PALM SUNDAY. — The Sunday that precedes Easter is called by Isidore of Seville (d. 636) Palm Sunday (dies palmarum). Earlier, Latin Fathers referred to it as Dominica de Passione Domini; other names included Capitilavium (from the Spanish practice of catechumens washing their heads and entire bodies in preparation for Baptism), Pascha competentium (from the Gallican Church’s custom of delivering the traditio symboli to the competentes or baptismal candidates on this day), or Dominica indulgentiae (from the reconciliation of penitents; Würzburg Lectionary and Prague Sacramentary of Isen). Today, it features three particular elements: a) the blessing of palms; b) the procession with the palms; c) the commemoration of Christ’s Passion in the Holy Mass.
I. THE BLESSING OF PALMS
This takes place before the principal Mass. Palms or olive branches are blessed, and in northern countries (since the 9th century) branches of other trees such as willow, box, yew, and even flowers (dies florum, Pascha floridum; cf. Pseudo-Alcuin), are used both for the following procession and as sacramentals. Initially, the blessing was not given to the branches themselves but to those who carried them.The blessing of palms first appears in the 8th century in Gallican and Mozarabic Sacramentaries (e.g., Bobbio, no. 558), and in the 9th century in Bavarian Sacramentaries (e.g., Isen or Codex of Prague, no. 85; Salzburg, ed. Dold, p. 79). The formulas multiplied in subsequent centuries. Two usages are distinguished (Hallinger): in Romano-Frankish regions (e.g., Pseudo-Alcuin, Cluny), the blessing took place in the main church with simple prayer formulas, while in Germanic regions, in a separate church, a more elaborate rite was observed, consisting of readings and prayers in a structure resembling the Ordo Missae, excluding the Canon. This rite, however, is not a remnant of a separate Mass from which the procession originated but, as Callevaert writes, an artificial construction to arrange the ceremonies—readings and prayers—in a logical order. Indeed, the blessing begins after the Gospel with a preface, similar to the blessing of the baptismal font.
The solemn rite already appears in a 9th-century Sacramentary (Munich 3005), spreads with the German Pontifical of the 10th–11th centuries, and was accepted by Rome in the 11th–12th centuries (cf. Vetus Missale Romanum, ed. Azevedo, Rome 1752; Ordo Officii Ecclesiae Latinae [of 1145], ed. L. Fischer, Munich 1914).
The Roman rite today consists of a Missae catechumenorum, beginning with an Introit antiphon (Matt. 21:9; without a psalm), the oration “Deus, quem diligere,” the reading of Exod. 15:27 and 16:1–7, the responsory “Collegerunt” (John 11:47; 49:50, 53) or “In monte Oliveti” (Matt. 26:39 and 41), and the Gospel “Cum appropinquasset” (Matt. 21:1–9; formerly also Mark 11:1ff. or John 12:12ff.). This is followed by the solemn blessing, which contains many reminiscences of the prayers of the Greek rite. The Preface, taken from a Gallican Mass for apostles or martyrs and adapted to the Roman rite no earlier than the 15th century, is followed by the Sanctus, which includes the “Osanna” and “Benedictus” of this day. The blessed palms, sprinkled with holy water and incense, are distributed as the antiphons “Pueri Hebraeorum” are sung. After a prayer, the procession follows.
II. THE PROCESSION
This is older than the blessing of palms and is modeled on the Jerusalem procession described by Egeria in the 4th century, imitating Christ’s triumphal entry. It first appeared in Spain and Gaul; Amalarius already refers to it as a general usage. From a church outside the city (on elevated ground to represent Bethany or the Mount of Olives), where the branches were blessed, the procession moved toward the city. The figure of the Lord was represented by the book of the Holy Gospels or by a large uncovered and veiled crucifix; in England, the Blessed Sacrament was also carried in procession; in Germany, the so-called “Palm Donkey” was used: a wooden donkey on wheels, with a figure of the Savior. At the city gate, homage was solemnly paid to the Redeemer: the schola, spreading their capes and sacred vestments on the ground and laying down their branches before the Cross, knelt in adoration (singing the hymn by Theodulf, “Gloria, laus et honor”); the people approached in small groups and laid their flowers before the Cross. Then the bishop, accompanied by the clergy, entered. At the words of the antiphon “Percutiam pastorem,” a cleric struck the bishop lightly on the shoulders with his hand or with a palm branch. Then the procession entered the city. Upon reaching the cathedral, the “Benedictus” was intoned, and the bishop concluded the procession with a prayer. This ancient rite, described by Pseudo-Alcuin and in an Ordo from Besançon, is still observed today in various dioceses of Germany.In the current Roman rite, the procession must leave the church. Upon returning, it finds the door closed. The hymn by Theodulf is sung alternately with cantors remaining inside, and at its conclusion, the subdeacon bearing the processional cross strikes the door with the tip of the cross. All re-enter singing the responsory “Ingrediente Domino.” The ceremony of striking the door, already present in the Roman Pontifical of the 12th century, was introduced into the Roman Missal in 1604 under Clement VIII.
III. THE HOLY MASS
This is dedicated to the memory of Christ’s Passion (cf. Ps. 21: “Deus, Deus meus,” from the Introit and Tract); the Epistle treats of humiliation. Already in the time of Pope Leo I (Sermon on the Passion of the Lord, 1.5), the Passion according to St. Matthew was read. Around the year 1000, in northern churches, the custom arose of having the Passion sung by three cantors; in Italy, since the 15th century, the parts of the people (turba) have been entrusted to a choir, sometimes performed in polyphony. The special signs in the Passion text (T = tacite, or trahe or tene; C = cito, celeriter; S = sursum or sonoriter), which once indicated the melody, now designate the persons performing or singing: the T, or (since the Middle Ages) the cross, represents the part of Christ, the narrator, and the various individual parts. At the words “emittis spiritum,” the narrative is interrupted, all kneel, and a period of meditation follows. This practice, already observed in some Benedictine monasteries in the time of St. Louis, King of France (d. 1270), who introduced it into his private chapel, was accepted in Rome by the end of the 14th century.IV. FOLKLORE
Palm Sunday opens the cycle of traditional customs of Holy Week, which concludes on Easter Monday. It is also called “Flowered Easter” (*Pasqua fiorita*), on account of the use of flowers or flowering branches in the various ceremonies.Popular devotion faithfully follows the official liturgy, merely enlivening it with expressions of innate artistic taste and intense faith. The focal point consists of the blessed palms, which are distributed in church during services and which each faithful carries away and keeps, for they are credited with miraculous powers, especially against storms. In homes the palms are customarily placed above the bed, beside some sacred image. Often they are adorned with ribbons or gilded with gold dust and woven into original and pleasing shapes.
Particular importance for the entire Catholic world attaches to the distribution of palms that takes place in St Peter’s, Rome. By concession of Pope Sixtus V, the prerogative of supplying them belongs to the descendants of the Bresca family of Sanremo. Three hundred of the finest palms from the Riviera are chosen for this purpose, and from them are formed five bundles of sixty branches each; these are then taken into custody by the Vatican standard-bearer and skillfully interwoven. From the detached fronds as many crosses are made, which are attached to the olive branches. Another three hundred palms are sent to the cathedral chapters and monasteries. But the great palm offered to the Pope is worked by the Camaldolese nuns, by privilege granted them by Leo XII in 1829. It takes the form of a trophy: it rests on a small wooden base, is adorned with flowers and bears at the top a sacred image on cardboard surrounded by palms.
Intense also is the distribution in St Peter’s Square, and not only of olive branches but of true palms, by women and boys who sell them for a small alms. According to the climate of different countries and their respective flora, these palms