Like our first two Palm Sunday photoposts, this one also shows very beautifully the richness of our Catholic liturgical tradition; once again, we have pictures of the EF in its pre- and post-Pian forms, the OF, the Ordinariate Use, and the Ambrosian and Byzantine Rites. There will be a fourth Palm Sunday post, and then we will get started on the rest of Holy Week, so if you haven’t seen yours yet, know that they will be posted. As always, we are very grateful to everyone who sent these in!
Basilique Notre-Dame de Fribourg - Fribourg, Switzerland
St Peter Eastern Catholic Church - Ukiah, California
In the Byzantine Rite, the Annunciation is always celebrated on March 25th, even when it falls in Holy Week. For those who use the Gregorian calendar, Palm Sunday this year requires a mix of the two celebrations, which leads to beautiful arrangements like this. (The red and blue continues below in the stikharia worn by the servers.)
Tradition will always be for the young!
Santa Maria della Consolazione - Milan, Italy (Ambrosian Rite)
In the Ambrosian tradition, red is the color of mourning, and is therefore worn for all the ceremonies of Holy Week, including Holy Thursday and Good Friday. The blessing of palms and the procession are done in penitential violet, since processions are always treated as penitential ceremonies in the West.
Kudos to the photographer for perfectly capturing the swing of the Ambrosian coverless thurible!
Church of St Aloysius Gonzaga, the Oratory of Oxford, England
OF Pontifical Mass celebrated by His Excellency Robert Byrne, founding provost of the Oratory, now titular bishop of Cuncacestre and Auxiliary of Birmingham, England.
St Luke’s - Washington, D.C. (Ordinarite Use)
Holy Child Naval Chapel Military - Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, the Philippines
Cathedral of St Eugene - Santa Rosa, California
Old St Patrick Oratory - Kansas City, Missouri (ICKSP)
