Monday, May 11, 2009

Palm Sunday - What is all means?

According to Wikipedia HERE, Palm Sunday means A palm branch (or palm frond or palm stem), usually refers to the leaves of the Arecaceae (sometimes known by the names Palmae).
The palm branch was a symbol of triumph and victory in pre-Christian times. The Romans rewarded champions of the games and celebrated military successes with palm branches. The motto of the HMS Nelson and the University of Southern California is "Palmam qui meruit ferat", which means in Latin, "Let him bear the palm who has deserved it". Jews followed a similar tradition of carrying palm branches during festive times.

Christianity term

Early Christians used the palm branch to symbolize the victory of the faithful over enemies of the soul, as in the Palm Sunday festival celebrating the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. In Christian art, martyrs were usually shown holding a palm frond, representing the victory of spirit over flesh, and it was widely believed that a picture of a palm on a tomb meant that a martyr was buried there.[2]
Origen calls the palm (In Joan., XXXI) the symbol of victory in that war waged by the spirit against the flesh. In this sense it was especially applicable to martyrs, the victors par excellence over the spiritual foes of mankind; hence the frequent occurrence in the Acts of the martyrs of such expressions as "he received the palm of martyrdom." On 10 April 1688 it was decided by the Congregation of Rites that the palm when found depicted on catacomb tombs was to be regarded as a proof that a martyr had been interred there. Subsequently this opinion was acknowledged by Mabillon, Muratori, Benedict XIV and others to be untenable; further investigation showed that the palm was represented not only on tombs of the post-persecution era, but even on pagan tombs.
The general significance of the palm on early Christian monuments is slightly modified according to its association with other symbols (e.g., with the monogram of Christ, the Ichthus (Fish), or the Good Shepherd). On some later monuments the palm was represented merely as an ornament separating two scenes. Palms also represented heaven, evidenced by ancient art often depicting Jesus in heaven among palms

This Church explains it,

Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week. It is also known as Passion Sunday.
It refers to Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem for the Passover. It was a time when Jerusalem was packed with many times the normal number of inhabitants, and Jesus was acclaimed by excited crowds who threw cloaks and palm branches onto the road in front of him.
It is common practice now for small crosses to be given out on Palm Sunday in memory of this occasion. The crosses are usually made from folded strips of dried palm leaves.

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