Morning: Procession and Mass at the Holy Sepulchre
Singing, sounds and liturgies were intertwined and overlapped; palm fronds and olive branches soared upwards and, after being blessed, were passed from hand to hand.
In the narrow spaces of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, although only seven in the morning, were thronged with pilgrims taking part in the Palm Sunday celebrations. There are those who move from one part to another, curious to see the rites of the different communities. Easter, this year like 2010, falls on the same day for the Latins and all the other Churches.
The liturgical offices on this Sunday take place at the same time in the different parts of the Basilica and those who are at the Mary Magdalene altar to hear the Mass presided by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Mons. Fouad Twal, cannot help but hear all the sounds that continue infinitely in all the corners of the holy place. For each person it is the moment to remember when Jesus entered Jerusalem, almost at the end of his path as a man, approaching the time of the Passion, sung at the solemn moment of reading the Gospel according to Matthew.
Palm Sunday of the Catholics of the Latin Rite starts, before the Mass, with the entrance of the Patriarch into the Basilica – accompanied and introduced by the friars of the Custody – and the triple procession around the empty Tomb with the blessed palms waving, with other sounds joining the Gregorian chanting.
By Serena Picariello
Photos by Marco Gavasso
Afternoon: More than 10,000 faithful at the Palm Sunday procession
Palm Sunday in Jerusalem is usually a celebration when local Christians from all over the country – Israel and the Palestinian Territories - mingle with pilgrims from all over the world to form a single Church. This year the celebration was even more beautiful thanks to the presence of Christians of all confessions who walked side by side, praying, singing and dancing, united in the same faith and in the same joy. Considering that the local community is no more than 1.5% of the total population, it could have been called the march of Christian pride.
Several thousand pilgrims (about 10,000 according to the Jerusalem police) made their entrance into the city, following almost the same path as Jesus.
A good hour separated the start of the procession, opened by the Latin parish, from the end, closed by the authorities: the seminarians of the Patriarchate and of the Custody who preceded the Patriarch, his Auxiliary Bishops. The Custos, the Nuncio and the Apostolic Delegate and the Consuls General who had been able to take part in this afternoon of celebration.
Awaiting everyone to reach St. Anne of the White Fathers, the group Raja (“hope” in Arabic) provided music in the garden.
On his arrival the Patriarch, His Beatitude Mons. Fouad Twal, addressed the crowd in Arabic, with greetings for the feast-day and Holy Week. He then spoke, not without a sense of humour, about the mystery of the feast-day: the welcome given to Jesus and then the apostles’ recanting. In this regard, the Patriarch then drew a parallel between the revolutions in the region and the welcome reserved for the powerful of the Arab world, in contrast with the crises that today are calling for their downfall. The parallel stopped there and he concluded with the need to place one’s trust in God, the Lord of time and peace.
Following the solemn blessing of God invoked on the crowd, the gathering then dispersed. The majority of the pilgrims left, whilst the Christians of Jerusalem continued the celebration waiting for the traditional parade by the scouts.
The Easter moon was rising in the sky when the Old City, returning to its usual calm, entered the silence of Holy Week.
By Marie Armelle Beaulieu with photos by the author
Singing, sounds and liturgies were intertwined and overlapped; palm fronds and olive branches soared upwards and, after being blessed, were passed from hand to hand.
In the narrow spaces of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, although only seven in the morning, were thronged with pilgrims taking part in the Palm Sunday celebrations. There are those who move from one part to another, curious to see the rites of the different communities. Easter, this year like 2010, falls on the same day for the Latins and all the other Churches.
The liturgical offices on this Sunday take place at the same time in the different parts of the Basilica and those who are at the Mary Magdalene altar to hear the Mass presided by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Mons. Fouad Twal, cannot help but hear all the sounds that continue infinitely in all the corners of the holy place. For each person it is the moment to remember when Jesus entered Jerusalem, almost at the end of his path as a man, approaching the time of the Passion, sung at the solemn moment of reading the Gospel according to Matthew.
Palm Sunday of the Catholics of the Latin Rite starts, before the Mass, with the entrance of the Patriarch into the Basilica – accompanied and introduced by the friars of the Custody – and the triple procession around the empty Tomb with the blessed palms waving, with other sounds joining the Gregorian chanting.
By Serena Picariello
Photos by Marco Gavasso
Afternoon: More than 10,000 faithful at the Palm Sunday procession
Palm Sunday in Jerusalem is usually a celebration when local Christians from all over the country – Israel and the Palestinian Territories - mingle with pilgrims from all over the world to form a single Church. This year the celebration was even more beautiful thanks to the presence of Christians of all confessions who walked side by side, praying, singing and dancing, united in the same faith and in the same joy. Considering that the local community is no more than 1.5% of the total population, it could have been called the march of Christian pride.
Several thousand pilgrims (about 10,000 according to the Jerusalem police) made their entrance into the city, following almost the same path as Jesus.
A good hour separated the start of the procession, opened by the Latin parish, from the end, closed by the authorities: the seminarians of the Patriarchate and of the Custody who preceded the Patriarch, his Auxiliary Bishops. The Custos, the Nuncio and the Apostolic Delegate and the Consuls General who had been able to take part in this afternoon of celebration.
Awaiting everyone to reach St. Anne of the White Fathers, the group Raja (“hope” in Arabic) provided music in the garden.
On his arrival the Patriarch, His Beatitude Mons. Fouad Twal, addressed the crowd in Arabic, with greetings for the feast-day and Holy Week. He then spoke, not without a sense of humour, about the mystery of the feast-day: the welcome given to Jesus and then the apostles’ recanting. In this regard, the Patriarch then drew a parallel between the revolutions in the region and the welcome reserved for the powerful of the Arab world, in contrast with the crises that today are calling for their downfall. The parallel stopped there and he concluded with the need to place one’s trust in God, the Lord of time and peace.
Following the solemn blessing of God invoked on the crowd, the gathering then dispersed. The majority of the pilgrims left, whilst the Christians of Jerusalem continued the celebration waiting for the traditional parade by the scouts.
The Easter moon was rising in the sky when the Old City, returning to its usual calm, entered the silence of Holy Week.
By Marie Armelle Beaulieu with photos by the author