Passion Sunday? Palm Sunday?

[ConservativeOne]

Okay, somebody please help me here. As I recall, Passion Sunday was the Sunday before Palm Sunday. The week following Passion Sunday was “Passion Week”, and the week following Palm Sunday was “Holy Week”. I’m now having a dispute with a friend who goes to both NO and TLM and claims that Passion Sunday and Palm Sunday are the same.

I checked a calendar that is not from Traditionalist group - and for April 5th (this year’s Palm Sunday observance) it reads, “Passion (Palm) Sunday”…

I had already checked a “New” St. Joseph Daily Missal (guessing the date is about 1965), and it concurs with MY understanding of Passion and Palm Sunday !

Has anyone noticed similar?

 

[James0235]

Okay, somebody please help me here. As I recall, Passion Sunday was the Sunday before Palm Sunday. The week following Passion Sunday was “Passion Week”, and the week following Palm Sunday was “Holy Week”. I’m now having a dispute with a friend who goes to both NO and TLM and claims that Passion Sunday and Palm Sunday are the same.

I checked a calendar that is not from Traditionalist group - and for April 5th (this year’s Palm Sunday observance) it reads, “Passion (Palm) Sunday”…

I had already checked a “New” St. Joseph Daily Missal (guessing the date is about 1965), and it concurs with MY understanding of Passion and Palm Sunday !

Has anyone noticed similar?

In the EF Passion Sunday is the 5th Sunday in Lent. The following Sunday is called “Second Sunday of Passiontide or Palm Sunday”. Passiontide is the last 2 weeks of Lent.

In the OF the 6th Sunday of Lent is called Passion Sunday or, more commonly, Palm Sunday. The Preface used on this day is called “Passion Sunday (Palm Sunday)” There is no such thing as Passiontide officially. However you still catch a glimpse of its (unofficial) existence:

During the 5th Week of Lent (but not the 5th Sunday) the Preface is called the “Passion of the Lord I”. In Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in Holy Week the Preface is called the “Passion of the Lord II”.

So, in the EF they are separate. In the OF they are 2 names for the same day - what the EF calls the Second Sunday of Passiontide or Palm Sunday.

James

 

[IrishAm]

Thank you for asking and thank you for answering! I was confused over the same question while reading an old missal last evening. I love it when these threads answer my questions before I even ask them!!

 

[AJV]

Okay, somebody please help me here. As I recall, Passion Sunday was the Sunday before Palm Sunday. The week following Passion Sunday was “Passion Week”, and the week following Palm Sunday was “Holy Week”. I’m now having a dispute with a friend who goes to both NO and TLM and claims that Passion Sunday and Palm Sunday are the same.

I checked a calendar that is not from Traditionalist group - and for April 5th (this year’s Palm Sunday observance) it reads, “Passion (Palm) Sunday”…

I had already checked a “New” St. Joseph Daily Missal (guessing the date is about 1965), and it concurs with MY understanding of Passion and Palm Sunday !

Has anyone noticed similar?

You must be pretty old (no offense). The change came about in 1956 when Passion Sunday became the First Sunday of the Passion and Palm Sunday the Second Sunday of the Passion [of Passiontide] or Palm Sunday i.e. the titles changed slightly from:

• “Dominica de Passion” to “Dominica I Passionis” and and the titles of all the other days in the week changed to reflect this e.g. “Feria II post Dominica I Passionis” (Monday after the **First **Sunday of the Passion)
• “Dominica in Palmis” to “Dominica II Passionis seu In Palmis”

With the new calendar in 1969 and the missal in 1970, the “First Sunday of the Passion” was dropped and Palm Sunday became the sole Passion Sunday.

 

[preV2tradcath]

Don’t forget that in the EF, during Passiontide, the Psalm is omited from the prayers at the foot of the altar. The priest makes the sign of the cross and says Introibo ad altare Dei. After the server makes the response, the priest goes to Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Someplace I read long ago that there were several versions of Lent before it was standardized at 40 days. Some were as short as two weeks and some as long as nine weeks. When the length was standardized some allowance was made for these. For those who favored the longer Lent the two plus weeks of pre-Lent - Septuagesima, Sexuagesima and Quinquegesima Sundays and the following weeks - were added as a lead in. For those who favored the shorter Lent the penitential nature was intensified for the last two weeks - Passion and Palm Sunday and the following weeks - when the statues were veiled etc.

As I said it was a long time ago that I read this, and I am unsure of the validity of the source, but it seems a reasonable explanation.