Palm, coco leaves open Holy Week

As Holy Week reaches its pinnacle, millions of Filipino Catholics are flocking to churches before dawn, joyfully lifting their intricately woven palm fronds high toward the sky.

They wave the symbol of spiritual welcome with beaming smiles, hoping to catch a sprinkle of the priest’s blessing, or a playful shower of flowers tossed by angels perched on towering platforms overhead.

This lively waving of the “palaspas” on Palm Sunday is a vibrant, heart-stirring reenactment of Jesus Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, when excited crowds carpeted His path with palm branches in celebration.

Here in the Philippines, the tradition goes far beyond a simple biblical replay; it’s a dazzling celebration of indigenous artistry, a powerful display of cultural resilience, and a living, unbroken chain of faith that has triumphed through centuries.

According to biblical and historical records, the original branches laid before Jesus were likely from the Judean date palm, a tree whose finger-like fruit has been cultivated in the Middle East for thousands of years. Because this specific desert tree cannot survive in harsher, colder climates, the Christian observance demonstrated remarkable adaptability as it spread around the world.