www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Palm Sunday Gospel in RC Church

I always seem to be on the road for Palm Sunday, worshipping in Roman Catholic Churches. Can one of our Latin posters (or anyone else who knows) explain why the Gospel reading begins with Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem but then continues on through his passion, death and burial ? It feels out of synch to me to be hearing about these events since they will not occur until later in the week. I've been curious about this for a long time.

Barbara

Thats because of the "new lectionary", the old readings Pre Vat II were:

Epistle : Philippians 2:5-11

Gospel : Matthew 21:1-9, 26-27

james

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Actually, Jakub, you don't have a complete story there...

While there were liturgical changes to Palm Sunday after Vatican II, even BEFORE Vatican II the Roman liturgy for Palm Sunday had a "foreMass" (in fact, before 1955, it even had a "preface" and a Sanctus!) for the Liturgy of the palms and the procession, which used the "triumphal entry" Gospel, and then, once the procession had entered the church the REGULAR Mass took place, which had the Epistle you mentioned, but then the Passion according to St. Matthew.

This is a ROMAN custom. The northern European western uses (like Sarum, Upsalla, etc.) made a much more "festive" Palm Sunday, as is done in the Byzantine church.

The other passions were read on different days in Holy Week, with John being reserved for the Solemn Liturgical Service on Good Friday.

(Prof.) J. Michael Thompson
Byzantine Catholic Seminary
Pittsburgh, PA

Thank you Professor, I will check my old missals.


james

Hi,

The short answer is that the reason for this is a pastoral reason. You see, none of the days of the Holy Week are Holy Days of Obligation. That, together with the fact that in many places the Holy Week and Easter Week are vacation time, makes it very possible that for many people, Palm Sunday and Pascha (Easter Sunday) are the only two days they will go to Church.

The Church decided that if they had to pick just two sets of readings, they would focus on the Passion of the Lord for the first of the two Sundays (Palm Sunday) and on His Resurrection for the second (Pascha, Easter Sunday).

But if you're interested in a little trivia:

Before the reforms of Pope Paul VI, the situation was even more confusing.

The Fifth Sunday of Lent was officially called Passion Sunday, and a week later came Palm Sunday. But since the liturgical "motif" of Palm Sunday was also the Passion of the Lord, they eventually became the First and Second Passion Sundays.

The Gospel for the First Passion Sunday was the second part of John 8, where Jesus reveals to the Jews "even before Abraham, I AM".

The reason to call the First Sunday "Passion Sunday" was because it marked the beginning of "Passiontide", a time full with customs and devotions related to the Passion, such as covering church images with veils and feasts such as the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Gospel for the Second Passion Sunday was the Passion according to St. Matthew.


With the current calendar, the Gospel for each Sunday depends on the three-year cycle:

For the Fifth Sunday of Lent it always comes from the Gospel of St. John. It can be either the Resurrection of Lazarus, the last announcement of the Passion (which happens AFTER the triumphant entrance), or the episode with the woman caught commiting adultery.

For "Palm Sunday - The Passion of the Lord" (which is the currently official name), the Gospel is always the narrative of the Passion, but it could be according to St. Matthew, St. Mark or St. Luke, according to the cycle. In my home parish back in Mexico we used to nick-name this "Faint" Sunday, because every year someone fainted half-way through the rather lengthy reading of the Gospel.

The Passion according to St. John is still reserved for Good Friday, as it was before the liturgical reforms. But the new rubrics prescribe red as the liturgical color, the old rubrics gave the option for red or black.

Shalom,
Memo.

I remember something like what Prof Michael describes, but with a reading of the entry Gospel, prayer (blessing of palms) and entrance with Sanctus (all English). This was recent-something like twelve of thirteen years ago (the first time i served a Mass, in fact).

Memo,

You are quite correct, my 1954 Missal has the following:

The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ - Matt. 26,36-75; 27, 1-60

about 15 pages before the Gospel (Matt.27, 45-52)

I have a faint memory a very long service.

james

Hi,

There are actually three different forms of Introductory Rites for Palm Sunday:

1. The Procession. This form assumes the priest, ministers and at least a portion of the people will assemble outside the Church. The Palms are blessed and distributed, the Gospel of the Entrance in Jerusalem is proclaimed, and then the assembly processes to the Church singing appropriate antiphons or hyms. The celebrant then goes directly to the opening prayer (no penitential rite). This is the first choice for Introductory rites, but can be used only for one mass.

2. The Solemn Entrance. The priest and ministers gather just outside the Church doors and bless the palms, the Gospel is read as above, and then the priest and ministers process to the altar. The celebrant also goes directly to the opening prayer. This is the form of choice for all the other masses, but it can be used even for the principal mass if the Procession form cannot be used.

3. The Simple Entrance, which is your regular mass entrance, it does prescribe a penitential rite, and it is not recommended at all, just allowed in case none of the two forms above can be used.

So you not only get a long Gospel, you also get a long introductory rite. But hey, it is Holy Week!

Shalom,
Memo.

Another reason is quite the opposite- many people have to work or go to school on Good Friday and might not be able to attend services on that day. My church has added a 7am service as well as a noon and 7pm serice on Good Friday because of this

Dear Jakub and Memo,

You seem to be talking "across" one another. Jakub is making reference to a 1954 missal (which means it was published BEFORE the 1955 Holy Week Reforms of Pope Pius XII), and Memo is making reference to the current version of the Roman Missal (1970).

Jakub: Before 1955, the reading of the Passion was done by three deacons vested in what were called "folded chasubles." When the Passion was completed, then the last section of it was chanted in an altogether different Tone--and it was accompanied by candles and incense, which were NOT used during the Passion. This was called "the Gospel." Nonetheless, these two were never done apart from each other.

(Prof.) J. Michael Thompson
Byzantine Catholic Seminary
Pittsburgh, PA

Thank you again Professor Thompson for the info, I will look further into the changes, my recollections start in 1958 so they were of Pope Pius XII reforms. Another tibit to investigate.

james