Editing Palm Sunday (section)

{{Short description|Christian moveable feast preceding Easter}}
{{For|the book|Palm Sunday (book){{!}}''Palm Sunday'' (book)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox holiday
| holiday_name  = Palm Sunday
| type          = Christian
| image         = Assisi-frescoes-entry-into-jerusalem-pietro lorenzetti.jpg
| imagesize     = 
| caption       = Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem (1320) by [[Pietro Lorenzetti]]: entering the city on a donkey symbolizes arrival in peace rather than as a war-waging king arriving on a horse.<ref name=Allison120 >''Matthew 19–28'' by William David Davies, Dale C. Allison 2004 {{ISBN|0-567-08375-6}} p. 120</ref><ref name=MacArthur17 >''John 12–21'' by John MacArthur 2008 {{ISBN|978-0-8024-0824-2}} pp. 17–18</ref>
| official_name = 
| nickname      = Sixth Sunday of Lent, Palm and Passion Sunday
| observedby    = Christians
| litcolor      = 
| longtype      = 
| significance  = commemorates Christ's [[triumphal entry into Jerusalem]]; first day in [[Holy Week]]
| begins        = 
| ends          = 
| date          = [[Moveable feast]], [[Sunday]] before [[Easter]]
| date{{LASTYEAR}} = {{Unbulleted list
| {{Moveable date |holiday=Palm Sunday |format=infobox |year={{LASTYEAR}}}} (Western)
| {{Moveable date |holiday=Palm Sunday (Eastern) |format=infobox |year={{LASTYEAR}}}} (Eastern) }}
| date{{CURRENTYEAR}} = {{Unbulleted list
| {{Moveable date |holiday=Palm Sunday |format=infobox |year={{CURRENTYEAR}} |cite=y}} (Western)
| {{Moveable date |holiday=Palm Sunday (Eastern) |format=infobox |year={{CURRENTYEAR}}}} (Eastern) }}
| date{{NEXTYEAR}} = {{Unbulleted list
| {{Moveable date |holiday=Palm Sunday |format=infobox |year={{NEXTYEAR}}}} (Western)
| {{Moveable date |holiday=Palm Sunday (Eastern) |format=infobox |year={{NEXTYEAR}}}} (Eastern) }}
| date{{NEXTYEAR|2}} = {{Unbulleted list
| {{Moveable date |holiday=Palm Sunday |format=infobox |year={{NEXTYEAR|2}}}} (Western)
| {{Moveable date |holiday=Palm Sunday (Eastern) |format=infobox |year={{NEXTYEAR|2}}}} (Eastern) }}
| scheduling    = 
| duration      = 
| frequency     = 
| celebrations  = 
| observances   = Church attendance, blessing and distribution of palms, church processions, weaving palm crosses, hanging palm branches obtained from church liturgies behind Christian artwork or placing palm branches in Bibles and daily devotional books
| relatedto     = 
}}

'''Palm Sunday''' is the Christian [[moveable feast]] that falls on the [[Sunday]] before [[Easter]]. The feast commemorates Christ's [[triumphal entry into Jerusalem]], an event mentioned in each of the four [[canonical Gospels]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|11:1-11|RSV}},  
{{bibleverse|Matthew|21:1-11|RSV}}, {{bibleverse|Luke|19:28–44|RSV}}, and {{bibleverse|John|12:12–19|RSV}}.</ref> Its name originates from the [[palm branch]]es waved by the crowd to greet and honor [[Jesus Christ]] as he entered the city. Palm Sunday marks the first day of [[Holy Week]]; in [[Western Christianity]], this is the beginning of the last week of the solemn season of [[Lent]], preceding [[Eastertide]],<ref name="Cooper2013">{{cite book|last=Cooper|first=J.C.|title=Dictionary of Christianity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZC3AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA124|access-date=25 April 2014|date=23 October 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134265466|page=124|quote=Holy Week. The last week in LENT. It begins on PALM SUNDAY; the fourth day is called SPY WEDNESDAY; the fifth is MAUNDY THURSDAY; the sixth is GOOD FRIDAY; and the last 'Holy Saturday', or the 'Great Sabbath'.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705063330/http://books.google.com/books?id=6ZC3AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA124|archive-date=5 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Brewer1896">{{cite book|last=Brewer|first=Ebenezer Cobham|title=The Historic Notebook: With an Appendix of Battles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YphAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA669|access-date=25 April 2014|year=1896|publisher=J. B. Lippincott|page=669|quote=The last seven days of this period constitute Holy Week. The first day of Holy Week is Palm Sunday, the fourth day is Spy Wednesday, the fifth Maundy Thursday, the sixth Good Friday, and the last Holy Saturday or the Great Sabbath.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705063402/http://books.google.com/books?id=YphAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA669|archive-date=5 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Blackwell2009">{{cite book |last1=Blackwell |first1=Amy Hackney |title=Lent, Yom Kippur, and Other Atonement Days |date=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-2796-5 |pages=15–16 |language=en |quote=The last week of Lent is called ''Holy Week'' in the Western Churches, and ''Great and Holy Week'' in the Eastern. During this week, believers remember the events in the last week of Jesus' life. These include Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem and his suffering on the way to crucifixion, which are sometimes called the "Passion of Jesus Christ," or "Passion of Christ."}}</ref><ref name="Melton2011">{{cite book |last1=Melton |first1=J. Gordon |title=Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations [2 volumes]|date=13 September 2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-59884-206-7 |page=527 |language=en |quote=''Lent (Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday)'': The season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and lasts until the final Saturday before Easter, Holy Saturday. It includes "Holy Week," the week before Easter. For six weeks preceding Easter, it is a time of penitential prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to prepare for the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. This season of Lent originally was also a time of preparation for baptismal candidates and those separated from the Church who were rejoining the community. Holy Week, the last week of Lent, commemorates the last week of the earthly life of Jesus Christ. It covers the events of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the last supper, the arrest, and his death by crucifixion. Beginning with the sixth Sunday of Lent, Holy Week includes Palm Sunday, Spy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.}}</ref> while in [[Eastern Christianity]], Holy Week commences after the conclusion of [[Great Lent]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Overview of Holy Week in the Orthodox Church |url=https://www.greekboston.com/religion/orthodox-holy-week/ |publisher=Greek Boston |access-date=2 April 2023 |language=English |date=24 March 2010 |quote=Holy Week in the Orthodox Church (for Greeks, Russians and any other nationalities that are Orthodox Christian) takes place in the week after Great Lent and just before Pascha, or Orthodox Easter. The last day of lent is the Saturday of Lazarus, which celebrates when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Holy Week officially begins with Palm Sunday and follows the last week of Christ’s life before His death and resurrection.}}</ref>

In most [[Christian rite]]s, Palm Sunday is celebrated by the blessing and distribution of palm branches (or the branches of other native trees), representing the palm branches that the crowd scattered before Christ as he rode into [[Jerusalem]]. These palms are sometimes woven into [[Christian cross|crosses]]. The difficulty of procuring palms in unfavorable climates led to the substitution of branches of native trees, including [[Buxus sempervirens|box]], [[olive]], [[willow]], and [[taxus|yew]].

Many churches of mainstream [[Christian denominations]], including the Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican, Moravian, and Reformed traditions, distribute palm branches to their congregations during their Palm Sunday liturgies. Christians take these palms, which are often blessed by clergy, to their homes, where they hang them alongside [[Christian art]] (especially [[Christian cross|crosses]] and [[crucifix]]es) or keep them in their Bibles and [[Daily devotional|daily devotional books]].<ref name="Kirk2018">{{cite web |last1=Kirk |first1=Lisa |title=Ideas for Displaying Palm Sunday Palms Around Your Home |url=https://blessedisshe.net/blog/palm-sunday-palms/ |publisher=Blessed Is She |access-date=4 April 2020 |language=en |date=25 March 2018}}</ref> In the days preceding the next year's Lent, known as [[Carnival]] or Shrovetide, churches often place a basket in their [[narthex]] to collect these palms, which are then ritually burned on [[Shrove Tuesday]] to make the ashes to be used on the following day, [[Ash Wednesday]], which is the first day of Lent.<ref name="GEC2018">{{cite web |title=This Sunday at Grace: February 4, 2018 |work=Grace Episcopal Church |url=https://www.gracealex.org/news/sunday-grace-february-4-2018/ |access-date=4 April 2020 |language=en |date=3 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Shrove Tuesday |url=https://www.timesreporter.com/news/20200218/good-day |publisher=[[The Times-Reporter]] |access-date=4 April 2020 |language=en |date=18 February 2020 |archive-date=6 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806074002/https://www.timesreporter.com/news/20200218/good-day |url-status=dead }}</ref>