Palm Sunday 2018: What's Its Significance and How To Watch Live Stream From Vatican City

Palm Sunday comes one week before Easter Sunday and the end of Lent. The event also marks the start of holy week and the historical day in the Christian faith that celebrates the return of Jesus to Jerusalem.

Typically, Palm Sunday is celebrated with palms or olive branches because they were supposedly used to line the path Jesus took to Jerusalem and to greet and welcome him upon his return to the city, Pope Francis explained in his Palm Sunday homily in 2013.

Thus, for Christians, Palm Sunday marks the return of Jesus before he was killed five days later. Good Friday, meanwhile, marks his crucifixion and death, and then the following Sunday marks his resurrection, also known as Easter.

The palms used on Palm Sunday are blessed before the service and are then considered holy objects by many. People who celebrate the holiday can either return the palms to the church once the service is over or they can keep them until the next Palm Sunday a year later. Many people make crosses out of them and keep them around the house or wear the crosses during holy week.

Some people who celebrate Palm Sunday don't believe the palms should be disposed of in the same manner as any other object would be. Traditionally, the ashes from burned palms that are returned to the church on Palm Sunday are then used on Ash Wednesday the following year.

Processions are also a popular part of Palm Sunday traditions in some Christian congregations. In Vatican City, there is a procession every year for Palm Sunday. This year, Pope Francis will preside over the blessing of the palms for the day and then the procession before his mass for Palm Sunday.

A live stream of St. Peter's Square at the Vatican is available to watch the Palm Sunday mass live here:

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