Palm Sunday Celebrations Around The World

Last Sunday was Palm Sunday; the day Christians remember Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. It marks the start of Holy Week – leading up to Jesus’ death on Good Friday, and resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Christians around the world celebrate Palm Sunday – named so because people threw palms on the ground as Jesus rode by – with ritual processions where palm branches are carried into church. These palms are blessed, and sometimes folded into crosses.

Here’s a look at some of the celebrations from across the globe:

A Catholic priest sprinkles holy water to bless churchgoers’ palm fronds during mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help church in Paranaque city, Manila.

Members of the clergy carry palm fronds as they take part in a procession at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Pope Francis leads the Palm Sunday mass at Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

A woman prays on a hill with wooden crosses after a procession in the town of Oshmiany, Belarus.

Belarussian Catholics carry a wooden cross in Oshmiany.

Christian Maronite children hold palm fronds during a procession in the coastal city of Tripoli, northern Lebanon.

Children attend during a Palm Sunday procession in Pontevedra, northern Spain.

 

 

Catholics carry a statue of Jesus Christ on a donkey during a procession outside the Metropolitan Cathedral, in downtown Asuncion, Paraguay.

Clergy take part in a procession on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

Catholics hold weavings made of palm fronds during a procession at the 20 de Julio Church in Bogota, Colombia.

People take part in the Palm Sunday procession and traditional contest for the largest handmade palms (made of wicker twigs and decorated with colourful flowers and ribbons) in Lipnica Murowana near Krakow, southern Poland.

-Christiantoday

Palm Sunday Celebrations Around The World

Palm Sunday At The Holy City: Jerusalem

Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem, when his followers laid palm branches in his path. 

Watch how Christians from all walks of life with one accord in faith, holding and lifting up their palm branches in remembrance to Christ, the Saviour.

https://youtu.be/wqUK3IgOrCg

Palm Sunday At The Holy City: Jerusalem

Snippets Of Palm Sunday Celebrations In Ghana

Christians all over the world celebrated Palm Sunday yesterday to remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the week of his crucifixion and a week before His  resurrection.

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palm sunday celebrations in ghana

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In Ghana, Palm Sunday was celebrated by all churches with some churches going round their neighbourhood singing and rejoicing and waving palm fronds.

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Above are a few pictures of the Palm Sunday Celebration of Presbyterian Church of Ghana (Ascension Congregation).

Snippets Of Palm Sunday Celebrations In Ghana

Palm Sunday Inside Action Chapel International

Commemorating the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, under the leadership of the Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, the Children’s Ministry of Action Chapel International, Spintex Road gave a rather spectacular and glorious performance yesterday, Sunday, 20^th March, 2016 inside the church auditorium.

So splendid was the joy that filled everyone that made it to the service that morning. With a display like that who could ever forget the Son of God who came to die for the sin of man and resurrected on the third day, putting the works of Satan under His feet and has made them that believe in His name reigning victoriously with Him in heaven, far above principalities, powers, dominions and the dark rulers of this age.

The King of kings has come, and is yet to come the second time.

Are you ready?

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Palm Sunday Inside Action Chapel International

The Essence Of Palm Sunday

Some 450 to 500 years prior to Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, the prophet Zechariah had prophesied the event we now call Palm Sunday: “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! / Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! / See, your king comes to you, / righteous and victorious, / lowly and riding on a donkey, / on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). The prophecy was fulfilled in every particular, and it was indeed a time of rejoicing, as Jerusalem welcomed their King. Unfortunately, the celebration was not to last. The crowds looked for a Messiah who would rescue them politically and free them nationally, but Jesus had come to save them spiritually. First things first, and mankind’s primary need is spiritual, not political, cultural, or national salvation.

Even as the coatless multitudes waved the palm branches and shouted for joy, they missed the true reason for Jesus’ presence. They could neither see nor understand the cross. That’s why, “as [Jesus] approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies . . . will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you” (Luke 19:41–47). It is a tragic thing to see the Savior but not recognize Him for who He is. The crowds who were crying out “Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday were crying out “Crucify Him!” later that week (Matthew 27:22–23).

There is coming a day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10–11). The worship will be real then. Also, John records a scene in heaven that features the eternal celebration of the risen Lord: “There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands” (Revelation 7:9, emphasis added).

These palm-bearing saints will shout, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (verse 10), and who can measure sum of their joy?

The Essence Of Palm Sunday