Thousands flood Bucharest to remember Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem

Thousands of clergy and believers lined the streets of Bucharest to remember Christ’s glorious Entry into Jerusalem but also to profess their faith publicly during the annual Palm Sunday procession on Saturday afternoon.

The worshipers walked from Radu Voda Monastery where palm branches and willow branches were blessed during a short service officiated by the Assistant Bishop to the Bucharest Archdiocese, His Grace Timotei of Prahova.

Bishop Timotei of Prahova oversaw the celebrations as priests, deacons, monastics and lay believers carried the blessed palm branches and chanted church hymns on the streets of Bucharest to the Patriarchal Cathedral.

An icon depicting the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem was carried at the front of the procession.

They paused at two other churches to offer litanies and read passages from the Akathist of the Feast of the Entry of our Lord into Jerusalem.

Welcoming the pilgrims on the Hill of the Patriarchate was His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel who sprinkled holy water on the festal icon and read out a blessing prayer for those present.

At the conclusion of the march, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel said that ‘this beautiful day blessed by God is a prediction of the Holy Week of the Passions of our Saviour Jesus Christ and an anticipation of Christ’s victory over the death of Lazarus and then over His own death so as to give us the joy of resurrection.’

‘The Palm Sunday Procession is a foretasting of the joy of Holy Pascha,’ the Patriarch of Romania said pointing to the people’s faces on the Hill of Joy and stressed that they carry ‘light from the light of resurrection, and joy from Christ’s Resurrection.’

Source: Basilica.ro