Skip to main content

Branch Sunday

My first year living in Spain I was edified by the many beautiful Catholic traditions that are celebrated across the country.  Statistics show that Catholicism is dying in this former jewel of Christendom; my experiences proved to me otherwise.  The Catholic Faith seemed deeply engrained in the soul of the country and its people.  Semana Santa was always a thrilling time. 
For the suffering people of Spain who this year will be deprived of the glory of its grand processions, liturgies and celebrations,  perhaps this temporary deprivation will lead to a greater appreciation and love for its Catholic roots.
La Macarena.  Jueves Santo en Sevilla.

Domingo de Ramos en Valladolid.
In Madrid on Domingo de Ramos (Branches Sunday), blessed olive branches adorn the entrances to the churches  - so fitting for the heart of España which is geographically surrounded by olivos or olive groves. 
This week Father agreed to bless palms and leave them outside the church for the faithful.  However as palms were not readily available,  I went on a hunt for an olive tree.  An apocalyptic downtown street proved successful and yesterday I delivered a basket of ramos olivarum (as Father called them) to the church for blessing.
Researching Domingo de Ramos I found that palm or olive branches are commonly substituted with yew and willow on Branch Sunday in England.
For our Sunday morning home devotions I used clippings from our English yew as the blessed olive would not be ready till the afternoon.
I recommend reading Fleurs de Marie-Jacqueline's excellent post on Palm Sunday  for information about church decoration for this feast. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Roses for Our Lady: Altar Flowers for the Nativity of the BVM

Altar flowers for the Traditional Latin Mass Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.   Roses, Queen Anne's lace, green poms and crocosmia greens.
3 comments
Read more

Processional Litter & Flowers for the Feast of the Assumption

This year for the Feast of the Assumption, the pastor of our little country parish asked if I would help create a processional litter for the statue of Our Lady.    He had the great idea of repurposing an old table!  It seemed Our Lady was smiling down on me that day when I walked into the thrift store and there it was for twenty dollars: a perfect square, three foot, solid oak table. A few months ago, my kind friend, mentor, and owner of Altarations Paraments in Oregon sent me a box loaded with remnants of liturgical fabric.  I added a white skirt around the bottom to hide the table legs and a carpenter attached brackets for the removable oak rods.  I was a bit nervous about creating the arrangements for the litter. They needed to be as light as possible and secured to the litter to withstand being jostled about in the procession.   I found four plastic oval platters at the dollar store, added a block of wet foam, taped it in place and created the arr...
2 comments
Read more

Greenery for Altar Flowers

On this Solemnity of St. Joseph, I thought I would write a bit about one of the colors associated with our beloved St. Joseph, green. In God's perfectly-ordered creation, this color serves as a backdrop to both the rose and the lily.  Perhaps greenery is a sort of metaphor for St. Joseph: always present and right behind, highlighting the splendor and perfection of Our Lady and Our Lord.   This reflection leads me into more practical considerations for the use of greenery in my arrangements.  Greenery is, for me, what "makes" an arrangement and adds your personal touch.   It is also a way to stretch your flower budget, and make one dozen roses look like two.   I live in a Pacific coastal climate where there is an abundance of greenery available throughout the year.  This eliminates the need to purchase greenery for my arrangements and affords me a lot of flexibility in choosing greens.   However, if you live in the desert or in an ar...
4 comments
Read more