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Why is this week called, 'Holy'?

Picture
..We are called to enter this time with reverence and celebrate its rites with care and devotion. All normal parish activity should be put on hold so that the community can focus on these special days...
This Sunday is called Palm Sunday because it observes the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem that was marked by the crowds who were in Jerusalem for Passover waving palm branches and proclaiming him as the messianic king. Traditionally, worshippers enact the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem by the waving of palm branches and singing songs of celebration as they process into the church.

This Sunday is also known as Passion Sunday. The English word passion comes from a Latin word that means “to suffer,” the same word from which we derive the English word patient. The Gospel reading on this day is always the account of the Lord’s Passion from one of the synoptic Gospels – this year from Matthew. We hear related to us the story of Christ’s celebration of the Passover with the disciples, his betrayal and capture, trial and sentencing, execution and burial.

Passion /Palm Sunday is the first day of what has been known traditionally as ‘Holy Week’. The days of this week in the liturgical calendar are designated as Monday of Holy Week, Tuesday of Holy week, etc. We are called to enter this time with reverence and celebrate its rites with care and devotion. All normal parish activity should be put on hold so that the community can focus on these special days.

The travel diary of Egeria, a pilgrim to the Holy Lands in around the year 388, contains a detailed account of the “Great Week”, the week leading up to Easter. The commemoration of Christ’s triumphal entry into the city took place on the Sunday afternoon. Great crowds assembled on the Mount of Olives and after suitable hymns, and antiphons, and readings, they returned in procession to Jerusalem, escorting the bishop, and bearing palms and branches of olives before him. Special services in addition to the usual daily Office are also mentioned on each of the following days.

On the Thursday the Liturgy was celebrated in the late afternoon, and all received communion, after which the people went to the Mount of Olives to commemorate with appropriate readings and hymns the agony of Christ in the garden and his arrest, only returning to the city as day began to dawn on the Friday.

On the Friday again there were many services, the veneration of the great relic of the True Cross at midday being the highlight; while for three hours after midday another crowded service was held in commemoration of the Passion of Christ at which, according to Egeria, the sobs and lamentations of the people exceeded all description.
​
Holy Week observances help us to place the hope of the Resurrection, the promise of newness and life, against the background of death and endings. It is only in walking through the shadows and darkness of Holy Week and Good Friday, only in realising the horror and magnitude of sin and its consequences in the world incarnated in the dying Jesus on the cross, only in contemplating the ending and despair that the disciples felt on Holy Saturday, that we can truly understand the light and hope of Sunday morning!

By Elizabeth Harrington. This article first appeared in 'Liturgy Lines'.

Watch the following film to understand the stations of the cross, the context of the actual places where the events of the Passion took place in Jerusalem. 
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  • The Gift of Christian Hope
  • Archive
    • 2025 Jubilee Year
    • Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying
    • Liturgy Committees
    • Liturgy and Community
    • RCIA - The Power of Accompaniment
    • Liturgy with Children and Teens
    • Liturgical Music - Some Considerations
    • A Co_Responsible Church
    • Blessings
    • Christ with us in the Eucharist
    • Celebrating Advent
    • Sacramental Preparation
    • Mystery and Mission
    • Conversion, Healing, Penance
    • Desiderio Desideravi
    • In Search of Peace
    • Word of God Sunday
    • Living Lent >
      • Forty Lenten Ideas
      • Lent is a time to grow in the faith
      • Walking the Stations of the Cross this Lent
    • Saints and Souls >
      • Saintly Endeavours
      • Let the Dead Have November
      • Why We Pray for the Faithful Departed
    • Lay Liturgical Ministry >
      • Talents for Ministry
      • Nine Steps to Becoming a Better Lector
      • Ministers of Communion​
    • Music Matters >
      • Repertoire and Renewal
      • Liturgical Song and Evangelisation ​
      • 5 tips for effective music ministry
    • 50 Days of Easter >
      • Celebrating Easter's 50 Days
      • Aspects of the Ascension
      • Reflections for Pentecost Sunday
    • Saint Joseph >
      • Patris corde (With a Father's Heart)
      • Celebrating St Joseph in the Liturgy
      • St Joseph in Scripture
    • Christmas 2020 >
      • On the Meaning and Importance of the Nativity Scene
      • Botticelli - The Mystical Nativity
      • The Season of Christmas
    • Planning for Christmas 2020 >
      • Planning Christmas Masses 2020
      • Re-emerging With Purpose
      • Beyond Welcome: Show, Don't Tell
    • Signs and Symbols >
      • Sacramental Signs and Symbols
      • The cross reminds us of the sacrifices of the Christian life
      • Signs & Symbols: A Reflection
    • Looking Forward >
      • Solemnities on Saturdays
      • Our Family at Mass in the Age of Technology
      • Is your RCIA open all year-round? - Embracing 'Pyjama Catechesis'
    • Eucharist as Living Memory >
      • Memory is not Something Private
      • So what's wrong with a Virtual Mass?
      • The Middle of Nowhere
    • What have we learned from lockdown? >
      • Church After Coronavirus - New Understandings of Social MIssion
      • Virus and Vocation
      • Real Presence and Virtual Liturgies
    • Celebrating Holy Week in COVID times​ >
      • Coronavirus and the Eucharist
      • How to celebrate the liturgy when there is no Mass
      • Holy Week At Home
    • Solidarity and Unity >
      • Taking Communion to those who Self-Isolate
      • Peace and Solidarity
      • United to Christ We Are Never Alone
    • Preparing for Lent >
      • The Weeks of Lent in the Australian Imagination
      • How to Prepare for Lent
      • It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Lent
    • Liturgy with Children >
      • Using the Lectionary for Masses with Children
      • Praying Morning Prayer with Primary School Children
      • Directory for Masses with Children
    • Praying For Rain >
      • National Drought Prayer Campaign
      • Praying for Rain - Prayer Resources
      • A Ritual of Lament
    • Christian Initiation >
      • CATECHUMENATE - Rolling Year Round
      • Inculturating Christian Life in the Digital World
      • Tweens and Teens in the RCIA
    • Season of Creation >
      • Season of Creation September 1 - October 4
      • The Cosmic Song of 'Laudato Si'
    • Ordinary Time >
      • The Season of Ordinary Time
      • Sunday - The Original Feast
      • Luke's Gospel
    • Saints and Feasts >
      • Mary and the Saints
      • Saints and Martyrs
      • Who Are the Saints?
    • Eucharist >
      • The Centrality of the Eucharist
      • Space Matters
      • Can you drink the cup?
    • Altar Servers
    • Ministers of the Word
    • Children's Liturgy of the Word on Sundays
    • Advent Issues >
      • Advent Resources >
        • Advent
        • Music in Advent
        • Advent BOB
      • The Season of Advent
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    • The Christmas Season >
      • The Book of Blessings
      • Formation in Liturgy
    • The Year of Youth
    • Should we celebrate Australia Day?
    • Marriage
    • Easter Triduum
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    • Funerals
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    • Advent resources for families
  • Subscribe