Celebrating Palm Sunday in St. Peter's Square

Vatican News

In the crowded St. Peter's Square, about 25 thousand believers, under a sky in which the sun's rays alternated with the clouds, the celebration of Palm Sunday opened, headed by Pope Francis. It is a commemoration of the Lord's entry into Jerusalem, about which you read the story of the Evangelist Mark, and which precedes the celebration of Mass. The Pope blesses the olive branches, the symbol of the day, and sprinkles them with holy water, which those present hold in their hands. After that, more than 400 palm bearers proceed in procession from the center of the square to the vestibule. Cardinals, bishops and priests celebrants take their places next to the altar.

Passion of Christ

A radical change of scene: the liturgy of the word of the Eucharistic celebration includes the chanted reading of the Passion of Jesus, again taken from the Gospel of Saint Mark. Through the Evangelist's words, the passages of Christ's Passion are lived out in all their rawness. The Passion performance is followed by a minute of silence. It is the suffering of Christ, which contains the suffering of all times and of all humanity, and of humanity, with its weaknesses, offered to the Lord in the universal prayer of the faithful that concludes the Mass of the Word. Prayers are offered for the Church to “always seek unity, reconciliation and communion”; by rulers “called to promote peace and the good of the people”; To all men and women who suffer; For persecuted Christians. For every Christian community, “to bear witness to its faith through prayer and love.”

At the end of the celebration, directly from the Basilica Square, Francis delivered the Angelus prayer, before blessing him and making a wide tour in his papal car to greet the faithful and pilgrims who greeted him in the square.

The Pope greets the faithful in St. Peter's Square