Palm Sunday
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At Palm Sunday we begin The icons show Jesus riding on the colt of a donkey, on an animal that had never had a human rider on its back. But the colt submits instantly to Jesus: it recognizes its Creator, and further it is a fulfilment of Zechariah 9:9: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
People had heard of the raising of Lazarus from the dead after four days in the tomb, as well as of Jesus’ preaching and miracles over the past years. The crowds placed their cloaks on the road as a sign both of submission to Jesus and honoring Him. They cut branches to wave in the air as a sign of a royal welcome, and sang Hosanna which means “save now”: the people were still looking for a military Messiah who would overthrow the Romans and establish an independent Jewish kingdom. The people acclaim Jesus as “Son of David”, thus giving Him the title of Messiah and King of Israel, but not the Messiah Jesus had identified Himself as: the Prince of Peace. In western Churches, the Passion is read today. In Eastern Churches, only the entry into
The custom developed of using pussy willows instead of palm fronds because the palms were very expensive to import, and the pussy willows are the first flowering branches in northern and eastern Europe.