Collegio's Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday and we get through a reading today that recalls the Passion of Christ.

We, at the Collegio had a cool and pleasant morning to enter into the Holy Week with a short procession with palms... er.. olive... branches in our hands as we celebrate the first part with the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. This is my first Palm Sunday, celebrating the occasion in the Collegio. Last year I was at St Peter's Square with the rest of the people (and other pilgrims) joining in the Mass with the Holy Father.

The occasion this morning wasn't as grand and awesome as that at St Peter's, but it was still a good and solemn celebration where I had the opportunity to be with my brother priests as a community of sorts. The sisters who looks after our meals and laundry were also present in their brown habit of the Carmelites.

For the rest of the day, I am still in the early part of our Easter holidays here (2 weeks) and welcome the R&R that is ahead to 'recuperate' awhile...

(more pictures of the Palm Sunday Mass here)

Sunday of the Palms

I went with Frs Nicholas and Francis to the Vatican square this morning to experience a Palm Sunday Mass celebration with the Pope.

It was a very grand and colorful affair with the huge crowds contributing to the solemnity of the celebration. The Collegio also had our Palm Sunday celebration at 7.30 am but I wanted to see how and what the celebration was in the Vatican this year instead.

I wasn't disappointed. The Mass began promptly at 9.30 am with the readings of the entry into Jerusalem, the palms in the crowd (in Vatican) abounding and held aloft everywhere (including mine!). However, the palms were mostly olive branches, which were distributed out earlier. That followed with the procession by the Pope and the rest of the altar servers, priests, bishops and cardinals to the main altar for the next portion of the Mass proper.

The entire gospel reading was sung by three deacons and it was quite truly inspiring to have the passion narration of Matthew done this way. It helped that the deacons sung well ;-)

The rest of the Mass when on well and despite the long hours that it took to finish the whole thing (2.5 hours), it was a whole morning well spent. Certainly, nothing beats the real thing when you are really there and feeling the real beat and pulse of this kind of celebration with the Pope in the flesh! ;-) Meanwhile, the report on the Pope's homily can be found here and the video below shows our antics at the Palm Sunday Mass! (well, at least the beginning, at the closing and the 'waveby' of the Pope) Never mind the commentary in Bahasa, though. It was done for the fans of Fr Nick back at Sabah... :-D

(more pics here!)