The "Blessing of the Palms …… or Pussy Willows" Story

Jesus entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday

It was an ordinary day.  Palm Sunday!  And, the symbol of today is, naturally, the palm branch carried on Palm Sunday in the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.  To me the palm branch symbolizes victory, triumph, peace and eternal life and sets the stage for Holy Week's emotional Easter celebration.  The depiction of the palm on the tomb of Christ means to many that a martyr was buried there.  In Judaism, a closed palm frond of the date palm is part of the festival of Sukkot.  In our church, we traditionally get a piece of palm branch as we exit church on Palm Sunday.  At times it is a long palm frond while other times it may be a small cross tied in the center with a piece of twine.  

The sewn cross

But, where do the churches get the palm pieces that they hand out today.  Many are shipped here from tropical regions with them coming from Mexico, Central America and Tanzania.  During our many visits to the Caribbean we have seen an abundance of beautiful palm trees of varying types.  The Catholic churches in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Diocese buy their palms from Majestic Works in nearby Elizabethtown, PA.  The small company delivers palms to more than 1,000 churches in this area.  

Palm frond hanging in my home.

There is another company in nearby Olney, Maryland that distributes African Palm crosses that are made by villagers in Tanzania.   This year the Maryland company will sell $70,000 worth of hand-sewn folded crosses throughout the United States as well as some churches in Lancaster county.  $70,000 makes more than 1.5 million crosses.  Another company, Eco-Palms, located in Roseville, Minnesota, sells palm crosses that are purchased from Guatemala and Mexico and are harvested in areas to protect the local forests and give the locals a continuous source of income.  But, now wait!  What if your church doesn't give out palm branches.  I found out that some give out pussy willow branches or olive branches.  In western Christian churches the palm fronds are blessed and distributed while in eastern Christian churches the pussy willow catkins  are blessed and handed out.  A mile or two from my home in Lancaster is a Catholic church that hands out pussy willow catkins that to them symbolize new life.  The pussy willows are bundled with bright string or ribbon and handed out to parishioners.  So, no matter what is handed out in your place of worship on Palm Sunday, it will more than likely carry the same connotation that the palm frond does in my church.  Anyway, have a happy and worshipful Palm Sunday!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.