Palm Sunday 2016 - a kind and bright symbolization of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. This is a significant Christian holiday, which is celebrated annually on the sixth week or one week before. Mentions of the celebration of Palm Sunday are found in the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, Mark, John and in the works of many theologians.

To better understand the essence of the holiday, you need to turn to its history. According to Christian scriptures, it was on this day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, knowing about all his coming torments. People who met him as a heavenly ruler threw palm branches and even their robes at the feet of the son of God. And the good will shown by him in the name of the salvation of mankind is still considered one of the most important postulates of Christian teaching.

When is Palm Sunday 2016

It is necessary to prepare in advance for the bright day of the Entrance of the Lord. Therefore, it is extremely important to know when Palm Sunday 2016 is. Since the period of Great Lent and the day of Easter are shifted annually, the date of the Entry of the Lord is also inconsistent. In 2016, the holiday falls on April 24th.

Which tree branches are blessed on Palm Sunday?

The symbolic palm tree does not grow in all countries where Christianity is preached. So, what other branches of trees can be consecrated on Palm Sunday? Instead of an outlandish palm tree on Palm Sunday, people in Russia carry a flowering willow to church - a tree that wakes up after the winter before the rest, and also symbolizes purity and prosperity.

Traditions of a bright church holiday

• Before the onset of the solemn day, it is necessary to prepare willow branches. But they should be cut only from young trees, without dry snags, nests or hollows.
• Before going to church, the parents lightly beat their children with a willow, saying: "It's not me who beats, the willow beats!" Thus, they drove away all evil spirits and any wickedness from their descendants.
• The hostesses kept the consecrated branches brought from the temple for a whole year, placing them neatly in the corner of the house. At the beginning of the planting season, a couple of branches were stuck into the soil of the garden, thus calling for abundant fertility.

Congratulations on Palm Sunday: poems and SMS

Following the church service on the holiday of Palm Sunday, they organize a magnificent feast, invite relatives, congratulate them with poems and toasts. Verbal congratulations on Palm Sunday is considered a kind of wish and inviting health, success, prosperity and well-being.

Palm Sunday has come again

Let love come to the house first with flowers.

Joy, hope is full of every moment,

And nature is fresh, and the face shines.

There are no green palms in Russia,

Only birches and maples,

Yes fluff over the water

Willow branch young.

Willow branches gives us -

Let's take them to God's temple,

And to the sound of a bell

We will put them at the icons.

Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem

We celebrate early in the spring.

And a willow branch rustles

Cool wind a little sad.

You, wind, do not blow out the candles,

Don't interfere with this prayer.

Let my loved ones be

Heaven is covered with protection.

If relatives are not around, they are sent letters with postcards or holiday SMS with kind words.

Happy Palm Sunday!

May eternal joy reign in your soul.

Palm Sunday 2016: what date?

On April 24, 2016, Orthodox Christians celebrate Palm Sunday - one of the most significant holidays in this tradition. It marks the entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem and symbolizes, on the one hand, the recognition of Jesus Christ as the Savior, and on the other hand, the prototype of the entrance of the Son of Man into Paradise.

Palm Sunday is traditionally celebrated a week before Easter.

Palm Sunday 2016: the history of the holiday

The history of Palm Sunday dates back to biblical times: after Christ resurrected Lazarus, the rumor about it passed intcbatch in many cities. Then it was customary for the rulers to enter the city on a donkey, thereby declaring their arrival in peace. That is exactly what Jesus did. In turn, people met Ggo with palm branches, and some even presented their clothes at the feet of the Savior. Since then, palm branches have been the symbol of the holiday, but due to the fact that this tropical plant does not grow in our latitudes, the palm tree was replaced by willow. In addition, the willow symbolizes virtue, renewal, new life.

Palm Sunday 2016: customs and traditions

Willow with its fluffy buds in full bloom is the main symbol of the holiday. On this day, it is customary to bring willow branches to the temple, which are then believed to protect the house and family from many hardships.

On this day, in the villages, willow cones were baked into bread and given to cattle in order to protect animals from diseases. The buds of the consecrated willow were recommended to be eaten by barren women. It was believed that if you eat nine willow earrings, it will save you from a fever, and with willow branches brought from the church they whip each other, and first of all the children, saying: "It's not me who beats - the willow beats! The willow whip beats to tears!". Men also carried willow buds with them as a talisman to give physical strength.

Also, willow branches brought from the church are usually hidden and, in the event of a summer thunderstorm, they are thrown into the yard so that the bad weather stops.

Palm Sunday in 2016: what not to do?

It was believed that on Palm Sunday it was impossible to drive cattle out into the street, because evil spirits could spoil them. Girls on Palm Sunday combed their hair, saying: "Water, go to the ground with a headache," after which they put the comb in the water and poured the willow with this water.

Palm Sunday: signs

According to folk signs, what kind of wind blows on Palm Sunday will be like this all summer. Clear and warm weather on Palm Sunday prophesies a good harvest, and if "on Palm Frost, spring bread will be good."

Palm Sunday is one of the biggest holidays that falls on the period of Great Lent before Easter. Why the day is called precisely "verb", what folk signs are associated with it - read in the "Question-Answer" section.

Why did they start celebrating Palm Sunday?

According to the holy scripture, on Palm Sunday the Lord's Entry into the great Jerusalem took place. The Messiah arrived in the city in order to voluntarily sacrifice himself for the atonement of human sins. Enthusiastic crowds of believers met the Savior on the streets, joyfully waving fresh palm branches to him. However, the general rejoicing did not last long. Soon Jesus was persecuted and was eventually tortured to death on the cross of Calvary. Since then, every year, seven days before the traditional Easter holidays, believers remember the coming of Jesus and consecrate willow and palm twigs in churches.

What date is Palm Sunday celebrated?

The day when Palm Sunday in 2016 depends on the date of Easter. The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem always falls on the last Sunday of Great Lent. There is no fixed date for this holiday. It is celebrated exactly one week before Easter. In 2016, for the Orthodox, this day falls on April 24, and for Catholics, on March 20.

What traditions are there on Palm Sunday?

Willow branches need to be broken on the eve of Palm Sunday. At the same time, it should be remembered that it is best to pluck the vines from those trees and bushes that grow on the shore, near the water. If the warm season that promotes flowering has not yet arrived, then it is better to prepare willow twigs a week earlier. On Palm Sunday, people bring willows to the church so that the priest can bless the branches. The consecrated branches should be brought into the house as a symbol of the fact that the family, just like the Israelites in their time, meets Jesus and lets him into their lives. It is necessary to keep willow branches for a whole year, as a sign of readiness to follow Jesus. On Palm Sunday, it is customary to wake up little children with bunches of willows that were consecrated in the temple.

According to other traditions, it is possible to run a willow vine over the naked body of a seriously ill person during the holiday, while prayers must be read. It was believed that willow buds would give young men physical strength, and a girl would be helped to conceive a child. If on Palm Sunday the weather is bad and it rains, then it is good, promising a good harvest. If it is dry on this day, then plantings this year will not bear well.

This day must be accompanied by delicious delicacies. It is important to please small children with sweets. According to tradition, the house on Palm Sunday should be filled with children's laughter, the sounds of fun and celebration.

One of the holidays that fall on Great Lent is Palm Sunday, which is revered by all believers and is a twelfth holiday in the Orthodox calendar.

Palm Sunday, or Flower-bearing Sunday, is the Sunday of the penultimate week of Great Lent. The name of this day was originally Palm Sunday, but since palm trees do not grow in countries with a cold climate, they were replaced by willows. Thus, the colloquial name of this holiday appeared. It has a difference from other Twelver feasts: in fact, it has neither a pre-feast nor an after-feast. If Lazarus Saturday, which falls on the day before Palm Sunday, can be considered to a certain extent a prefeast, then there is no afterfeast, since Holy Week immediately follows this day.

The Meaning of Palm Sunday

On the one hand, the symbolic entry into Jerusalem is a prototype of the entry of the Son of Man into Paradise. The people of Israel then solemnly met the Savior, as the scripture tells, since they had already heard about the resurrection of Lazarus and recognized him as the Messiah, who, according to the prediction, was to appear by Easter. Jerusalem was then under the rule of Rome and the Israelis believed that it was he who would save them from occupation. It is no coincidence that the Savior entered the city on a donkey: in the east, the entrance on a horse symbolized that a person came with war, and if on a donkey, then with peace. This event is described by all four evangelists. Meeting Jesus, the people laid palm branches on the road in front of him, which gave the name to the holiday.

What date is Palm Sunday in 2016?

Palm Sunday is always counted as the Sunday before Holy Week. This year, the holiday falls on April 24th.

Events related to this day

The event that took place the day before the Lord entered Jerusalem is the resurrection of Lazarus. The gospel of John says that he was a resident of Bethany. In the house where he lived with his sisters, Martha and Mary, Jesus stopped on his way to Jerusalem. Their brother had been dead for four days. Jesus found out about his death and went to him and resurrected him: Lazarus came straight out of the tomb, from which the stone was rolled away, and lived another 30 years, becoming a bishop in Crete.

The second event is the expulsion of merchants from the Temple. On the day of Passover, the Jews slaughtered a lamb (lamb) as a sacrifice to God. In connection with this, shops were opened right in the temple, where you could buy everything necessary for the sacrifice. They drove cattle to the temple. Moreover, coins were also changed there: Roman money was in use, but taxes could only be paid in Jewish shekels. Seeing all this, Jesus drove them out of the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers. The event of the expulsion of merchants from the Jerusalem Temple is described by all four evangelists, but there are discrepancies: John describes these events not on the last Easter, but on what happened four years earlier. In the Gospel of Luke, Matthew and Mark, this event falls exactly on the day of entry into Jerusalem.

Spend this bright day in prayer and attend a service in the temple: this will facilitate the last days of fasting. All the best and don't forget to press the buttons and

14.04.2016 00:30

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Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, Palm Sunday, Palm Sunday (Greek Κυριακή των Βαΐων, Old Glory. Vay week, lat. Dominica in Palmis de passione Domini) is a Christian holiday celebrated on the Sunday ("Week") preceding the Week of Easter, that is, the sixth Week of Great Lent. In Russian liturgical books it is also called Flower-bearing week, and colloquially Palm Sunday, which is due to the fact that palm branches in the Slavic countries were replaced by willows (cf. Bulgarian Vrbnitsa, Belarusian Verbnitsa, Ukrainian Verbna week). The first mention of the use of willow in worship is found in the Izbornik of Svyatoslav.

Palm Sunday Dates:

Palm Sunday 2016 - April 24; Palm Sunday 2017 - April 9; Palm Sunday 2018 - April 1; Palm Sunday 2019 - April 21; Palm Sunday 2020 - April 12

Description in the Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel of Matthew (21:1-7) tells that the apostles, at the direction of Jesus, take a colt and a donkey from Bethany (according to the word of Jesus, the owners do not interfere with them).

Jesus rides on a donkey into Jerusalem, where the people meet him, laying clothes and palm branches on the road with exclamations: “Hosanna to the Son of David! blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! hosanna in the highest!" (Matthew 21:9).

In the Jerusalem Temple, Jesus overturns the tables of money changers and cattle sellers, saying: “It is written that My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves” (Matt. 21:13), which causes displeasure of the ministers, but they do not dare to take it, fearing the people.

After that, the blind and the lame come to Jesus and he heals them (Matthew 21:14).

Jesus leaves Jerusalem and spends the night in Bethany (Matt. 21:17).

Description from other evangelists

The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem is described by all four evangelists, and Mark (in the 11th chapter of his Gospel), and Luke (in the 19th chapter), and John (in the 12th chapter) tell about it. The description of events given by Mark and Luke is in many ways very similar to the description given by the Evangelist Matthew, although it differs in some details. Evangelists Mark and Luke report that Jesus, approaching Jerusalem and being near the Mount of Olives, next to Bethphage and Bethany, sends two of his disciples for a young donkey, which they find, untie and bring to Him. Being taught by Jesus, to the question “why do you untie?” they answer that the Lord needs him (the colt).

Many other details of the description also coincide with all three authors of the Synoptic Gospels.

The meaning of the holiday

The holiday symbolizes, on the one hand, the recognition of Jesus as the Messiah (Christ), and on the other, a prototype of the entry of the Son of Man into Paradise.

The Jews expected that the Messiah - the Savior of Israel - would appear at Passover. At that time, Judea was under the occupation of the Romans, and they expected a national liberator from foreign domination.

The people of Jerusalem, knowing about the resurrection of Lazarus, meet Jesus very solemnly. Jesus, showing that he enters Jerusalem with a desire for peace, not war, enters on a colt (in the East, entering the city on a donkey is a symbol of peace, riding a horse is a symbol of war).

The mention of the holiday is found in Ambrose of Milan and Epiphanius of Cyprus, and his images are found on the sarcophagi of the 4th century, but finally in the Western tradition the holiday (lat. Die dominica in palmas - Palm Sunday) was established by the 7th century. It is assumed that it was first established in Jerusalem.

The holiday is celebrated by Orthodox, Catholics and many Protestants.

In the Orthodox calendar, the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, unlike other twelfth feasts, formally does not have a prefeast, although Lazarus Saturday on the eve can be considered as a prefeast, and has no afterfeast at all, since it is immediately followed by Holy Week.

During the all-night vigil on the feast of the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem, the worshipers, as it were, meet the invisibly coming Lord and greet Him as the Conqueror of hell and death, holding branches, flowers and lighted candles in their hands. At matins (the second part of the vigil), a special prayer is read for the blessing of “vay” (that is, palm branches, which in Slavic countries are replaced by willow branches). Usually, after this, the willows, which the worshipers hold in their hands, are sprinkled with holy water.

Orthodox Christians have a custom to keep consecrated willows throughout the year, to decorate icons in the house with them. In some localities, there is a pious custom to place consecrated willows in the hands of the dead as a sign that, by faith in Christ, they will overcome death, resurrect, and meet the Savior with consecrated branches.