Sunday 23rd March - Palm Sunday
Holy Week traditionally begins on the Sunday before Easter weekend with Palm Sunday, although this isn’t the start of Easter. The Easter season commences on Ash Wednesday (the day after Shrove Tuesday, or 'Pancake Day') back in February.
At our Church, it’s tradition for the stained-glass windows in the Church to be covered during this period. Flowers are removed from the Church, and everything is stripped back to make room for people to focus on the journey to the events of Holy Week which are to come.
On Palm Sunday, Christians remember Jesus being welcomed into Jerusalem as a King. Riding into the city on a donkey, the citizens of Jerusalem lay palm branches at his feet. It’s a day of celebration, but also melancholy in tone. Within a matter of days, many people in these crowds will be demanding Jesus’ execution, and unbeknown to the people of the first Palm Sunday, Jesus is riding to his death.
Our Church marks the day with adult baptisms. At the front the church, in the floor there's a small pool filled with water. This year, three people are choosing to publicly profess their Christian faith for the first time. Held by two other members of the church, they enter the pool and are fully submerged in the water. A symbolic act that they are starting their new lives as Christians. We also give out palm crosses (pictured below) which we display in our homes during Holy Week.
