Palm Sunday
Why is this day called Palm Sunday?
1. In memory of the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, when He was received by the devout people with palms. 2. Because the Church to-day blesses palms, with which a solemn procession is held.
Why are the palms blessed?
1. To protect in body and soul those who carry them with devotion. 2. To bless the dwellings into which the palms are brought. 3. To bring before us how God, by the entrance into Jerusalem with palms, has represented the victory of Jesus over the prince of darkness.
In the Introit of to-day's Mass the Church reminds us of the sufferings of Our Saviour, and says: " O Lord, remove not Thy help to a distance from me, look towards my defence, save me from the lion's mouth, and my lowness from the horn of the unicorn. O God, my God, look upon me; why hast Thou forsaken me? far from my salvation are the words of my sin." (Ps. xxi.)
Prayer.
O almighty and eternal God, Who wouldst have Our Saviour take flesh and undergo the cross, for man to imitate the example of His humility, grant, we beseech Thee, that we may both deserve the instruction of His patience and the fellowship of His resurrection. Through the same Jesus Christ, etc.
EPISTLE. Phil. ii. 5-11.
Brethren: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. For which cause God also hath exalted Him, and hath given Him a name which is above all names: that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.
