Pope celebrates Palm Sunday Mass in Saint Peter’s Square
(Vatican Radio) Palm Sunday, which is the 6th Sunday of Lent, marks the official beginning
of Holy Week during which Christians recall the passion and death of Christ.
Palm
Sunday Mass is celebrated by the Pope in Saint Peter’s Square. The celebration begins
with a procession followed by the blessing of palms – or olive branches, which are
used in Italy – symbolizing Jesus’ triumphal entrance into Jerusalem during which
palm branches were laid at his feet.
Because Palm Sunday is also diocesan World
Youth Day (WYD), many of those invited to carry palms in the procession are young
people from Italy and around the world.
Another highlight of Palm Sunday is
the reading from the Gospel of Matthew which recounts the Passion and Death of Jesus.
At
the conclusion of the Mass, a group of young people from Brazil will pass the WYD
Cross to the youth of Poland in preparation for the 2016 WYD in Krakow.