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The palm flowers and twigs that the believers bring along to the church on Palm Sunday symbolise the joy that Christ mysteriously enters Jerusalem and also the people's souls, Romania's Christian Orthodox Church Patriarch Daniel told the attendees of a church service at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest on Sunday.
"These flowers, the twigs that we carry in our hand symbolise the commemoration of the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem and also the fact that we express the joy that Christ the Lord enters not only Jerusalem but also our soul, which becomes a spiritual Jerusalem , as it is said in the akhatist hymn to the Lord's Entry in Jerusalem (...) Thus, Christ the Lord enters secretly Jerusalem and also our souls. On this holy and great day of the Lord's Entry in Jerusalem we bring the flowers of faith and the spiritual life to Jesus Christ the Saviour, and we thank Him. At the same time, we are heralding the week of our Saviour Jesus Christ's passions: His Resurrection, Burying and His Divine Resurrection, "Patriarch Daniel said in a sermon.
He emphasised that the flowers we carry on this day are the "flowers of faith."
"The flowers we carry in our hands this day, as Saint John Chrysostom already said, are the flowers of faith and the flowers of virtues we have gathered in our hearts through more prayer, many prostrations, tears of repentance, through more intense listening to the services and more frequent reading of the holy texts of the Holy Scriptures and of spiritual writings, by more sharing, and by more charity. These are the Palm Sunday's flowers symbolised by palm twigs, willow twigs and other flowers."
Daniel also mentioned the Holy and Great Myrrh, which he said to symbolise "the pure vine, the soul and the body cleansed of sins by 40-day Holy Lenten fast."
"We have a clean life after we have confessed, repented, exposed our sins and received forgiveness, after we have partaken more often of Divine Eucharist. Our life becomes sweet-smelling. A wretched life is foul-smelling, whereas a pure, spiritual life is sweet-smelling. So the valuable myrrh that we bring these days is spiritual life, a cleaned and sanctified life through the efforts of the Holy Lenten fast, "said Daniel.
The patriarch, who was assisted at the Orthodox Palm Sunday church service by Patriarchal Vicar Varlaam Ploiesteanul and Vicar Bishop of the Bucharest Archdiocese Timotei Prahoveanul, addressed fatherly wishes for health and salvation to all who have been named after flowers.
Christian Orthodox and Greek Catholic believers on Sunday celebrated Palm Sunday, a day that reminds people of Jesus Christ's Entry into Jerusalem, where he was greeted by crowds of peoples carrying palm flowers and twigs. AGERPRES
