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Holy Week, a sub-season of Lent, begins on
Palm Sunday (sixth
Sunday in Lent) and embraces the last seven days before
Easter. The gospel story
of Jesus' trial and sufferings, which is usually read in churches
on Palm Sunday, is called the
Passion according to St. Matthew, St. Mark or St. Luke.
The Gospel Passion story includes, in one gospel or another,
- the agony in Gethsemane,
- the betrayal and the arrest,
- the hearings before the high Priest and Herod,
- the trial under Pontius Pilate,
- the scourging and mocking of Jesus by the soldiers,
- carrying the cross to Calvary; and
- the crucifixion and death of Jesus.
The cross is often used as a seasonal symbol for
Lent and for Holy Week.
Holy Week symbolism naturally center on the Instruments of
the Passion and on the persons and things mentioned in the gospel
accounts of the Crucifixion. We celebrate these on Maundy Thursday
(when Jesus was captured), Good Friday (when Jesus was crucified
and died on the cross), and Easter (when Jesus rose again from
the dead) and again, at Christmas-Epiphany,
legend has added much which is not explicit in the Bible accounts.
Holy week is preceded by Palm Sunday, celebrated on the Sunday before
Easter. It marks the triumphant entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem for Passover,
the end of Lent and the beginning of Holy Week and Christ's Passion.
From ancient times, palm branches were symbols of victory and triumph. The Romans
used to reward their champions of the games with palm-branches. Also
military triumphs, and celebrations of victory, were observed with palms. It
seems that the Jews followed the same custom of carrying palm-branches on
their festive occasions. That is what happened during the solemn entry of
Jesus into the Holy City before His last Passover.
In the New Testament, the palm-branches become a symbol of
martyrdom meaning victory over death. For this reason in Christian art
martyrs were usually represented with palms in their hands. These branches
were usually cut from date-palms. Jesus Christ,
after raising Lazarus, was finally recognized by the Jewish people as their
Messiah. When He arrived in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, they
greeted Him with a triumphant welcome. The Evangelist, however, hastened to
remark that it was done in fulfillment of a prophecy.
When the Apostles saw the enthusiastic crowds, they
brought a donkey colt and made their Master ride upon it, while the people
spread their cloaks and strewed branches from the trees on the road in front
of Him. Others took branches of palms in their hands and, cheering, cried
out: "Hosanna Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He Who comes in the
name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!".
As Jesus was entering the city, surrounded by the excited
crowds, the Scribes and the Pharisees became alarmed and decided to stop Him
at any cost. But the people kept acclaiming Him as their Messiah, saying,
"This is the Prophet, Jesus from Nazareth, in Galilee!" From earliest times, the Christians in Jerusalem
celebrated this event with great joy and solemnity, re-enacting Christ’s
triumphant entry into their city.
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