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'Palm Sunday' celebrated in Kerala

     Kochi: Hundreds of Christians in Kerala commemorated 'Palm Sunday', marking the beginning of Holy Week on Sunday. According to the Bible, 'Palm Sunday' is celebrated to mark the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem on a donkey where the rich and the poor greeted him by waving palm branches, and by covering his path with palm branches and expensive clothes and flowers. Immediately following the celebration, Jesus Christ's journey to the cross began followed by his Last Supper to disciples, and finally his crucifixion. Commemorating this incident, large number devotees took out a procession holding palm leaves blessed by the priest, before the mass in all catholic, orthodox and jacobite Churches. "It is the day when the Christ entered Jerusalem City with his followers as the king of the world and he entered the Jerusalem church," said Father Varghese Kalappara, a parish of Saint Thomas Jacobites Church Parish. Jimmy Abraham, a devotee, said: "We are celebrating 'Palm Sunday' because we are entering into holiest of the holy weeks from this Sunday to the next Sunday till the Easter. This celebration actually signifies the glory of Jesus." Similar celebrations were also held in other parishes in the interiors and rural areas of Kerala. In many Christian churches, 'Palm Sunday' is often referred to as 'Passion Sunday' and marks the beginning of Holy Week, which concludes on Easter Sunday.
-Apr 6, 2009