Palm Sunday marks start of Holy Week

The Filipino faithful commemorate today the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as the entire Christendom observes Palm Sunday, or Domingo de Ramos.

"The solemn entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem is, in the context of the celebration of Holy Week, the decisive step of Christ into His suffering and death. He entered as King and Savior who had come to free mankind from the slavery of sin, death and the devil. In His weakness He proved himself to be strong; in His defeat He won His triumph; in His death He became the victor over death, both spiritual and corporal," according to the Catholic Church.

The Messiah’s entrance will be celebrated at every Mass today ushering Holy Week, in which the faithful commemorate "the great mysteries of our redemption."

But leave it to Filipinos to make the event interesting by fusing folk culture with folk art as seen in the fixture for today’s rites: the palaspas.

Made from a clump of young palm fronds tied near the base, the palaspas is braided, rolled and wrapped around the length of a tapering stem-stick and adorned with fresh or paper flowers fashioned from multicolored papel de japon.

The palaspas makers, artisans in their own right, can skillfully fashion the fronds into sepak balls, shrimps, birds and miniature v-shaped wind vanes.

In a rare instance, the priest will enter today’s Mass from the main door where he will greet the faithful who will welcome him pretty much like the multitude which welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem.

As the priest approaches the altar, all the time making the sign of blessing, his walk is accompanied by the rustling of the palasapas.

Today’s readings will recount the eventful moment, bringing to mind an account by a council member who supposedly voted that Christ be put to death:

"There was the wildest joy among the people. Some tore off branches of palms, and stood by the way and waved them in front of Jesus; others took off their talith and threw it down in front of the young ass on which Jesus rode, as if to pave the way into the Holy City with choice linen ...

"But when I looked upon the face of Jesus there were no signs of the coming triumph; he sat with his head bent forward, his eyes downcast, and his face all sad. And a chill somehow came over me ...."

Today’s rites will be highlighted by the blessing of the palaspas, whose rustling will heighten with the joyous chanting of "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"

After Mass, the faithful bring home their palaspas, beaming as they carry the adorned fronds which are proof not only of their participation in the Lenten ritual, but also as relic for their homes.

Old folk say the palaspas can be used to ward off evil or protect homes and households against harm.

The palaspas of the previous year are also gathered and burned, the resulting ashes of which are used for another rite: the dabbing of ash on the forehead on Ash Wednesday next year.