Palm Sunday
A man holds an image of Jesus Christ while surrounded by churchgoer's holding palm fronds during a Palm Sunday mass, marking the start of the Holy Week, outside of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help church in Paranaque city, metro Manila, Philippines, April 9, 2017. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

Christians around the world today celebrate Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter that commemorates Jesus' successful entry into Jerusalem riding a donkey, a week before his crucifixion on Good Friday and, after that, his resurrection.

The name "Palm Sunday" has been derived from Bible verses that described how Palm branches were laid down on Jesus’ path while he rode into Jerusalem and people also waved them as they are considered to be a symbol of peace and victory.

RTX34KLL
Pope Francis attends the final Sermon of Lent at the Vatican, April 7, 2017. Osservatore Romano/Handout via REUTERS

Common traditions at many Christian Palm Sunday church services include construction of small palm crosses, people taking part in processions with palm branches that often include a live donkey and the blessing of palms where palm branches are saved to be burned during Ash Wednesday services the next year. Mathew 21, among the four other gospels in the Bible that tell the story of Palm Sunday, is the one read the most at church services during the celebrations.

Here is the Mathew 21 passage that is often read during Palm Sunday service: "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away ... The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them."

Here are some famous quotes and Bible verses to celebrate Palm Sunday:​

  1. "See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on, a donkey."- reads Zechariah 9.9
  2. "They took Palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting ‘Hosanna’. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the King of Israel." - reads John 12.13

  3. "But Palm Sunday tells us that … it is the cross that is the true tree of life."- Pope Benedict XVI

  4. "And you shall take to you on the first day the fruits of the fairest tree, and branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook: And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God," reads Leviticus 23:40.

RELATED STORIES
Israel Easter