How to Reenact Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week and is considered by many to be the most solemn time on the Christian calendar. You can enhance the solemnity of this event and reenact the moment when Christ triumphantly entered the city of Jerusalem. This reenactment is usually performed to open Palm Sunday services.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Palm leaves or branches

1. Move outside of the church or building in which the Palm Sunday service will be held.
2. Distribute palms and flowers to everyone in the procession. Encourage participants to keep one palm for themselves while saving the other palms for the reenactment.
3. Utter a prayer of victory or triumph. One sample passage is, "Today, we honor Christ our triumphant King by carrying these branches. May we honor you every day by living always in Him," which is taken from the St. Anthony Messenger (see Resources below).
4. Throw the extra palms and flowers onto the ground as you are walking toward the church.
5. Begin the procession toward the place of worship. Partipants might sing specified hymns during the procession.
6. Participants should enter the church or place of worship, discontinue any singing and chanting and take their places in the pews.

Tips & Warnings

• Although most people reenact Palm Sunday at their churches, this ritual can be adapted for use at home.
• A more elaborate version of this process is to use a donkey or horse and have someone ride it toward the church or gathering place. Participants can then throw down palms in the donkey's path.
• In areas where palm branches are scarce, participants may use olive or spruce branches instead.
• If the procession passes over the street, you may need a permit. Otherwise, a procession on the sidewalk can work just as well.