Basket of Palm Sunday Blessed Willow Branches in Old Chapel of St. Sophia, Canada
Today is Palm Sunday, the Feast Day commemorating the Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem. Following His glorious miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, the people went out to meet the Lord with palms and branches. They welcomed Him with honour and shouts of praise. Today is also a bittersweet joy, for we know of the sad events to come during Holy Week.
On this day, we too, wherever we are, (particularly during pandemic isolation) may still bend the knees of our hearts and souls, to worship Christ as King and Lord.
…Let the events themselves – and not just memories break us in body and soul. Then, when we forget ourselves and think rather of Christ, about what is really taking place during these days, we will reach also that Great Saturday when Christ is laid to rest in the tomb – and we also will find rest. When at night we hear the announcement of the Resurrection, we too will be able to suddenly come alive from that terrible numbness, from that terrible death of Christ, from Christ’s dying, of which we shall partake at least a little during these days of the Passion. ~ Metropolitan Anthony Bloom
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. ~ Zechariah 9:9
God is the Lord, and hath appeared unto us; make ye a feast, and with gladness, come, let us magnify Christ with palms and branches, with hymns crying aloud: blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord our Saviour. ~ Ode 9 of the Feast
