Talks on the Sacramentals, by Msgr Arthur Tonne - Palms

"And most of the crowd spread their cloaks upon the road, while others were cutting branches from the trees, and strewing them on the road." St. Matthew, 21:8.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century there lived in Vienna an able artist named Philip Veit. He was a convert from the Jewish to the Catholic Church. Among his many pictures is one inspired by his new-found faith. He calls it Christianity. He has painted a beautiful lady sitting calm and serene amid the ruins of the Colosseum at Rome, the scene of so many martyrdoms in the early centuries. In her left hand she holds a cross; in her right, the palm of victory. At her feet lie instruments of torture together with blooming flowers. At her side is a covered vessel that looks like a chalice.

The outstanding impression of this picture is the absolute air of undisturbable calmness of the woman who represents Christianity. The cross and the palm explain that expression. She knows for sure that the cross will ever be hers. And with equal certainty she knows that the palm is proof that she will ever win out. Christianity will always win, always did.

That is why it was most appropriate to represent Christianity, the religion of Christ, which means the Catholic Church, sitting calmly confident in the ruins of the Colosseum. In this day of football bowls--Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl--it is well to remember the Martyrs' Bowl, the ancient ampitheatre or outdoor showplace where thousands of Christians won a victory by dying for Christ. The palm is an emblem, a symbol of that victory.

The palm is a treasured sacramental of Mother Church. It is distributed to the faithful on Palm Sunday. Its principal purpose is to remind us of the triumphal entry of our Savior into Jerusalem when a great crowd met Him, cutting down palm branches to strew on the street before Him.

Carrying palms in procession goes way back into the Old Testament. It was not only approved but even commanded by Almighty God at the very foundation of the Jewish religion. In the fall of the year, after the harvest, when the people gathered for the Feast of Tabernacles God said:

"You shall take to you on the first day the fruits of the fairest tree, and branches of palm-trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord, your God." Leviticus, 23:40.

Again we read of palms in the Second Book of Machabees, 10:7. In the Apocalypse, Chapter 7, the martyrs are represented carrying palms.

Nor was bearing palms limited to religious victory. Philo tells us that Agrippa carried palms and flowers on his entry into Jerusalem; Josephus relates the same of Alexander the Great.

The palm is an expressive symbol. It is one of the most useful of Oriental trees; that shows the overshadowing protection of Divine Providence. Its foliage offers a delightful shade, symbol of supernatural grace. It supplies dates, delicious and useful fruit, and oozes a kind of wine from its bark. This symbolizes the nourishment which our Lord gives us in the Holy Eucharist.

The palms are blessed before the High Mass on Palm Sunday. Vested in purple cope and standing at the Epistle corner of the altar, the celebrant recites a short prayer, and then reads a lesson from the book of Exodus which tells of the children of Israel coming to Elim on their way to the Promised Land, where there was a fountain and seventy palm trees. Here they murmured against Moses, their leader; and here God promised and gave them food from heaven--manna.

After a few verses from the New Testament, the priest reads the story of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem the Sunday before His death--how the people were aroused to a high pitch of enthusiasm, how they cut down branches and strewed them, with their garments, along the way, and how they sang joyous hosannas.

There follows a prayer begging God that we may in the end go forth to meet Christ, bearing the palm of victory and laden with good works, that we may enter with Him into the eternal Jerusalem. The preface that follows is especially beautiful, as are the five succeeding prayers, all of which ask God to bless the palms, that they may be sanctified and may be a means of grace and divine protection to the soul and body of those who carry them and treasure them with faith and devotion. One prayer refers to the olivebranch brought by the dove to the ark of Noe after the flood had subsided, as a mark of peace between heaven and earth.

The palms should be distributed to the people at the Communion rail, but the custom is more common to have altar boys or ushers give them to the congregation in their pews. Certain verses of Scripture are then read, together with a prayer. There is a procession of clergy and servers through the church.

During the Mass the palms are to be held in the hand at the singing or reading of the Passion and the Gospel. Treat with respect the piece of palm you receive. Place it in a prominent place in your home, hanging over a crucifix or a holy picture.

Let it be a continual reminder of the victory which was won by our Redeemer, a victory won only by His humbling Himself to death, the death of the cross. Remembering that, we will also remember that all true victories, especially those in our spiritual life, will be won by triumphing over ourselves, our wayward passions and evil inclinations.

The fact that the palms of one year are burned to secure the ashes for the next Ash-Wednesday brings out this connection between suffering and victory.

May your life be a duplicate of that picture by that great convert Jewish artist, another picture of one with a cross in the left hand and a palm in the night. May you be faithful to the cross and to Him who hung upon it. Then you can be sure that the palm some day will be placed in your hand also, the palm of eternal victory. Amen.