In the spring, a holiday comes, marking the date of the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem - Palm Sunday. It is always celebrated one week before Easter. Why is this day so called? The fact is that this holiday is called Palm only in the northern Christian countries - Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and in general the Sunday preceding Easter is called Palm. The story of Palm Sunday is revealed in all four Gospels.
When Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem, people, to greet Him, cut palm branches and threw them under the hooves of a donkey and a foal, on which the Lord rode. People sang the hosanna to Him, laid their clothes along with the palm branches along the motorcade, and saluted Christ as the Messiah, the future King of Israel and the Savior. The essence of this holiday is precisely to feel the approach of the main holiday of Christianity - the Resurrection of the Lord, so congratulations on Palm Sunday should reflect its deepest meaning.
The Christian Church began to celebrate Palm Sunday in the IV century, and in the X century. he began to be celebrated in Russia. Since palms do not grow in Russia, in order to commemorate the day the Lord entered Jerusalem, people cut willow branches - thus, soon the holiday itself became known as Palm Sunday. Why willows? This tree blooms before others. Gentle fluffy “seals” of willow remind of spring, the imminent resurrection of nature and, in a broader sense, the Resurrection of our Lord. Before this holiday, it is customary to cut branches of flowering willow, festively decorate them with ribbons and carry them with a burning candle to the temple, where they should be sprinkled with holy water. After this, the branches are brought into the house and stored as a talisman until Pentecost. Previously, it was a custom to jokingly jut with willow branches of children so that they would grow up healthy, and bring congratulations on Palm Sunday to all relatives and friends.
On this day, fish was allowed to eat, but from Monday after the holiday strict fasting began , which, according to tradition, began Holy Week. The feast of the Lord's solemn entry into Jerusalem is, first of all, the memory of the day when Christ entered the path of the suffering of the Cross. Therefore, congratulations on Palm Sunday should take into account the specifics of the holiday. After all, what did the Lord do when he first entered the city? He came to the temple and drove out all the buyers and sellers from there, saying: “My house is called the house of prayer, and you made a den of robbers out of it.” So, short congratulations on Palm Sunday should wish a person to clear his soul of vain, mercantile thoughts and prepare it for the proper celebration of Easter.
Further, Jesus Christ healed the weak who came to him. These weak people sincerely believed that Christ is the Messiah who came from above to save the human race. Therefore, their faith and healed them. Congratulations on Palm Sunday may contain wishes of health, deliverance from burdens and worries. Wishing many years of life and health, one should not forget that Palm Sunday is a religious holiday, not a birthday. In his wishes, it is worth calling the guardian angel of a person to patronize him, expressing the hope that God will not allow misfortune to happen to him.
According to the old custom, on Palm Sunday baked bread, in one of them baked a coin. Whoever gets a loaf of bread with a coin will be happy and lucky the whole year, and if a married-to-find girl finds a coin in the loaf, she will marry the same year. Congratulations on Palm Day were not limited to the wishes of health to the household. We wished good health and offspring to cattle (for this purpose they fed them sprigs of willow sprinkled with holy water).
Popular signs consider this day important for the future harvest: if the weather is windy, frosty, then spring will give a good harvest.