Named for the branches the people laid on the road before Jesus as he entered Jerusalem for the culmination of his earthly ministry, this first day of Holy Week takes us on a liturgical journey from the hope of Jesus’ triumphant entry to the despair of his death five days later.

The service begins in the back of the church, with the congregation waving palm leaves as the procession makes its way forward, asking God to “Let these branches be for us signs of his victory, and grant that we who bear them in his name may ever hail him as our King, and follow him in the way that leads to eternal life.”

Turning abruptly from the triumphal procession to the gravity of the coming days, the liturgy quickly reminds us that the altar for Jesus took the form of a cross, and we hear the poignant story of Jesus’ arrest and execution. As the story ends with Jesus’ body laid in a tomb, we pray “that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection.”