Palm Sunday is known as such because the faithful will often receive palm fronds which they use to participate in the reenactment of Christ's arrival in Jerusalem. In the Gospels, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a young donkey, and to the lavish praise of the townspeople who threw clothes, or possibly palms or small branches, in front of him as a sign of homage. This was a customary practice for people of great respect.
Palm branches are widely recognized symbol of peace and victory, hence their preferred use on Palm Sunday.
The use of a donkey instead of a horse is highly symbolic, it represents the humble arrival of someone in peace, as opposed to arriving on a steed in war (Source: https://www.catholic.org/lent/palmsunday.php).
This Palm Sunday, my family commemorated the day by attending a mass at Sta. Cruz Cruz in Manila. The blessing of the palm was held outside the church prior to the mass so I had the opportunity to take some pictures and videos to share with you how this event is practiced in the Philippines.
Unlike in the previous years, the people who flocked to the place of worship were not that much maybe because I was here from 5:00 p.m. up to 7:00 p.m. and not in the morning. Huh, I could just imagine the crowd buying palms and other memorabilia(s). Mind you, my family got the front seats, row 2 to be exact which didn't happen before.
Hopefully, in the next precious holy days I can still attend to this kind of gathering(s).
See you around!
