On Sunday, 1 April 2018, the Orthodox Church celebrates the Great Feast of the Twelve, the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, known as "Palm Sunday".
On this day the festal Divine Liturgy was celebrated in our church.
On the eve, the All-Night Vigil was served.
The services were led by the rector of the church, Priest Igor Babakov.
We celebrate the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem as a testimony to the victory of the God-Man over those who considered Him a false messiah, who did not want Him to come into the Holy City as the Master and King of the people. On this day we also celebrate His victory as the entry into the Week of His sufferings, through which the work of the salvation of the human race was accomplished.
Palm Sunday is one of the principal feasts of the Church. On this day our Lord Jesus Christ rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, and the people meet Him, spreading their garments and palm branches on the road and crying out: "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" (Matt. 21:9). The Jews were awaiting the coming of their king, the Messiah, who would free them from the Roman occupiers and, like King David, make Israel once again the mightiest of earthly kingdoms. Many saw in Jesus precisely such a king. But Jesus was the true Messiah. Through His voluntary sufferings, death and glorious Resurrection He came to open to all the people of the world the way into the New Israel, the Kingdom of God. Therefore on this day Christians greet their King, who comes to offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind.
In southern countries people come to church on this feast with palm branches. Palms do not grow in our lands, so the faithful bring sprigs of pussy willow to church, which is where the other, popular name of this feast in our country comes from: Willow Sunday.
At the end of the Liturgy Fr. Igor congratulated the parishioners on the Great Feast and reminded them that Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the strictest week of the fast, when the faithful remember the last days of the earthly life of Jesus Christ. During Holy Week the Savior was crucified on the Cross and then rose again.
The week will conclude with the radiant feast of Pascha on 8 April.
