The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday will begin outdoors (weather permitting) with The Liturgy of the Palms; after which we will process to the nave to celebrate Holy Eucharist, Rite II. Branches will be distributed before the service and will be used during the procession of the liturgy of the palms.

Palm Sunday is the first day of Holy Week and the Sunday before Easter at which Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Mt 21:1-11, Mk 11:1-11a, Lk 19:29-40) and Jesus’ Passion on the cross (Mt 26:36-27:66, Mk 14:32-15:47, Lk 22:39-23:56) are recalled. The observance of Palm Sunday in Jerusalem was witnessed by the pilgrim Egeria in about 381-384. During this observance there was a procession of people down the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem. The people waved branches of palms or olive trees as they walked. They sang psalms, including Ps 118, and shouted the antiphon, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

The liturgy of the palms includes a reading of one of the gospel accounts of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem. Hymns, psalms, or anthems will be sung and the service will focus from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the solemnity of the Passion.