Palm Sunday is one of the most significant feasts in the Catholic year. It commemorates Christ the King’s triumphal procession into Jerusalem, just five days before His betrayal and condemnation by the same crowds who had proclaimed Him King. The jubilant cries of “Hosanna to the Son of David” soon turned to “Crucify Him!”
The blessing of palms asks God to “bless these branches and grant that what Thy people today bodily perform for Thy honor, they may perfect spiritually.” Blessed palms are kept in homes as sacramentals, and sometimes, are buried at the corners of a property with prayers for safety. Farmers would place pieces of the palms in buildings and fields for protection.
The monastery makes a palm bouquet before Palm Sunday by weaving the palms into five roses for Christ’s wounds, a cross, and woven palm decorations. The bouquet is carried in procession by the celebrant, then kept in the sacristy until the following Lent, when it is burned for Ash Wednesday ashes.
Watch the Sisters’ video made a few years ago on How to Make a Palm Cross.
