I have to confess I have no idea what the hell "Palm Sunday" is...

in fact I never even knew about "ash Wednesday" until a few weeks ago.
So what's the symbolic gesture for today...smear Crisco on our hands?
Maybe I'll invite Mrs. Palm and her 5 sisters to a private party...
:eyes:

The christians will all have dirt on their foreheads...very odd...never did understand it...





(NOT meant to be offensive...Relax!)

Novakula with that ugly black smear on his forehead? Can't Be!!

to dust you will return." I speak these words as I put ashes on the foreheads of those who approach me in the Ash Wednesday worship service.

Ash Wednesday is a time to remember our ultimate mortality, to give thanks for the gift of life, to acknowledge our total dependence on God with every breath, and to proclaim our trust that in life and in death we belong to God.

You aren't likely to see anyone with ashes on their heads this coming Wednesday because Ash Wednesday was several weeks ago.

...I go to a Catholic College (check sig and avatar), but growing up I never saw people actually apply the cross of ash on their foreheads up until last year.

It's also the day that Tom Delay made an ass of himself and the Republican party.

:eyes:

(rose petals being out of season). It's a Catholic thang, the believers display the palm fronds they get on Palm Sunday for a week, then turn them back in to the church. The church burns them, and uses the ashes the following year on Ash Wednesday to put the ash cross on the foreheads of Catholic believers. Recycling...

I think the Anglicans may do the same thing. I don't know about any of the other Protestant denominations, having survived Catholic school, myself.

Or were you (as I suspect)just using this "inquiry" as an opportunity to degrade and insult thousands of people on this board who are Christians and bash them for their faith and traditions?

How very progressive of you.

Maybe he really doesn't know.

And maybe he's fed up with "Christians" who bash him.

--p!

a traditional Christian holiday is celebrated by masturbating with vegetable shortening and you think I"M THE ONE of questionable animus?

RRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrright.

everyone here knows I say what I mean, mean what I say and I do not lie.

The religious jokes aren't funny, folks. If you really want to know about Christian traditions (and it certainly seems as if you are proud of your ignorance, though I'm not sure why) then you can always ask politely.

But hey...they were stupid Christians, right?

http://www.ishipress.com/nunskill.htm

Salvadorans Who Slew American Nuns Now Say They Had Orders

by LARRY ROHTER

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- After 17 years of silence, all four of the former national guardsmen convicted of killing three American nuns and a lay worker here in 1980 have said for the first time that they acted only after receiving "orders from above."

The declarations, made from prison, are an important development in the case because El Salvador and the United States have always officially argued that the killers acted on their own. Human rights groups and relatives of the victims, however, have always maintained that the executions were ordered, approved and directed by the military authorities.

The churchwomen -- Maura Clarke, Jean Donovan, Ita Ford and Dorothy Kazel -- were abducted, raped and shot to death on the night of Dec. 2, 1980. The next day, peasants discovered their bodies alongside an isolated road and buried their remains in a common grave. The van they had been driving when stopped at a military checkpoint turned up 20 miles away, burned and gutted.

You know, Tommy takes his religion very seriously. Tom may now try to take control of you just how he has of Terry Schiavo.

:crazy:

The adoring crowds waved palm fronds; therefore, churches are decorated with palm fronds on Palm Sunday. Back in Jerusalem, the authorities got nervous. They had him arrested on Thursday (just after dinner) & crucified on Friday. On Easter Sunday, he arose from the dead. (According to the Gospels.)

Ash Wednesday is the first day in Lent--40 days before Easter. Traditionally, the palm fronds from last year's Palm Sunday are burned to make the ashes.

All this stuff has been going on for centuries.

--p!

FWIW, I have never set foot in a Catholic Church (for a service...I did breifly attend part of a wedding ceremony in one in the early 1970s.)

Shorve Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday and one indulges in things that will not be available during Lent. It's the culmination of the 3-day Mardi Gras celebration, but in PA where there is a substantial Amish community, the tradition is to make "fastnuts" or fastnacht-- a homemade type of raised doughnut sprinkled with powdered sugar (recipe}

Surprisingly, when I was taking German language classes, I was surprised to hear about how licentious the Fasching or Carnival (mardi gras) is. Southern Germany/Bavaria is still mostly Catholic and so does the full deal.

fronds in his path, welcoming him.

Apparently palm fronds were a traditional greeting for important people and, in this instance, may have been a slam on the established hierarchy of the time.

ed for clarity

of spring break in Palm Springs

It has to do with the fact that there are supposed to be three days between killing the carpenter and then becoming a houdini.

Since there are not three days the missing day is said to be a " plamed " Sunday " as in how a magician palms a coin so you don't see it,
hence " palm sunday "

Inappropriate.

is the remembrance of the time Jesus entered Jerusalem.

From a political standpoint, many saw Jesus' arrival as a revolutionary uprising: one who would expel the Romans, and return Israel to a monarchy (a Kingdom greater than that of David).

From a theological/religious standpoint, Jesus was going to Jerusalem, not to restore the monarchy, but instead, to die. He had systematically taken on the "religious right" of his time, and they were scheming to have him arrested and executed.

In the Christian Church, we remember Palm Sunday with both celebration and sadness. It quickly changes to somber, as the events of Holy Week are remembered. (today, we focused on how quickly the crowds shouts of Hosanna changed to "kill him" in just a few days.)

Maundy Thursday is the last supper with the disciples, where they share a meal together. Jesus washes his disciples' feet, and tells them that the greatest thing they can do is to love one another. He goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray... and is later arrested.

Good Friday is the story of the "trial" and the crucifixion. Black is the color of the day.

Saturday is a quiet day in most protestant churches. In Catholic (and other) churches, they observe an Easter Vigil.

Sunday is the day of resurrection.

********

Does this answer your questions?

And all the other Carnaval Celebrations?

Ah, well. Lundi Gras ain't bad, either. As long as you can wake and hit the town for the big day following.

As you can see, the solemnity of Ash Wednesday may have many sources!

;)