The Catholic faithful wave their palm branches while participating in a Palm Sunday procession in Manila April 1, 2012.Reuters
The Catholic faithful wave their palm branches while participating in a Palm Sunday procession in Manila April 1, 2012.ReutersA priest, wheeled on a makeshift cart, sprinkles holy water as the Catholic faithful wave their palm branches while participating in a Palm Sunday procession in Manila April 1, 2012ReutersChurchgoers wave their woven palms in front of a crucifix during Palm Sunday mass in Manila April 1,2012. Palm Sunday is the start of Holy Week which is marked throughout the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country.ReutersDevotees wave palm fronds as they wait for a Roman Catholic priest to bless it with holy water at Redemptorist Church to celebrate Palm Sunday in Baclaran town, located in Paranaque city which is part of metro Manila, April 1, 2012. Palm Sunday is one of the high points in the observance of Lent, a period of fasting and penitence in the Roman Catholic calendar, in the largely Roman Catholic countryReutersA man works a palm branch for sale outside a church in Tegucigalpa March 30, 2012. Catholics around the country get ready to celebrate Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week celebrations.ReutersA woman makes a cross for sale outside a church in Tegucigalpa March 30, 2012. Catholics around the country are getting ready to celebrate Palm Sunday, the beginning of the Holy Week celebrationsReutersPalm branches for sale are seen outside a church in Tegucigalpa March 30, 2012. Catholics around the country are getting ready to celebrate Palm Sunday, the beginning of the Holy Week celebrations.ReutersChurchgoers, with their woven palms, touch the glass where a baby Jesus doll, called Sto. Nino, is encased during a Palm Sunday mass in Manila April 1, 2012. Palm Sunday is the start of Holy Week which is marked throughout the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country.Reuters
Christians around the world will celebrate Palm Sunday... the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem... on the Sunday before Easter.
The ocassion marks the beginning of the Holy Week, the most sacred days of the Christian calendar, to be followed by Maundy Thursday and Good Friday all the way up to Easter and the events leading up to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In the Holy Bible, Saint John describes the happenings on Palm Sunday: "The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,"Hosanna!","Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!","Blessed is the King of Israel!"
During Palm Sunday services, large palm branches are carried in processions... to remember the palm leaves the people of Jerusalem waved when Jesus arrived.
After the church services and procession, the palm crosses are burned at the start of Lent the next year to provide the ash for Ash Wednesday.
Check out these photos of Palm Sunday from all around the world...
