PORTLAND — Bishop Robert Deeley will celebrate Palm Sunday Mass on Sunday, March 28 at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland. The Mass will be open to in-person attendance and presented via livestream (www.portlanddiocese.org/online-Mass).
Palm Sunday is the start of Holy Week, the final week of Lent, which culminates with the Easter Triduum, during which Catholics commemorate the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, the Passion and Death of Christ on Good Friday, and the Resurrection on Easter Sunday in order to forgive the sins of all humanity and to give life everlasting to all who believe in Him. Holy Week is the most solemn week of the entire year. To view a listing of Palm Sunday Masses at Maine parishes, visit www.portlanddiocese.org/palm-sunday.
Parishioners will have the option of picking up palm branches as they depart the Cathedral on Sunday. Palm branches were used by the people to welcome Jesus as King during his triumphal entry into the holy city of Jerusalem. The branches often decorate the homes of Catholics and other Christians; then, the following year, those same palms are burned, thus providing the ashes to be distributed on Ash Wednesday. The vestments for Palm Sunday are deep scarlet red, the color of blood, reflecting the ultimate redemptive sacrifice that Christ was entering the city to fulfill.
A special Holy Week section is available on the Diocese of Portland website that includes Mass times and locations at all Maine parishes, listings of parish events, daily prayers and reflections, and many other resources. The section can be found at www.portlanddiocese.org/holy-week-2021.
In addition, stories from many Masses and services, messages, and other resources throughout Holy Week will be posted on the diocesan website (www.portlanddiocese.org), the diocesan Facebook page (www.facebook.com/PortlandDiocese), the diocesan Twitter page (www.twitter.com/PortlandDiocese), myParish App, and on Bishop Deeley’s personal social media pages on Twitter (www.twitter.com/BishopDeeley) and Instagram (bishopdeeley).