In a crowded St. Peter’s Square, an estimated 60,000 faithful, under a sky in which the sun’s rays alternate with the clouds, to open the celebration of Palm Sunday presided over by Pope Francis, is the commemoration of the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem, of which the story of the evangelist Mark is read, and which precedes the celebration of Mass. The Pope blesses and sprinkles the olive branches, a symbol of today, with holy water, which this present holds in their hands. The procession follows with over 400 palm “bearers” who head towards the churchyard from the center of the square. The cardinals, bishops, and concelebrating priests take their places next to the altar.

“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming Kingdom of our Father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Christ’s passion

The change of scene is radical: the liturgy of the Word of the Eucharistic celebration includes the reading sung by many voices of the Passion of Jesus, taken again from the Gospel according to Mark. Through the words of the evangelist, we relive the passages of Christ’s suffering in all its rawness. The re-enactment of the Passion, at the Pope’s invitation, is followed by a moment of silence and meditation. It is a suffering, that of Christ, which contains the pains of all times and of all humanity and humanity, with its frailties, is presented to the Lord in the universal prayer or prayer of the faithful which concludes the Liturgy of the Word. We pray for the Church, so that it “always seeks unity, reconciliation and communion”; for rulers “called to cultivate peace and the good of peoples”; for all men and women who suffer; for persecuted Christians; for every Christian community so that he “may be a witness to his own faith, in prayer and charity”.

At the end of the celebration, directly from the churchyard of the Basilica, Francis pronounces the Angelus, before imparting his blessing and making a wide tour in the Popemobile to greet the faithful and pilgrims who acclaim him in the square.