Palm Sunday is the transition to Holy Week, i.e. the most important salvation event – Kurier Wileński

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Palm Sunday is one of the most important holidays in the Catholic Church. It precedes Easter and symbolizes the solemn entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. It also begins one of the most important periods in the liturgical year. We are talking about Holy Week, which brings us closer to celebrating the upcoming Easter.

– In the spiritual dimension, we should try to live this culminating time of Lent as beautifully as possible, which begins on Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is the transition to Holy Week, which is the most important saving event. Palm Sunday itself reminds us of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem before his Passion. It is an entry pointing to Jesus as the King and the Messiah, stresses Fr. prelate Wojciech Górlicki, pastor of the Vilnius parish of st. Apostles Peter and Paul.

The liturgy of the Church mentions on that day the solemn welcome of Christ in Jerusalem, which is mentioned by all four evangelists. There is also a blessing of palms.

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– Palm Sunday takes its name from the fact that those who greeted Christ’s triumphant arrival in Jerusalem held palms in their hands. But this triumph brings us into the passion and death of Christ. So we should plan to live these days of Holy Week as far as possible by participating in the liturgy of the Holy Mass. If you are still spiritually unprepared, you can schedule confession and liturgy on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, and of course, especially on Sunday during Mass. resurrection. I invite everyone to such a mobilization for the last stage of Lent – encourages Fr. prelate Wojciech Górlicki.

Read more: Palm Sunday – a time of joy and reflection

Palm trees – a symbol of joy and rebirth of life

The beautiful tradition of blessing palms is associated with Palm Sunday. Traditional Easter palms in the Vilnius region are not similar to those growing in the Middle East, but they symbolize the same thing – joy and triumph. Our palms are willow branches, often embellished with evergreen twigs of boxwood, juniper or yew. For centuries, willow has been considered a “life-loving” tree, a plant with almost inexhaustible strength. Hence it is a symbol of vital forces. Twigs of blooming willow are called “catkins” or “cats”, in the spring they are the first to wake up after winter lethargy and bring hope for the rebirth of life.

Absolutely unique are the so-called. Vilnius palms, real works of art made of dried flowers, herbs and cereals. They are the work of native palmers from villages near Vilnius, but they are also more and more often made by schoolchildren during special workshops. During classes organized by individual cultural centers in the Vilnius region, palm runners teach everyone the secrets of palm making so that this extraordinary skill will not be forgotten.

According to folk beliefs, the consecrated palm had sacral properties, so it was stored until the following year behind a sacred image, and when it was time to prepare a new one, the old one was burned, because as a sacred object it could not be left unattended.

Many beliefs and practices were associated with the Easter palm. After leaving the church, the faithful hit each other with newly consecrated palms with the words: “The palm beats – it will not kill. In six days, in six nights, we’ll see Easter!” After returning home, household members and animals were touched with it. “Beating” with the palm was supposed to stimulate the vital forces of the hit person and give him energy, health and strength.

Read more: For Palm Sunday with your own palm tree!


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