What is the date of Palm Sunday in 2025 and how to celebrate it

A week before the Resurrection of Christ, believers celebrate an important holiday - Palm Sunday. Since the date of the holiday floats and is tied to Easter, it is important to know when Palm Sunday is in 2024 and what must be done on this day.

Palm Sunday, according to all four Gospels, is the day when Jesus solemnly rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The Lord's Entry into Jerusalem, Flower Sunday, Palm Sunday — these are all the names of this great holiday important for believers.

In 2025, Palm Sunday will be celebrated on April 13.

Why Palm Sunday is called that

According to the Gospel, when Jesus entered Jerusalem, crowds of townspeople were already waiting for him, having heard about him as a great miracle worker and prophet from Nazareth, healing the sick. After all, the day before, on Saturday, he resurrected Lazarus, this event is celebrated on Lazarus Saturday. They met Jesus of Nazareth as befits a king - he spread white cloths under his feet and greeted him with palm branches. This was the case in hot Israel, but palm trees do not grow in our latitudes, so they were replaced with willow branches - the only plant that invariably comes to life a week before Easter, no matter what date the holiday falls on.

Source: Instagram @visti.dpua

How to celebrate Palm Sunday

Even on Lazarus Saturday, on the eve of Palm Sunday, you need to stock up on live willow branches, which will act as palm branches. In the evening on Saturday, it is important to come to the church with these twigs and it is very desirable to attend the service at night, which, as a rule, begins immediately after midnight. After the end of the service, the priest sprinkles the brought willow twigs with holy water.

If for some reason it was not possible to come to the all-night service, you can bring a willow on the day of the celebration, on Sunday, April 13. It is important that they be sanctified in the church. Consecrated willow branches should be placed in water near the icon and, preferably, kept for a whole year - until the next celebration of the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem. But if the twigs have taken root, they can be planted near the house - the main thing is not to throw them away.

As a rule, on Palm Sunday, after church, a family dinner was arranged - but without special refinements, modestly and quietly. Lent is still ongoing, the most difficult Holy Week is ahead, which will begin already on Monday, April 14, but a slight relaxation is allowed. On Palm Sunday, you can eat a little fish, season your food with vegetable oil and drink a sip of red wine.

Source: pixabay

Folk customs and omens for Palm Sunday

• The Church believes that in the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem only visiting the church and making peace is important, but in folk traditions everything is much more interesting.
• It is customary to whip each other a little with a consecrated willow and at the same time wish them health, saying: "I don't beat, the willow beats."
• Our ancestors believed that if before an important business or before a long journey you eat a few willow "cats", you can count on success and luck.
• It was believed that consecrated willow branches standing in the house protect it from natural disasters and destruction.