Palm Sunday is an important church holiday. It is celebrated by Orthodox Christians, Catholics, and many Protestants. The official name of this day is the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem because it is to this event that the celebration is dedicated. For many people in our country, this day is primarily associated with willow twigs, which are actively sold the day before.
When the Orthodox celebrate Palm Sunday?
Each year Palm Sunday falls on a different date and is celebrated a week before Easter, or on the sixth Sunday of Lent. Orthodox Palm Sunday in 2022 will fall on April 17.
When Catholics celebrate Palm Sunday
The date of the holiday is calculated in the same way as in Orthodoxy. But the date of Palm Sunday, like Easter itself, is not the same for Catholics and Orthodox. The discrepancy is due, among other things, to the fact that the Julian calendar is used in Orthodoxy and the Gregorian calendar in Catholicism. In 2022, a holiday for representatives of this branch of Christianity fell on April 10.
History of the holiday
It is believed that the holiday originated in Jerusalem. Its appearance is attributed to the IV century: then the Church introduced the custom to consecrate palm trees. Hence, one of the names of the holiday - "week of wai" (Greek "waia" - palm tree). Mentions of the holiday are found among the saints' Ambrose of Mediolana and Epiphanius of Cyprus in the 4th century. His images on sarcophagi date back to the same period. The title "Die Dominica in palmas" (Sunday Day of Palms) appears in the liturgical books of the Roman rite from the end of the 7th to the beginning of the 8th centuries.
The essence of the holiday
This day is celebrated on the eve of the beginning of Holy Week and reminds of the evangelical events preceding the suffering of Christ on the Cross and his Resurrection.
On Saturday, Jesus performed a miracle and resurrected Lazarus from Bethany. This shocked those present. Many who saw and heard about this event believed in Christ precisely after this event.
The next day, Sunday, he entered Jerusalem, where many pilgrims had gathered before the feast of the Jewish Passover. Jesus rode into the city on a young donkey, like David after the battle over Goliath. He was greeted as a winner, greeted with palm branches and a song of praise: “Hosanna (salvation) to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! " On the road along which he rode, people threw palm branches and laid clothes. It is from here that the western tradition of blessing palm branches takes its roots. In Russia, they were replaced by the willow.
Orthodox Palm Sunday traditions
In Orthodoxy, Palm Sunday is one of the twelve - the twelve most important holidays after Easter. Unlike other similar days, it has no forefeast and after the feast. Sometimes Lazarev Saturday is called the forefeast.
The celebration begins with an all-night vigil, during which special prayer is read. The worshipers meet the invisibly coming Lord and greet Him, holding candles and willow branches in their hands - they replace palm leaves in our country. In the second part of the vigil, Matins, a special prayer for the blessing "wai" is read. After her, the brought willows are sprinkled with holy water. It is believed that consecrated willows should be kept in the house for a year.
Traditions of Catholic Palm Sunday
In Catholicism, the festive service is preceded by a procession around the church or in it. People with lighted candles and branches (palm in the southern regions, palm trees in the northern) in their hands are passing by, singing festive antiphons and a hymn to Christ the King. Such a procession symbolizes the people who came out to meet Jesus during the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem.
After the procession, a mass is held, which includes the reading of the Passion of the Lord. They are read-only on Palm Sunday and Good Friday.
Consecrated branches are kept in homes until the next Great Lent. On the day of its beginning - Ash Wednesday - they are burned.
Folk beliefs
In the old days, they treated with willow branches - according to popular belief, they whipped a sick person on the back, saying the words:
“Willow, willow, willow,
Golden willow.
And I will eat a willow,
And I will say the proverb:
Willow, give me health! ".
Verba was even given to livestock to rid animals of disease.
The tradition of lightly hitting each other with a consecrated willow has been preserved to this day. The action is accompanied by the words: "I am not hitting, the willow beats!" It is believed to bring health and wellness.
Popular questions and answers
Why did the willow become the symbol of this holiday?
According to the Bible, on this day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people greeted him and threw clothes and palm branches on the road as a sign of greeting and admiration. In southern countries, palm branches remain an attribute of the holiday, but in the northern regions, including Russia, they have been replaced with more affordable plants. In Russia, the willow was endowed with positive properties and used to protect against evil. She became a new symbol of the holiday.
Can you go to the cemetery on Palm Sunday?
There is no ban on visiting the cemetery on this day. However, great holidays are days of joy, and first of all, on this day, it is worth visiting the church. And it is better to go to the cemetery on special memorial days.
Is it possible to have a wedding on Palm Sunday?
Do not forget that Great Lent is still in progress, and it is not worth celebrating a wedding during it, especially on the eve of Holy Week. Besides, Palm Sunday is not a time for noisy feasts.
Outsourced And Translated From: kp.ru
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