Each year, my parish uses the “Solemn Entrance” for each Palm Sunday Mass. For this form, the priest processes in with a cope, and when he reaches the altar, he changes into his chasuble. What is the significance of this?
The cope is a vestment used by bishops, priests, and deacons in liturgical and paraliturgical situations not involving the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Thus is it may be worn for baptisms, marriages and funerals occurring outside of Mass, Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament, the solemn celebrations of the Liturgy of the Hours, processions and other rites celebrated with solemnity.
The chasuble is the priestly vestment that denotes the celebration of Mass and the offering of the Holy Sacrifice. A priest can on occasion continue to wear it for certain liturgical actions happening in direct connection with the Mass…but it is a vestment for the Mass.
However, the solemn entrance of Palm Sunday preserves elements of the ancient liturgical practice for Palm Sunday that occurred in the Holy Land in the earliest generations – the procession and celebration which began in Bethany and went to Jerusalem and regarding the Mount of Olives.
The rites of Palm Sunday are recounted to us by Egeria in her writings, which can be found under the title
Itinerarium Egeriae. These are related to the 380s, while preserving liturgical actions which were already part of a venerated tradition at that era.
The ancient observance is reflected in our present Palm Sunday celebrations; it is its own reality liturgically that is placed before the Mass. Changing from the cope to the chasuble is a way of delineating that we are passing from one liturgical action (the rites and ceremony associated with the solemn entrance) and into the celebration of the Eucharist, as such.
