Processing With Palms: Thomas Aquinas College Enters Holy Week

On Palm Sunday, Thomas Aquinas College, New England, celebrated a traditional solemn High Mass with a beautiful procession to commemorate Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem before His Passion.

Mass began with the distribution of blessed palms, as the congregants moved to the altar rail in pairs to kiss the priest’s hand and receive palms. Then, led by chaplain Rev. John Chung, the student acolytes, and the choir, the palm-bearing congregation processed out of Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel and around campus, singing hymns. Upon reentering the chapel, the High Mass resumed with the entirety of St. Matthew’s account of Passiontide.

This Mass and procession are especially beautiful and significant because of the symbolism present in them, which call to mind the reality of Passiontide and Easter. This celebration is in part a reenactment, in part a direct participation in Christ’s Sacrifice; we are not just processing with an image or in honor of a feast — now we are processing in direct imitation and commemoration, culminating in our participation in the sacrifice of the Mass.

“There’s something striking in the Roman Liturgy as we process in imitation of Christ,” said Zachary Stark (NE’27). “Christ comes into Jerusalem a week before the Passion, and similarly we go on procession into the Chapel for this same sacrifice. We’re imitating Christ through the Liturgy and by the procession on Palm Sunday, but we’re also entering into the sacrifice itself in a very real way.”

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