Why is it called Palm Sunday? What does Palm Sunday represent?

Palm Sunday, also known as Passion Sunday, is the first day of Holy Week and the Sunday before Easter in the Christian calendar, it represents the celebration of Jesus Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

Palm Sunday will be observed on April 10, 2022.

Palm Sunday is commemorated in most liturgical churches by the blessing and distribution of palm branches (or other native tree branches), which depict the palm branches scattered in front of Christ as he rode into Jerusalem; these palms are sometimes braided into crosses.

Palms were replaced by branches of natural trees such as box, olive, willow, and yew due to the difficulty of obtaining palms in unfavourable regions. The Sunday was frequently named after these alternative trees, such as Yew Sunday or Branch Sunday.

Based on the biblical words shouted by the crowd as Jesus entered Jerusalem, it is often referred to as Oshana Sunday or Hosanna Sunday in Syriac Christianity.