It is Palm Sunday... start of the Holy Week!
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels.
In the Philippines, communities re-enact Jesus' triumphal entry with a procession. A statue of Christ astride a donkey (the humenta) or the officiating priest on horseback processes around or towards the local church along with congregants bearing ornately woven palaspas (palm branches). In some towns, elderly women spread heirloom tapis ("aprons" made for this sole purpose) or large cloths along the route. Children dressed as angels sometimes sing the Osana ("Hosanna") whilst strewing flowers about.
Once blessed, the palaspas are taken home by the faithful and placed on altars or hung beside, on, or above doorways and windows. Although the true purpose of this custom is to welcome Christ, many Filipinos hold the fronds to be apotropaic, able to banish evil spirits, avert lightning, and prevent fires. There is also a folk tradition of feeding pieces of the palm leaves to roosters for sabong (cockfighting), a practise that was strongly discouraged by the Archbishop of Manila, Luis Antonio Tagle.[citation needed]
We celebrated Palm Sunday at the Fort Pilar Shrine here in Zamboanga City.
Have a Blessed Lenten celebration!
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