THE LITURGICAL USE OF PALMS

 

THE LITURGICAL USE OF PALMS

We know that in the beginning of the 5^th century Christians in Jerusalem would gather on the Mount of Olives early in the afternoon of the Sunday before Easter.  It is from this mount that Jesus had processed into Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday.  At the top of the mount the Christians would celebrate a lengthy liturgy of the word and, as evening approached, they went in procession towards Jerusalem carrying palm or olive branches.  As far as we know, this is the origin of our Palm Sunday celebration, which is properly called in the Roman Missal today as “Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord.”  Christians in other parts of the world were inspired by the Christians in Jerusalem to make the same observance on Palm Sunday, with a procession through the streets to the cathedral or their church. 

Today we gather here in West Grove at the main doors of our church, read the Gospel of the procession, bless the palms, and then process in.  We hope in some way to imitate the jubilant crowd that surrounded Jesus as he entered the holy city.  All four Gospels note that he entered while sitting on a colt or an ass.  The people laid their garments in front of him and waved palm branches, as would be done for a conquering king.  They believed that Jesus was the fulfillment of messianic prophecy and cried out “Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”  They expected that Jesus would use his power to deliver them from the oppression of the Roman Army.  They were disappointed, and within a week many who had welcomed his entry into the city were now calling for the Roman governor to execute him, encouraged by Israel’s religious leaders.  “They cried out, ‘Away with him!  Away with him!  Crucify him!’ (John 19:15).   

For this reason, after a joyful procession the liturgy quickly becomes solemn.  The Scriptures of the Passion are proclaimed.  This year, the Gospel according to Matthew is read.  Next year it will be read from St. Mark and the following year from St. Luke.  You might be interested to know that the rubrics in the Roman Missal indicate that “After the narrative of the Passion, a brief homily should take place, if appropriate.”  Brief!  This is because the whole experience of the procession and liturgy is itself the homily.  The homilist can add little to it.  The same is suggested for the Service on Good Friday, during which the Passion according to St. John is read every year. 

The use of palms signified joy in the Old Testament.  The Israelites were told that on the first day of the Feast of Booths (Sukkot in Hebrew), “You shall gather foliage from majestic trees, branches of palms and boughs of myrtles and of valley poplars, and then for a week you shall make merry before the Lord, your God” (Leviticus 23:40).  Palms eventually also became a sign of the triumph of martyrs, as depicted in the Book of Revelation: “After this, I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue.  They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands” (Rev 7:9).  Carrying the palms in procession symbolizes our participation in the victory of Jesus who, by his Death and Resurrection, took possession of the heavenly city – the New Jerusalem.  Jesus is the first of martyrs.  Because they followed him, the martyrs share in his victory over their executioners.  Their testimony and their blood were the seed of their future resurrection, and of a rich harvest of souls for God.