Second Sunday of Passiontide: Palm Sunday

Extract from General Decree restoring the liturgy of Holy Week: "Let the faithful be invited to take part in the Procession of Palms in greater numbers, thus rendering Christ the King public witness of their love and gratitude."

The Second Sunday in Passiontide would be in any case a great and holy day as it commemorates the last triumph of our Lord Jesus Christ on earth and opens Holy Week. On this day, the Church celebrates the triumphant entry of our Lord into Jerusalem; when the multitude, going before and following after Him, cut off branches from the trees and strewed them in His way, shouting: "Hosanna (glory and praise) to the Son of David. Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord." It is in commemoration of this triumph that palms are blessed and borne in solemn procession.

In fact, this Palm Sunday triumph of our Lord only led to His death . But we know that this death was not a failure. It was through His Passion and Death that He conquered the world and entered into His Kingdom. "I, if I be lifted up...will draw all things to Myself" (Jn. 12:32). So the Church asks the faithful to join in the triumphal Procession today as an act of homage and gratitude to Christ our King. This triumphal beginning to Holy Week is full of meaning. Although the violet Mass vestments and the Gospel of the Passion remind us that the Cross lies ahead, we already know that this is the means of victory. So the Church asks us to begin Holy Week by joyfully and publicly acknowledging Christ the King.

It's been too long since we've posted cute pictures of Maria, so here is one from a few days ago. There were men working outside rather close to the bedroom window where Maris usually naps, and they were making too much noise for her to be able to fall asleep there. So, Lisa put a pillow on the couch and sat next to her until she fell asleep. This is what I saw when I walked in from class that afternoon:

This morning, quite unfortunately for us, all of the Byzantine priests were gone, most of them on a retreat. Which means there was no Divine Liturgy offered here this morning. They had, of course, also taken all the school cars with them, so getting to Vienna for the Traditional Latin Mass would have been pretty difficult. The long and the short of it is that we went the the Novus Ordo Mass this morning and had to witness this bizarre, and to my mind wholly inappropriate practice, wherein the faithful are encouraged to shout along with the faithless Jews, "Away with this man!" And again, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" And even to join in the mockery of the pagan soldiers: "If you are King of the Jews, save yourself." Frankly, I think it's scandalous.