Christians around the world celebrate the beginning of Holy Week with
Palm Sunday; a day that commemorates when Jesus entered Jerusalem and was greeted by followers waving palms as described in the Christian Gospel of John.
They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" (John 12:12-13)
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Syriac Orthodox priests carry palm branches during the Palm Sunday celebrations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City on April 13, 2014. The ceremony is a landmark in the Christian calendar, marking the triumphant return of Christ to Jerusalem the week before his death, when a cheering crowd greeted him waving palm leaves. AFP PHOTO/ THOMAS COEX (Photo credit should read THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images) |
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Indian Christian devotees of Wesley Church hold palm leaves during a Palm Sunday procession in Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad, on April 13, 2014. Palm Sunday marks the sixth and last Sunday of the Christian Holy month of Lent and the beginning of Holy week. AFP PHOTO / Noah SEELAM (Photo credit should read NOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images) |
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An Iraqi Christian woman holds a piece of olive branch as worshippers gather at the St. Joseph church in Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq , on April 12, 2014, to celebrate Palm Sunday that marks the triumphant return of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem when a cheering crowd greeted him waving palm leaves the week before his death. AFP PHOTOS/SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images) |
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Iraqi Christians pick up a piece of olive branch as they gather at the St. Joseph church in Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq , on April 12, 2014, to celebrate Palm Sunday that marks the triumphant return of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem when a cheering crowd greeted him waving palm leaves the week before his death. AFP PHOTOS/SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images) |