How to Observe Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday is the sixth and final Sunday of Lent and the beginning of Holy Week, the most solemn period in the Christian church. In 2000, Palm Sunday falls on April 16, Easter on April 23.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Go to church. Even if you're not religious in a formal way, the Palm Sunday service ' particularly the Catholic Mass ' is worth seeing.
2. Listen as the celebrant of the Mass says five prayers asking God to bless the palm branches; he then sprinkles them with holy water, infuses them with incense and, after another prayer, distributes them to the congregation as the choir sings "Pueri Hebraeorum." Clergy and congregation form a procession and, carrying the blessed palms, march out of the church.
3. While everyone else waits outside, two or four chanters enter the church and sing the hymn "Gloria, laus," which those outside repeat.
4. At the end of the hymn, the subdeacon knocks at the church door with the staff of the cross, the door is opened and everyone enters singing "Ingrediente Domino."
5. Stay for the subsequent Mass, the highlight being the singing of the Passion according to St. Matthew, during which everyone holds their palm branches.
6. Keep in mind that, traditionally, the faithful took their blessed palms home and used them as protective charms in the house, barn or fields.

Tips & Warnings

• In pre-Christian times, palm branches signified joy and victory over enemies. Early Christians adopted the symbol as one of victory of the spirit over the flesh; hence their association with Christ and with martyrs in general.
• Some of the blessed palms are reserved for burning so their ashes can be distributed the following year on Ash Wednesday (see "How to Observe Ash Wednesday").
• In parts of the world where palm fronds are hard to come by, the church uses branches of olive, box elder or spruce instead.