The Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields is an Episcopal parish in the Diocese of Pennsylvania that is centered on the worship of God, the ministry of all baptized persons, and the call to be agents of Christ’s love in the world.
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Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
8000 St. Martin’s Lane
Philadelphia, PA 19118
215.247.7466

The Reverend Robert L. Tate, Rector

Palm Sunday

Next Sunday, Rubrics Expanded begins a three-part series on the services of the Triduum: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil of Easter. Thus, while it is still three weeks away, today we turn our attention to Palm Sunday.

As with the other observances of Holy Week, Palm Sunday has a very long history: accounts of a special observance of Palm Sunday in Jerusalem date from the latter half of the fourth century. This celebration of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem gradually spread to other areas of the church; by the twelfth century the custom of blessing ‘palms’ followed by a procession was well established.

The mediaeval observance of Palm Sunday in Salisbury (the liturgical form known as ‘Sarum’) was extremely complicated. Flowers and leaves, representing palms, were first exorcised, then blessed, and then sprinkled with holy water and censed. The procession would stop at various ‘stations’ similar to stations of the cross on Good Friday, accompanied by scripture readings, psalms, hymns, and prayers. The eucharist that followed the procession contained no further references to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem: the entire focus shifted to the events of Christ’s Passion and marked the day as the beginning of Holy Week. The whole of the Matthean passion narrative was sung, and the reading was simply announced as ‘The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew’, with the customary response omitted.

Due to the reformers’ aversion to the blessing of material things, the Palm Sunday rite became significantly curtailed and impoverished in the sixteenth century. The first Prayer Book in 1549 referred to the day as ‘The Sunday next before Easter’, and while it retained the collect, epistle, and passion narrative from Matthew, there was no procession and commemoration of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Later revisions did add the account of the entry as well as the prophecy from Zechariah to the lections for Morning Prayer. However, by the end of the nineteenth century, Morning Prayer and Eucharist together were no longer required; and many people missed the striking contrasts between the triumphal entry with its shouts of ‘Hosanna’ and the cross with the shouts of ‘Crucify him’, contrasts which, as Marion Hatchett says, gives the day its pathos and power.

The current edition of the Prayer Book provides a fuller rite and seeks to reclaim the richness of earlier practices. The title ‘The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday’ incorporates two of the traditional names for the day. The rubrics on page 270 once again encourage the restoration of an outdoor procession and the use of palms and branches.

The collect that follows the anthem from the Lukan account is one that dates from the middle ages and was traditionally used on the Monday of Holy Week. The gospel reading is to be taken from the synoptic Gospel appointed for the year. A significant change in the service is the rubric on page 272 that permits a deacon or lay person, in the absence of a bishop or priest, to read the blessing; this permits any congregation to celebrate the liturgy of the palms. The blessing of the palms has the form of a eucharistic preface. The rubrics suggest the singing of ‘All glory, laud, and honor’ or Psalm 118. The use of Psalm 118 dates to the accounts of the fourth century while the text of ‘All glory, laud, and honor’ dates to the early ninth century. (A little piece of trivia: the text was written by Bishop Theodulph of Orleans c. 820 while he was imprisoned for conspiring against King Louis I.)

The collect, psalm, and lections in the eucharist following the procession point us toward Christ’s death on the cross: all are traditional readings and have been used on this occasion since the early middle ages. The rubrics pertaining to the reading of the passion narrative restore a number of traditions including the manner in which the reading is announced and the possibility of a dramatic presentation. Due to the weight and content of the liturgy, the Creed and the confession of sin seem unnecessary and may be omitted. The tone of the service with its proclamation of Jesus as King and of his saving act on the cross ushers us into the most important and central week of the Christian year.