<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><base href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palm-Sunday"><style id="print"></style><title>Palm Sunday | Meaning, Facts, Observances, & Significance | Britannica</title><div class="original-url"><br><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palm-Sunday">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palm-Sunday</a><br><br></div><div id="article" role="article" style="-webkit-locale: "en"; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; font-family: -apple-system-font; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class="system exported">
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<div class="page" style="text-align: start; overflow-wrap: break-word; max-width: 100%;"><h1 class="title" style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 1.95552em; line-height: 1.2141em; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; text-align: start; display: block; max-width: 100%;">Palm Sunday</h1><div class="leading-image" style="max-width: 100%; margin-bottom: 1.15em; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: -apple-system-font; font-size: 0.75rem; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8);"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/12/129912-050-0E157B9A/congregation-palm-fronds-Palm-Sunday-India.jpg?w=400&h=300&c=crop" alt="Palm Sunday" class="" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto; margin: auto; display: block; clear: both;" data-unique-identifier=""></div><p style="max-width: 100%;"><strong style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span>Palm Sunday</strong>, also called <strong style="max-width: 100%;">Passion Sunday</strong>, in the Christian tradition, the first day of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Holy-Week" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Holy Week</a> and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sunday-day-of-week" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Sunday</a> before <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Easter-holiday" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Easter</a>, <a data-term="commemorating" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commemorating" data-type="MW" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">commemorating</a> <span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jesus" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Jesus Christ’s</a> triumphal entry into <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Jerusalem" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Jerusalem</a>. It is associated in many churches with the blessing and procession of <span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/palm-tree" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">palms</a> (leaves of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/date-palm" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">date palm</a> or twigs from locally available trees).</p><!--[P1]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[AM1]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[MOD1]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><p style="max-width: 100%;">These special ceremonies were taking place toward the end of the 4th century in Jerusalem and are described in the travelogue <em style="max-width: 100%;">Peregrinatio Etheriae</em> (<em style="max-width: 100%;">The Pilgrimage of Etheria</em>). In the West the earliest evidence of the ceremonies is found in the Bobbio Sacramentary (8th century). During the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Middle-Ages" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Middle Ages</a> the ceremony for the blessing of the palms was elaborate: the procession began in one church, went to a church in which the palms were blessed, and returned to the church in which the procession had originated for the singing of the <a data-term="liturgy" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/liturgy" data-type="EB" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">liturgy</a>. The principal feature of the liturgy that followed the procession was the chanting by three deacons of the account of the <span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Passion-Christianity" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Passion</a> of Christ (Matthew 26:36–27:54). Musical settings for the crowd parts were sometimes sung by the choir. After reforms of the <span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Roman Catholic</a> liturgies in 1955 and 1969, the ceremonies were somewhat simplified in order to emphasize the suffering and death of Christ.</p><!--[P2]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[AM2]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[MOD2]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><p style="max-width: 100%;">The day is now called officially Passion Sunday. The liturgy begins with a blessing and procession of palms, but prime attention is given to a lengthy reading of the Passion, with parts taken by the priest, lectors, and congregation. The palms are often taken home by the members of the congregation to serve as sacramentals (sacred signs of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/sacrament" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">sacraments</a>), and some of them are burned the following year to serve as the ashes for <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ash-Wednesday-Christian-holy-day" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Ash Wednesday</a>.</p><!--[P3]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[AM3]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[MOD3]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><p style="max-width: 100%;">In the <span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-Orthodoxy" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Byzantine liturgy</a> the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eucharist" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Eucharist</a> on Palm Sunday is followed by a procession in which the priest carries the icon representing the events being <a data-term="commemorated" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commemorated" data-type="MW" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">commemorated</a>. In the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Anglicanism" data-show-preview="true" style="color: rgb(65, 110, 210); max-width: 100%; text-decoration: underline;">Anglican</a> churches some of the traditional ceremonies were revived in the 19th century. The majority of Protestant churches, while celebrating the day without ritual ceremonies, give palms increasing prominence.</p><!--[P4]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[AM4]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span><!--[MOD4]--><span style="max-width: 100%;"></span></div></div></div><br><br><div dir="ltr">Reverend Dr. Carolyn Peters, National Federation Of The Blind, Ohio, affiliate, vice president, Ohio Communities Of Faith division, president, Miami Valley Chapter, Dayton, Ohio president. 1-937-657-5134,<div><br></div><div>Dr.carolyn.peters@gmail.com☺️👏🙏🤲</div></div></body></html>