Palm Sunday marks the imposing opening of Holy Week, transporting the Church to the crucial events that precede the Passion and Death of the Divine Savior. Historically, this solemn commemoration has very ancient roots, with clear traces of its processions and liturgical blessings dating back to the 5th century, especially in Jerusalem, where the faithful reenacted the steps of Christ from the Mount of Olives. The feast celebrates the triumphant entry of Jesus into the Holy City, acclaimed as the Messiah and King of Israel by a crowd bearing palms and olive branches, eternal symbols of victory, peace, and martyrdom. However, this earthly glory is fleeting and acts as a contrasting prelude to the painful drama of Calvary. The blessed branches become a sacramental in our homes, reminding us that we are called to spiritual combat and final victory with Christ, inevitably passing through the cross. The stational tradition in Rome designates the Basilica of Saint John Lateran as the center of this profound liturgy, the august place where the Church gathers her children to begin the most sacred of all weeks.
🌿 Blessing of the Palms
🎵 Introit (Ps 30, 10, 16 and 18 | ib., 2)
Hosánna fílio David: benedíctus, qui venit in nómine Dómini. O Rex Israël: Hosánna in excélsis.
Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord! King of Israel! Hosanna in the highest!
📖 Reading (Exodus 15, 27; 16, 1-7)
In those days: The children of Israel came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the waters. Setting out from Elim, the whole multitude of the children of Israel came to the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the desert. The children of Israel said to them: “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate bread to the full! Why have you brought us out into this desert, to kill this whole multitude with hunger?” Then the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. The people shall go out and gather each day what is sufficient for the day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk according to my law. On the sixth day, they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” And Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel: “In the evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord.”
✝️ Gospel (Mt 21, 1-9)
At that time, when Jesus drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, saying to them: Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord has need of them, and immediately he will let them go. All this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Prophet: Tell the daughter of Zion: Behold, your King comes to you, meek, and sitting upon a donkey, and a colt, the foal of one that is under the yoke. The disciples went and did as Jesus had commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their garments upon them, and made Him sit thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut branches from the trees and strewed them in the path. And the crowds that went before Him and those that followed cried out, saying: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!
⛪ The Holy Mass
🎵 Introit (Ps 21, 20 and 22 | ib., 2)
Dómine, ne longe fácias auxílium tuum a me, ad defensiónem meam áspice: líbera me de ore leonis, et a córnibus unicórnium humilitátem meam. Ps. Deus, Deus meus, réspice in me: quare me dereliquísti? longe a salúte mea verba delictórum meórum - Dómine, ne longe...
Lord, do not withdraw Your help far from me; attend to my defense; deliver me from the mouth of the lion, and from the horns of the unicorn save my lowliness. Ps. O God, my God, look upon me: why have You forsaken me? Far from my salvation are the words of my sins. - Lord, do not withdraw...
📜 Epistle (Phil 2, 5-11)
Brethren: Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being God by nature, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. But He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men and recognized as a man in appearance. He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even death on a Cross. Therefore God also exalted Him and gave Him a Name which is above every name (here all kneel), that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
✝️ Gospel (Mt 26, 1-75; 27, 1-66)
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: You know that in two days it will be the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified. Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, called Caiaphas, and plotted how to seize Jesus by treachery and kill Him. But they said: Not during the feast, lest there be a disturbance among the people. When Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him with an alabaster jar of very precious ointment, and she poured it upon His head as He reclined at table. Seeing this, the disciples were indignant and said: Why this waste? This ointment could have been sold for a great sum and given to the poor. But Jesus, perceiving this, said to them: Why do you trouble this woman? She has done a good work for Me. For the poor you always have with you, but Me you do not always have. In pouring this ointment upon My body, she did it for My burial. Truly I say to you: wherever this Gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. Then one of the Twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said: What will you give me, and I will deliver Him to you? And they weighed out for him thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought an opportunity to betray Him. On the first day of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover? He said: Go into the city to a certain man and say to him: The Master says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples. The disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. When evening came, He sat at table with the twelve disciples. And as they were eating, He said: Truly I say to you, one of you will betray Me. And they were very sorrowful and began to say to Him one by one: Is it I, Lord? He answered: He who has dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born. Judas, who betrayed Him, answered and said: Is it I, Rabbi? He said to him: You have said so. While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying: Take and eat; this is My Body. And taking the chalice, He gave thanks and gave it to them, saying: Drink of it, all of you. For this is My Blood, the Blood of the New Covenant, which shall be shed for many for the remission of sins. I tell you: I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's Kingdom. And after they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them: All of you will be scandalized because of me this night. For it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I have risen, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter, answering, said to him: Even if all are scandalized because of you, I will never be scandalized. Jesus said to him: Amen I say to you, that this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times. Peter said to him: Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you. And all the disciples said the same. Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples: Sit here, while I go over there to pray. And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto death. Stay here and watch with me. And going a little further, he fell upon his face, praying and saying: My Father, if it is possible, let this chalice pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter: So, could you not watch one hour with me? Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again the second time he went and prayed, saying: My Father, if this chalice cannot pass away unless I drink it, your will be done. And he came again and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And leaving them, he went again and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to his disciples and said to them: Sleep now and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go; behold, he who will betray me is at hand. While he was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the Twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he who betrayed him gave them a sign, saying: Whomever I shall kiss, that is he; take him. And immediately coming up to Jesus, he said: Hail, Rabbi! And he kissed him. And Jesus said to him: Friend, why have you come? Then they came up, laid hands on Jesus, and seized him. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand, drew his sword, and striking the servant of the high priest, cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him: Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword shall perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot ask my Father, and he will immediately send me more than twelve legions of angels? How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus? In that same hour, Jesus said to the crowds: Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs, to arrest me? Daily I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But all this has happened that the Scriptures of the Prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples, leaving him, fled. But those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had assembled. And Peter followed him at a distance, even to the courtyard of the high priest. And going in, he sat with the servants to see the end. Now the chief priests and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put him to death. And they found none, though many false witnesses had come forward. At last two came forward and said: This man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days. And the high priest, rising up, said to him: Do you answer nothing to what these testify against you? But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to him: I adjure you by the living God that you tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to him: You have said it. Nevertheless, I say to you: Hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming upon the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his garments, saying: He has blasphemed! What further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think? They answered and said: He is guilty of death. Then they spat in his face and struck him; and others slapped him, saying: Prophesy to us, O Christ! Who is it that struck you? But Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying: You also were with Jesus the Galilean. But he denied it before them all, saying: I do not know what you are saying. And as he went out to the gateway, another saw him and said to those there: This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath: I do not know the man. And after a little while, those standing by came up and said to Peter: Surely you also are one of them, for even your speech betrays you. Then he began to curse and swear, saying: I do not know the man. And immediately the cock crowed. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which he had said: Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times. And going out, he wept bitterly. Now when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And they bound him, led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Then Judas, who had betrayed him, seeing that he had been condemned, repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying: I have sinned, in betraying innocent blood. But they said: What is that to us? See to it yourself. And throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed and went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the silver pieces, said: It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is the price of blood. And after taking counsel, they bought with them the potter’s field, to be a burial place for strangers. Therefore that field has been called Haceldama, that is, Field of Blood, to this day. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying: And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him who was valued, whom they valued from the children of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me. Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying: Are you the King of the Jews? Jesus said to him: You say it. And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then Pilate said to him: Do you not hear how many things they testify against you? And he did not answer him a word, so that the governor was greatly amazed. Now at the feast, the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd one prisoner, whom they wished. And they had then a notable prisoner called Barabbas. Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them: Whom do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ? For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him. While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, saying: Have nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said to them: Which of the two do you want me to release to you? They said: Barabbas. Pilate said to them: What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ? They all said: Let him be crucified! And the governor said: Why, what evil has he done? But they cried out all the more, saying: Let him be crucified! When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was arising, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying: I am innocent of the blood of this just man; see to it yourselves. And all the people answered and said: His blood be on us and on our children. Then he released Barabbas to them; but Jesus, after he had scourged him, he delivered to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him. And stripping him, they put a scarlet cloak on him. And when they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying: Hail, King of the Jews! And they spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. And after they had mocked him, they took the cloak off him, put his own garments on him, and led him away to crucify him. And as they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name; him they compelled to carry his cross. And they came to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull. They gave him wine to drink mixed with gall; and when he had tasted it, he would not drink. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: They divided my garments among them, and upon my vesture they cast lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. And they set up over his head his accusation written: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Then two thieves were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying: You who destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross! Likewise also the chief priests, mocking him with the scribes and elders, said: He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him; for he said: I am the Son of God. The thieves also, who were crucified with him, reviled him in the same way. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying: Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And some of those standing there, hearing it, said: This man calls for Elijah. And immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink. The rest said: Let be; let us see whether Elijah will come to save him. And Jesus, when he had cried out again with a loud voice, yielded up his spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split; and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. Now the centurion and those with him who were keeping watch over Jesus, seeing the earthquake and the things that were happening, feared greatly, saying: Truly this was the Son of God. And there were many women there, looking on from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him; among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and departed. On the next day, which followed the Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying: Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was still alive: After three days I will rise again. Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him away, and say to the people: He has risen from the dead; and the last error will be worse than the first. Pilate said to them: You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how. So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting a guard.
🌿 The glory of the cross and the obedience of the suffering servant
The narrative of the Passion reveals to us the profound mystery of a God who embraces the most extreme vulnerability in order to redeem humanity stained by guilt. The account does not hesitate to expose human cowardice and misery, made evident in the betrayal of Judas and the denial of Peter. Yet it is precisely in the face of this fragility that Christ responds with unshakable patience, not returning injury, but welcoming weakness in order to transform it. As Saint Hilary of Poitiers teaches, this attitude of the Lord demonstrates in a sublime way that divine forgiveness always precedes our conversion. When brought before the earthly tribunal, the silence of Jesus becomes the highest eloquence of uncreated truth; a truth that needs no rhetorical defense, for its strength lies in its total coherence and obedience to the will of the Father, as Saint Bede the Venerable reflects. The summit of the sacrifice, the crucifixion, far from constituting a defeat for the Creator, tears the veil that concealed the Holy of Holies, revealing that access to God is no longer blocked by sin, but opened by the very Person of Christ, who acts simultaneously as eternal priest and immaculate victim, according to the insight of Saint Leo the Great. To contemplate this abyss of love compels us to recognize that our salvation could never be purchased by our own merits, depending entirely on the superabundant grace that flows from His total self-gift (Saint Thomas Aquinas).
This salvific self-emptying finds its most perfect doctrinal expression in the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Philippians, where the Church is exhorted to assume the same interior disposition as Jesus Christ. Being God, He did not cling jealously to His cosmic majesty, but emptied Himself, taking the condition of a servant. This divine kenosis illuminates the apparent paradox of God's power: an infinite strength that chooses to manifest itself through voluntary weakness, proving to the human intellect that the true victory over the tyranny of the devil is not achieved by force, but by the scandal of free sacrifice, as Saint Gregory of Nyssa rightly points out. Saint John Chrysostom further emphasizes that this abasement of the Word in no way implies the loss of His divinity; on the contrary, it is the supreme expression of His freedom to love, revealing a God who stoops to the dust not to be eternally humiliated, but to raise fallen man. From this obedience unto the ignominy of the Cross emerges the ineffable glory of the Resurrection, dictating to the faithful the golden rule of authentic charity: greatness does not lie in seeking one’s own honors, but in serving without expecting rewards from this world, the sure path to the true exaltation promised to the humble (Saint Augustine).
The liturgy of this Palm Sunday thus sustains us in a sublime spiritual tension, intertwining the fleeting joy of the procession of branches with the sorrowful depth of the Passion. In the Introit of the Mass, the anguished cry of the Psalmist resounds: “Lord, do not withdraw Your help from me.” This antiphon is the voice of Christ Himself on the cross, the suffering Servant who fully assumes our wounded nature, experiencing the desolation and distance created by sin, so that His filial and perfect obedience might repair our age-old rebellion. The cross rises not as a scaffold of perdition, but as the new throne from which immortal life is governed (Saint Ambrose). Therefore, as we carry palms and branches in our hands, we do not do so as mere spectators witnessing a historical reenactment, but as militant soldiers clothed in divine grace, called to unite our tribulations and anxieties to the perfect offering of the Redeemer. Even in moments when God seems silent before our suffering, the light of this Sunday assures us that He acts powerfully and discreetly in silence, securing the unshakable defense of our humility and the hope of our eternal salvation.