What to do with palm leaves?

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Hermione

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Hello everyone,

I took home some palm leaves from Church today. What should I do with them? Particularly, what should I do with the pieces that fall off from them. Can I just throw them away, or is there a special procedure for disposing of them?

Thanks! 🙂
 
Some people hang them behind crucifixes and holy pictures.

The proper way to dispose of them is, I believe, burning. That’s where the ashes for Ash Wednesday come from.
 
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Hermione:
Hello everyone,

I took home some palm leaves from Church today. What should I do with them? Particularly, what should I do with the pieces that fall off from them. Can I just throw them away, or is there a special procedure for disposing of them?

Thanks! 🙂
Click to expand...
I have wondered the same thing in the past.

Maybe that is why I do not take them home.

PF
 
Dr. Bombay:
Some people hang them behind crucifixes and holy pictures.

The proper way to dispose of them is, I believe, burning. That’s where the ashes for Ash Wednesday come from.
Click to expand...
In our parish, we’re supposed to bring last year’s palms to the church the Sunday before this year’s Ash Wednesday for just that very purpose.
 
I generally make crosses out of the palms. My dad taught me how to fold the palms a few years ago. And I either put them in my room, give them to someone, or something along those lines.
 
Hi there

We generally get our palms distributed to us already woven into the shape of a cross, which is great as bits tend not to fall off.

Only once have I had ‘proper’ palm leaves, and I just kept them out of the way behind my crucifix.

I keep mine for a year and then get rid of it. I don’t think there’s any harm in throwing it out (although it does feel a little strange)

Peace

Vince
 
Since palms are blessed, they shouldn’t be discarded irreverently. Burning them is a suitable way of disposing of them.

Why not store them safely (that is, if you don’t like displaying withered palms; some people do) and give them to your parish before the next Ash Wednesday. They will burn it for the Wednesday ashes.
 
My parish members always create Cross and some craft work with the leaves and place them in the house.
 
They are blessed and therefore are sacramentals of the Church.

They are usually placed around the house as a sign of blessing behind pictures or statues etc. When their end comes (discoloured or falling apart) they should be burned or buried.

God Bless.
 
Keep then until next year.

We make a cross of them and hang them on the wall or over a door.
 
Saw my priest today wearing his palms as a woven ring. Never saw this before. It may be a custom in his native country which is somewhere in Africa. I don’t know which country.

Micki
 
What an interesting topic.

As a child in the U.K. light years ago, we always got our Palms made up in the shape of a cross.

Now, living in Australia, where every other house has a palm tree, the palm leaves on Palm Sunday are green and usually in the shape of a “V” as they are cut from the palm tree branch.

I put mine on the wall behind my “First Holy Communion” certificate, where they stay for one year and then I burn last year’s palm leaves.

In case any one is interested, the “First Holy Communion” certificate is dated March 17 1941. We had a good Irish Parish Priest;)

T.C.
 
Our priest suggested making four crosses out of the palms and burying one in each corner of our yard, as protection for our homes and families.

Has anyone else heard of this practice?
 
As many have said, because they’ve been blessed they are no longer just palm leaves, but sacramentals. Thus they need to be disposed of like any other sacramental. We have a new parish priest and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday I brought him the ones I had from last year. He seemed quite surprised that someone would actually bring theirs back to him. He also seemed quite surprised that they were braided:
italiansrus.com/articles/palmweaving.htm

This year I made crosses this way:
kingofpeace.org/palmcrosses/

My mother did the simplest which was to take a 3-4" inch palm, make two slits side by side then take a 2-3" palm and thread it through the slits.

I try to make enough so each room of my house has a palm in it.
 
Palm is always kept in a small vase near a religious statue, and burned after the palm is received the next year. When we were small and fretting over a thunder storm or something, my mother would assure us that we would be safe, and point to the palm on the dresser. She said it woulkd save the house from fire, specifically. Since her main influences were Irish, I always assumed it was an Irish belief.
BTW, this year, when burning my old palm I found it getting out of control, so doused it quickly. Didn’t want to prove my Mom wrong.
Can’t leave without reminding all of the genius of Chesterton, of whom I was reminded when my pastor used this on Sunday:
THE DONKEY
G.K. Chesterton

**When fishes flew and forests walked **
**And figs grew upon thorn, **
**Some moment when the moon was blood **
**Then surely I was born; **

**With monstrous head and sickening cry **
**And ears like errant wings, **
**The devil’s walking parody **
**On all four-footed things. **

**The tattered outlaw of the earth, **
**Of ancient crooked will; **
**Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb, **
**I keep my secret still. **

**Fools! For I also had my hour; **
**One far fierce hour and sweet: **
**There was a shout about my ears, **
**And palms before my feet. **
love-poems.me.uk/chesterton_the_donkey.htm
 
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