Solemn Holy Week ceremonies begin today with the annual Palm Sunday blessing of palms and procession followed by Mass and the reading of the Passion.

A fixture on today's Palm Sunday agenda is the Society of St Vincent de Paul Palm Sunday Walk. Theme of this year's walk is Journeying With Jesus to the Eucharist . The Walk begins at two points – Nazareth House, Duncan St , Port of Spain and the Cyril Ross Nursery, El Dorado Rd , Tunapuna – and ends at the Church of the Holy Family, Mount Lambert .

Another Palm Sunday observance is the procession of witness of the Christian Churches of the capital city together. This “walk of witness” begins from the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Abercromby St and ends at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The walk includes stops at the Salvation Army, the Methodist, Moravian and Presbyterian churches in the city.

Archbishop Gilbert will preside at today's 9.00 a.m. liturgy at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and will return tomorrow, March 21, for the celebration of the annual Chrismal Mass. At this Mass the new Apostolic Nuncio will be formally welcomed to the archdiocese and will preach the homily.

Holy Week is the most sacred time of the Church's year, when Christians commemorate the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. In parishes in this archdiocese and all over the world, liturgical ministers, choirs and altar servers are busy rehearsing for the ceremonies, which are also the most elaborate of the year.

The liturgical rites have evolved over the centuries. Some of them are very ancient, going back to the earliest years of the Church; others were introduced in the course of history as adaptations to new circumstances and different cultures.

Fr Martin Sirju in his article on page one of our Holy Week pullout (paper edition) explores the power of dramatisation of the events of Holy Week. He states, “The liturgy is…ritualised lectio divina in which we find our own story…”

Then from time to time the Church found it necessary to reform the rites and restore their original meaning. The latest of these reforms took place in 1970, as part of the general liturgical renewal decided on at Vatican Council II.

Even the name of this Sunday has changed. It was known simply as Palm Sunday for many centuries but in seeking to restore its link with the rest of Holy Week it is now called Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion.

The palms procession originated in Jerusalem in the fourth century and spread to the rest of the Church. For many centuries it merely celebrated the kingship of Christ; the modern liturgy emphasises that we must keep in mind the kind of king Christ was, a humble one, shown by his decision to enter Jerusalem on a donkey.

The procession is therefore our proclamation that as followers of Jesus we believe in the power of humility and gentleness. From that point view there is continuity between the procession and the reading of the Passion at Mass. Jesus on the cross is the gentle king of Palm Sunday.

The Chrismal Mass

The Chrismal Mass, which will be celebrated tomorrow, has also had a long and varied history. For many centuries it was almost a private affair, intended mainly for hose priests living near the Episcopal see.

The Vatican Council decreed that since the Holy Oils symbolise the sacramental life of the Church the Chrismal Mass should be a celebration of the local Church as a whole, an opportunity for priests and people from all the parishes to experience themselves as one “priestly people”.

For this to happen, the Mass could not take place on Holy Thursday, since parish communities were busy preparing for the Solemn Evening Mass. The rubrics therefore allow it to be transferred to a more convenient time. The late Archbishop Pantin decided it would be on the Monday of Holy Week.

He also instituted the practice of two delegates receiving the newly consecrated holy oils on behalf of their parishes. The parish delegates officially hand over the holy oils to their parish at the Presentation of the Gifts during the Holy Thursday Mass.

Since the Chrismal Mass is intimately connected with the priesthood, Pope Paul VI began the custom of priests renewing their commitment as part of the celebration and inviting the rest of the congregation to pray for them. The text of the commitment emphasises the ministry of priests as one of humble service.