusted with remains unclear, we have the most dramatic gesture of this annual celebration, which is the washing of the feet. The significance of that action for all of us is stipulated by Christ’s words in the Gospel proclaimed: “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do” (Jn 13:15).

On Holy Thursday we recall Christ’s institution of the Eucharist, the “sacrifice new for all eternity” alluded to in the Collect Prayer. What will undoubtedly make this particular Holy Thursday memorable, and regrettable for so many, is the inability to receive that very sacrament. But it is worth recalling that reception itself is not its own end. We can take Christ on our tongue repeatedly, all the while being closed to him interiorly. The meaning of our reception of Communion as a believer is to — in St. Augustine’s formulation — become the mystery we have received. Or alternatively expressed: to become like Christ, who is himself “the fullness of charity and life.”

How does one do that? The foot-washing has already shown the way. As he says, “I have given you a model to follow.” We the beneficiaries of Christ’s humble service are likewise called to the same service. Those who have received Christ’s life poured out in them are to pour out themselves for others. The pouring out of Christ for us is most fully expressed in the Eucharist. It is true that COVID-19 may deny us this Holy Thursday the privilege of receiving that Eucharist, but it does not prevent us from being the mystery we receive; that is, it does not preclude us from becoming now Eucharist for the world.

Father Andrew Clyne writes from Maryland.

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Lent

Your Guide To Holy Week

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In the first century, the early Christians celebrated every Sunday in commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus. By the second century, they established a particular day for the celebration of…

In the first century, the early Christians celebrated every Sunday in commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus. By the second century, they established a particular day for the celebration of the resurrection, which was connected to the Jewish Passover.

Their observance began at sundown on Saturday evening. They called it the Night of the Great Vigil, a time of remembrance and expectation that lasted throughout the night so they could sing “Alleluia” at dawn on Easter morning. It was during the Night of the Great Vigil that new Christians were received into the Church.

By the fourth century, it became customary for people to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem to celebrate what was called the “Great Week,” which included Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday. The diary of a woman named Egeria in 381 contains the first accounts of the special rites, prayers and devotions that took place in Jerusalem during the Great Week.

Over time, the practice of observing Holy Week spread throughout the Christian world, with prayers, historical re-enactments and special liturgies. During the Middle Ages, the celebration of the Easter Vigil gradually fell out of practice. The important days of the week were Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

In 1955, the Vatican re-established the Easter Vigil as an important part of Holy Week observances.

During the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the bishops called for the restoration of the early Christian rituals for receiving new Christians into the Church at the Easter Vigil. In 1988, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults was issued.

Today, Easter Vigil with the Easter fire, the lighting of the paschal candle, the reading of salvation history, the celebration of the sacraments of initiation for catechumens and renewal of baptismal promises for the faithful is once again an integral part of Holy Week celebrations.

Download the Guide to Holy Week here

Download ‘Holy Week: Simple Ways to Walk with Jesus’ pamphlet here

Holy Week quiz

How much do you remember about the people and events of Holy Week? Here’s a little quiz to test your knowledge. The answers are at the bottom of this page.

1. Where did the Agony in the Garden take place?
2. Who betrayed Jesus?
3. Who denied Jesus three times?
4. Who ordered Jesus to be scourged?
5. What criminal was released instead of Jesus?
6. How many Stations of the Cross are there?
7. How many times does Jesus fall on the way to Calvary?
8. Who helped Jesus carry his cross?
9. Who wiped the face of Jesus?
10. What did the sign on the cross say?
11. Who made arrangements for the burial of Jesus?
12. Who was the first to discover that Jesus had risen?

Answers below

12 ways to make Holy Week more meaningful

1. THINK PRAYER. If you have to work or go to school during Holy Week, think about how you can incorporate prayer breaks into each day.
2. MAKE AN ADDITIONAL SACRIFICE by fasting and abstaining from meat on Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday in addition to Good Friday.
3. DON’T WATCH TELEVISION from sundown on Holy Thursday until Easter morning.
4. GO to confession.
5. SET ASIDE 10 minutes every day to read Passion accounts in the Gospels.
6. Make it a point to FORGIVE someone on Good Friday.
7. PRAY the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.
8. OFFER UP any pain or difficulties you experience during Holy Week and unite your sufferings with the pain of Christ.
9. PRAY the Stations of the Cross.
10. ATTEND all of the Triduum liturgies.
11. INVITE family members, friends and neighbors — especially people who have strayed from the church — to come to church with you.
12. VOLUNTEER to help decorate your parish on Holy Saturday for Easter.

Holy Week customs

Palm crosses: From medieval times, people have believed that blessed palms formed into the shape of a cross would protect them from danger. The easiest way to make a cross from blessed palms is to cut two pieces of the palm, arrange in the shape of a cross, put a thumbtack in the middle, and attach the cross to a doorway or a bulletin board. Check Google for directions on how to braid or weave palms into more decorative crosses.

Housecleaning: In many cultures the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week are designated as days for vigorous housecleaning in preparation for Easter. This custom probably evolved from the Jewish custom of ritual cleaning before Passover.

Visiting churches: The custom of visiting several churches to say a prayer on Holy Thursday was a tradition that evolved from the practice of making pilgrimages to holy places.

Coloring eggs: Decorating eggs was a pagan symbol of rebirth at springtime for the Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Persians and even the Chinese. Christians adopted the colored egg as a symbol of new life which comes with the Resurrection.

Sweet breads: In many cultures, Holy Week was traditionally a time for baking sweet breads, cakes and pastries that would be served on Easter Sunday.

New clothes: From the time of the early Christians, the newly baptized wore white garments made from new linen. In medieval times, it became a tradition for people to wear new clothes on Easter Sunday, symbolizing the “new life” that comes with the Resurrection. In some places it was believed that bad luck would come to those who could afford new Easter clothes but refused to buy them.

Easter lilies: The tradition of buying Easter lilies during Holy Week for use as decorations in homes and churches came into practice in the 1800s. The white flower is a symbol of purity and new life that heralds the resurrection of Jesus.

Blessing of Easter baskets: In many cultures, families bring food that will be eaten on Easter Sunday to church in a basket for a special blessing on Holy Saturday.

Holy Water blessings: Some families bring holy water containers to Mass on Easter so they can bring home some Easter water, which is blessed during the Easter Vigil, to bless their homes.

The Sacred Triduum

The word “Triduum” comes from the Latin word meaning “three days,” and encompasses the three most sacred days in the Church year. It begins at sundown on Holy Thursday, reaches a high point at the Easter Vigil,and concludes with evening prayer at sundown on Easter Sunday. The liturgical celebrations during the Triduum on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday are rich with symbolism and flow from one to another in a seamless way. While it may appear as if these liturgies are separate and distinct, they are actually intended to be one continuous celebration that commemorates the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. For this reason, Catholics are encouraged to observe the entire Triduum by attending all of the liturgies.

The Chrism Mass

During Holy Week bishops bless sacred oils in the diocesan cathedral at a special liturgy known as the Chrism Mass. The oil of chrism is used during baptisms, confirmation, ordination and the consecration of altars. The oil of catechumens is used at the Easter Vigil. The oil of the sick is used to anoint people during the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. The oils are then distributed to the parishes for sacramental celebrations throughout the year. As part of the liturgical reforms of Vatican II, the renewal of priestly promises was incorporated into the Chrism Mass. The Chrism Mass is an ancient celebration that traditionally takes place on Holy Thursday morning. But in recent years, many dioceses celebrate the Chrism Mass on an evening earlier in Holy Week so that more people can attend.

Quiz answers

1. Gethsemane or the Mount of Olives
2. Judas
3. Peter
4. Pontius Pilate
5. Barabbas
6. 14
7. three
8. Simon of Cyrene
9. Veronica
10. King of the Jews
11. Joseph of Arimathea
12. Mary Magdalene

Originally appeared in Our Sunday Visitor.

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Lent

Fully Entering Into the Triduum

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During the Sacred Triduum — the days of Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday — the strangest thing will occur. Millions of Christians throughout the world will gather to honor the…

During the Sacred Triduum — the days of Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday — the strangest thing will occur. Millions of Christians throughout the world will gather to honor the humiliation, torture and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In a global culture that usually celebrates power, strength and beauty, this public veneration of something so horrible is always a little shocking. Could it be that what people find so absolutely compelling about the Passion narrative is the vulnerability of God?

In the Christ event, God leaves the safety and glory of heaven, in a certain sense, and embraces the limitations of our human condition, coming to know in the flesh both the glory and tragedy of our nature without ever having sinned. In the last week of his life, Jesus completely hands himself over to us. In the foot washing and the Eucharist, in the scourging and the crucifixion, the Son of God loves us completely without restrictions, conditions or limits. Whether we accept, reject or ignore this Divine Love, Jesus never changes his fundamental stance toward us.

In Roman and Greek mythology, the gods are always conspiring to manipulate humanity to serve their often-selfish ends and egotistical schemes. In Christ, we encounter the surprising subversion of this oppressive game. God serves us! In absolute humility, availability, vulnerability and mercy, God has come to love, pardon and save us.

The weakness of the cross, the simplicity of the Eucharist, the tenderness of the foot washing, the love that seeks to embrace a traitor, a thief and a coward is so beyond the grasp of power politics, the swirl of social hubris and the world of earthly grasping that it takes our breath away. No wonder that kings would stand speechless in the presence of the Suffering Servant, as Isaiah proclaims.

If God could become that poor, humble and vulnerable to love me, how can I ever stand on my own self-importance? This week, we celebrate the strangest things: weakness becomes strength, love conquers fear, miserable despair transforms into resurrected hope and perpetual death gives way to eternal life, and it’s all because a naked criminal was thrown down on a cross 2,000 years ago, and he embraced it as if it were his marriage bed.

We should let the Lord love us during Holy Week. The palm we held on Palm Sunday shold be a symbol of our praise, reverence and love for the humble Master who has saved and set us free. The Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening is an opportunity to taste the surprising grace of the Eucharist and surrender to the consolation of the foot washing. Listening to the Passion and venerating the cross on Good Friday gives us the opportunity to embrace the cross in our own lives, no matter what form it may take. Know that the mystery of suffering in our lives is the sacred ladder by which we will ascend to the beauty of the Kingdom of heaven.

Holy Saturday is a sacred time of rest and silence, as the Lord sleeps in the tomb and all of creation awaits a salvation it does not yet understand. A beautiful ancient text from the early Church pictures Jesus roaming the abode of the dead on this day, unchaining Adam and Eve and all of the other souls who had been waiting for redemption since the foundation of the world. Ask the Lord to set you free from the fear, sin and self-seeking that keeps you bound.

Gathering around the Easter fire at the Vigil, we call to mind how we began the Lenten journey marked with the ashes of sin, failure and defeat, but now you have become filled with fire — the mighty force of the risen Christ and the courageous strength of the Holy Spirit. As we proclaim the resurrection of Christ as the beautiful truth and transformative meaning of human history, know that the Lord walks with you, loves you and is leading you to the fullness of joy and peace.

The shocking, strange and powerful events of Holy Week should lead us to tears and laughter, gratitude and praise, humble awareness of our weakness and joyful acclamation of God’s victory. The Triduum is a time for God to break open our hearts, so that the gracious torrent of Divine Mercy that flows from the side of the crucified Christ will wash us clean, forgive our sins and fashion us ever more deeply in the new creation of the Lord’s saving death and resurrection.

Bishop Donald J. Hying is the Bishop-elect for the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin.

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Lent

What Palm Sunday Means

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There is both great joy and terrible sorrow associated with this day, the Sunday that begins Holy Week, the Sunday that portends the crucifixion of Our Lord. It is a…

There is both great joy and terrible sorrow associated with this day, the Sunday that begins Holy Week, the Sunday that portends the crucifixion of Our Lord.

It is a time of despair, perplexity and contradiction. The very people who applaud Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem that morning, shouting out “Hosanna” and words of adoration will, within a week, be crying, “Crucify Him.” They will go from acclaiming Him as the new King of Israel to urging His life be traded in favor of a convicted criminal; they will first praise Him and then mock Him. Even friends entering Jerusalem at His side will desert Jesus. All this discord will take place during one week beginning on what we call Palm Sunday.

Exuberant Crowds

As we read in the Gospels, Jesus went to Jerusalem to join with throngs of other Jews to celebrate the Passover feast as had been prescribed in the Old Testament books of Exodus and Deuteronomy. According to the Gospel of St. John, Jesus and many of his followers journeyed the less than two miles from Bethany on that Sunday, arriving outside Jerusalem. As was the custom, pilgrims that had already arrived in the city went out to greet newly arriving groups; some had never seen Jesus but had heard about the miracles attributed to Him and were caught up in the excitement.

Those arriving with and greeting Jesus were large in number as explained by John’s Gospel: “When the great crowd … heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took palm branches and went out to meet him, and cried out: ‘Hosanna! / Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, [even] the king of Israel’” (12:12-13).

This adulation was not lost on the Pharisees who were present. They said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He said in reply, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out” (see Lk 19:39-40). The Pharisees reported the events back to the Jewish high council, the Sanhedrin, which regarded Jesus’ ever growing popularity as a threat to their cozy relationship with the Romans. They were, in fact, planning to murder Him.

Previously, Our Lord had deliberately avoided popular acclaim, even fled, but this, upon entering Jerusalem, He accepts. Yet His actions are different than the people expected. He doesn’t present himself as a rival to Caesar; He is not the political messiah or the warrior king the multitude had clamored for. Instead of entering Jerusalem on a war horse or chariot, he enters on a donkey, a sign of peace; and not just any donkey, but one on which no one had ever sat, the prerogative of a king. Seeing Him on the donkey, the Jews surging around Him recalled the words of the Prophet Zechariah 500 years earlier:

“Exult greatly, O daughter Zion! / Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! / Behold: your king is coming to you; /a just savior is he, / Humble, and riding on a donkey, / on a colt, the foal of a donkey. / He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim / and the horse from Jerusalem” (Zec 9:9-10).

Pope Benedict XVI explained these Old Testament words as they related to Jesus: “He is a king who destroys the weapons of war, a king of peace and a king of simplicity, a king of the poor.… Jesus is not building on violence; he is not instigating a military revolt against Rome” (“Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week,” Ignatius Press, 2011, pp. 81-82).

Riding on the borrowed donkey, Jesus made His humble entrance into the city while the crowds were scattering their garments before Him and waving their palm branches. This joyful scene belies the traitorous acts, sorrow and agony that will soon follow, belies that this triumphant hero will be crucified like a criminal.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) offered a homily about Christ’s entry into Jerusalem: “How different the cries, ‘Away with him, away with him, crucify him,’ and then, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, hosanna, in the highest!’ How different the cries are that now are calling him ‘King of Israel’ and then in a few days’ time will be saying, ‘We have no king but Caesar!’ What a contrast between the green branches and the cross, between the flowers and the thorns! Before they were offering their own clothes for him to walk upon, and so soon afterwards they are stripping him of his, and casting lots upon them.”

Implication of the Palms

Palms were symbols of life among the nomadic tribes, who, when crossing the desert, rejoiced at seeing the palm tree as it indicated an oasis with life-giving water was near. Palms have long been a sign of victory, success and glory. Victorious armies or leaders returning from the battlefield or a long military campaign were welcomed by the populace jubilantly waving palm branches. Despite Jesus’ peaceful manner, when the Jews waved the palms at Him and spread their clothing over which He rode, they were affording Him the honors of a conquering hero and simultaneously defying the Roman occupiers.

On Palm Sunday, we still go out to meet Him, carry the blessed palms, joyfully sing out our hosanna and join in His triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. But soon our joy turns to somberness as, clutching our palm, we hear the narrative of Christ’s passion. We realize, once again, that His triumph, His true victory, will come through the cross. We know, as Jesus did, how Holy Week will end. We know that joy will turn to sorrow and back to joy. We know that through the horror of His suffering, followed by the glory of His resurrection, good will trump evil and life will trump death.

The palms we take home and put in a special place serve to remind us that Palm Sunday is not lost to the ages but that by Christ’s victory we, too, can achieve everlasting life. “For us too, they [palms] must be symbols of triumph, indicative of the victory to be won in our battle against the evil in ourselves and against the evil which roams about us. As we receive the blessed palm, let us renew our pledge to conquer with Jesus, but let us not forget that it was on the cross that He conquered” (“Divine Intimacy,” Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., Tan Books, 1997, pp. 392-393).

Reenacting Palm Sunday

Soon after the Resurrection, Christians wanted to visit the sites of Christ’s passion and even reenact the incidents that had taken place, such as His entry into Jerusalem. But such activity would not be possible until the fourth century when Constantine became emperor of the Roman Empire and ended all religious persecution. Later in that century, a Spanish pilgrim named Eigera visited Jerusalem. In her diary, she recorded how Christians re-created the events of Holy Week. She wrote that they gathered outside the city on the Sunday before Easter and listened to one of the Gospels telling of Christ’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. Then they marched together through the city gates while carrying olive or palm branches. Our Palm Sunday processions are akin to what Eigera witnessed 17 centuries ago.

By the ninth century, the procession with blessed palms had expanded beyond Jerusalem and during the Middle Ages became widespread throughout Europe. In the 17th century Christians were not only processing into church with palms but, during Mass, holding the palms while the Passion was being read.

Through the centuries, Palm Sunday and the procession of people holding palms would be celebrated in a variety of ways. In some locations the Blessed Sacrament was part of the procession, in other places the congregation started in the parish cemetery and then went into the church. Palms were sometimes blessed in one church and the people, carrying the palms, marched to another church for Mass. Most typical was the blessing of the people and the palms at a place outside the church and then processing in. For some time, even through the middle of the 20th century, the priest wore red vestments during the palm blessing and procession and then changed to a violet garment for Mass.

In 1955, the Church standardized and simplified the different entrances used on Palm Sunday: either an organized procession that begins somewhere outside the church, a solemn procession starting inside the church, or no procession at all. An entrance procession beginning at a location outside the church is used only once during the weekend Masses; it is not repeated at every Mass. The Church calls this day Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord.

D.D. Emmons writes from Pennsylvannia.

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