Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/481

 PALMYRA

433

PALMYRA

scribed: On the Lord's Day which begins the Paschal, or Great, Week, after all the customary exercises from cook-crow till morn had taken place in the Anastasia and at the Cross, they went to the greater church be- hind the Cross on Golgotha, called the Martyrium, and here the ordinary Sunday services were held. At the seventh hour (one o'clock p. m.) all proceeded to the Mount of Olives, Eleona, the cave in which Our Lord used to teach, and for two hours hymns, anthems, and lessons were recited. About the hour of None (three o'clock p. m.) all went, singing hymns, to the Imbomon, whence Our Lord ascended into heaven. Here two hours more were spent in devotional exer- cises, until about .5 o'clock, when the passage from the Gospel relating how the children carrying branches and palms met the Lord, saying "Blessed is He that Cometh in the Name of the Lord" is read. At these words all went back to the city, repeating " Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord." All the children bore branches of palm or olive. The faithful passed through the city to the Anastasia, and there re- cited Vespers. Then after a prayer in the church of the Holy Cross all returned to their homes.

In the three oldest Roman Sacramentaries no men- tion is found of either the benediction of the palms or the procession. The earliest notice is in the "Grego- rianum" used in France in the ninth and tenth centu- ries. In it is found among the prayers of the day one that pronounces a blessing on the bearers of the palms but not on the palms. The name Dominica in palmis, De passione Domini occurs in the "Gelasianum", but only as a superscription and Probst ("Sacramentarien und Ordines", Miinster, 1892, 202) is probably correct in suspecting the first part to be an addition, and the De passione Domini the original inscription. It seems certain that the bearing of palms during services was the earlier practice, then came the procession, and later the benediction of the palms.

The principal ceremonies of the day are the benedic- tion of the palms, the procession, the Mass, and during it the singing of the Passion. The blessing of the palms follows a ritual similar to that of Mass. On the altar branches of palms are placed between the can- dlesticks instead of flowers ordinarily used. The palms to be blessed are on a table at the Epistle side or in cathedral churches between the throne and the altar. The bishop performs the ceremony from the throne, the priest at the Epistle side of the altar. An antiphon "Hosanna to the Son of David" is followed by a prayer. The Epistle is read from Exodus xv, 27-xvi, 7, narrating the murmuring of the children of Israel in the desert of Sin, and sighing for the fleshpots of Egypt, and gives the promise of the manna to be sent as food from heaven. The Gradual contains the prophetic words uttered by the high-priest Caiphas, "That it was expedient that one man should die for the peo- ple"; and another the prayer of Christ in the Garden of Olives that the chalice might pass; also his admoni- tion to the disciples to watch and pray. The Gospel, taken from St. Matthew, xvi, 1-9, describes the tri- umphant entry of Christ into Jerusalem when the populace cut boughs from the trees and strewed them as He passed, crying, Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. (In private Masses this Gospel is read at the end of Mass instead of that of St. John.) Then follow an oration, a preface, the Sanctus, and Benedictus.

In the five prayers which are then said the bishop or priest asks God to bless the branches of palm or olive, that they may be a protection to all places into which they may be brought, that the right hand of God may expel all adversity, bless and protect all who dwell in them, who have been redeemed by our Lord Jesus Christ. The prayers make reference to the dove bringing back the olive branch to Noah's ark and to the multitude greeting Our Lord; they say that the branches of palms signify victory over the prince of XL— 28

death and the olive the advent of spiritual unction through Christ. The officiating clergyman sprinkles the palms with holy water, incenses them, and, after another prayer, distributes them. During the distri- bution the choir sings the "Pueri Hebraiorum". The Hebrew children spread their garments in the way, and cried out saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Then follows the procession, of the clergy and of the people, carrying the blessed palms, the choir in the mean time singing the antiphons "Cum appropin- quaret", "Cum audisset", and others. All march out of the church. On the return of the procession two or four chanters enter the church, close the door and sing the hymn "Gloria, laus", which is repeated by those outside. At the end of the hymn the subdeacon knocks at the door with the staff of the cross, the door is opened, and all enter singing " Ingrediente Domino ". Mass is celebrated, the principal feature of which is the singing of the Passion according to St. Matthew, during which all hold the palms in their hands.

Palm branches have been used by all nations as an emblem of joy and victory over enemies ; in Christianity as a sign of \'ictory over the flesh and the world accord- ing to Ps. xci, 13, "Justus ut palma florebit"; hence especially associated with the memory of the mart,yrs. The palms blessed on Palm Sunday were used in the procession of the day, then taken home by the faithful and used as a sacramental. They were preservetl in prominent places in the house, in the barns, and in the fields, and thrown into the fire during storms. On the Lower Rhine the custom exists of decorating the grave with blessed palms. From the blessed palms the ashes are procured for Ash Wednesday. In places where palms cannot be found, branches of olive, box elder, spruce or other trees are used and the " Crcremoniale episcoporum", II, xxi, 2, suggests that in such cases at least little flowers or crosses made of palm be attached to the olive boughs. In Rome olive branches are dis- tributed to the people, while the clergy carry palms frequently dried and twisted into various shapes. In parts of Bavaria large swamp willows, with their cat- kins, and ornamented with flowers and ribbons, were used.

Rock, The Church of Our Fathers (London. 1904) ; Duchesne, Christian Worship (London, 1904), 247; American Ecclesiastical Review (1908), 361; Kirchenlexicon; Kellner. Heortology (tr. London, 190S); Kraus, Realencyklopddie; Nilles, Katendarium Manuale (Innabruck, 1897).

Francis Mershman.

Palmyra, titular metropolitan see in Phoenicia Se- cunda. Solomon (III Kings, ix, 18) built Palmira (A. V. Tadmor) in the wilderness, but it is not certain that this means Palmyra, the Greek name of Tadmor, and the reference may be to Thamar (Ezech., xh-ii, 19).

For a long time it was a market for the Romans and Parthians, as it was situated on the route of the cara- vans. The city had a Greek constitution, made use of the era of the Seleucides, the Macedonian calendar, and a Semitic alphabet; the language was a dialect of Aramaic. Hadrian %nsited it in 129 and thenceforth the town was called Hadriana Palmyra. Its pros- perity and monuments date from this period. The Romans used it as a starting-point for their expedi- tions against the Parthians. Septimius Severus and Alexander Severus sojourned there. In 2.58 Septimus Oda?nath, the descendant of a local dynasty, was Prince of Palmyra. He proclaimed himself king in 260, and in 264 received the title of emperor. After his death (267) his inheritance passed under the regency of Zenobia. She established an empire with the assistance of her ministers Longinus and Paul of Samosata, Bishop of Antioch, conquered Egypt and a part of Asia Minor. In 272 the Emperor" Aurelian sacked Palmyra and -carried off Zenobia a prisoner. Diocletian established a camp there where the first Illyrian Legion afterwards sojourned. Justinian re- stored it in the sixth century (Procopius, "De JDdifi-