Salix caprea, the goat willow, growing near Bovey Tracey in the county of Devon. This has been the ‘palm’ for churches in England and parts of central Europe and northern Asia for centuries.
PALM Sunday commemorates the occasion when Jesus entered Jerusalem seated on a donkey, in deliberate fulfilment of the prophet Zechariah’s promise that one day Israel’s king would return to her capital in just that fashion.
His excited followers laid palm fronds in his path, and called him their King, crying “Hosanna to the son of David”.*
They believed he was going to drive out the Romans, and restore Israel to the glories of David’s reign a thousand years before.
Just days later, the cry had changed: “We have no King but Caesar!”** Soon, even as he poured out his life on the cross, there was silence. Only his mother and his friend John were by him in those last hours.
Where palms are plentiful, Christians have long brought them to church each year on this day, but as recently as Victorian times England followed the practice of more northerly countries from Romania to Russia, and the furry catkins of the willow were used instead.
See Matthew 21:9
** See John 19:15
Précis
In fulfilment of an ancient prophecy, shortly before his crucifixion Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, and crowds scattered palm branches in his path. This event is commemorated every year on Palm Sunday, though in colder climates where palms are rare — until quite recently including England — pussy willow has acted as a substitute. (56 / 60 words)
