Today is Palm Sunday. According to Wikipedia Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter Sunday. The feast commemorates Jesus' Triumphal entry into Jerusalem an event mentioned by all four Canonical Gospels (Mark 11:1-11, Matthew 21:1-11,Luke 19:28-44, and John 12:12-19): the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem in the days before his Passion.
In many Christian churches, Palm Sunday is marked by the distribution of palm leaves (often tied into crosses) to the assembled worshipers. The difficulty of procuring palms for that day's ceremonies in unfavorable climates for palms led to the substitution of boughs of box, yew, willow or other native trees. The Sunday was often designated by the names of these trees, as Yew Sunday or by the general term Branch Sunday. 
priest giving a mass
I was in Mary the Queen Church earlier today to witness the blessing of palms. At exactly 11a.m. the priest came out of the church to give blessing to people with palm frond (palaspas) under the sweltering heat.
mom with palaspas- a form of woven folk craft
Palaspas is getting expensive each year. We bought it at PhP25 each in Greenhills Shopping Center. Palaspas is bought as a symbol to ward off evil spirits. It is usually placed on doors or windows.
palaspas PhP25
Palaspas is palm origami at its best! Shown in the photo are just two of the numerous woven palm designs crafted by Filipino artisans.
giant palaspas
This is the first time that I have seen such a humungous palm frond.
palaspas blessing
blessing of palm frond
kids and adult with palaspas waiting in line
Have a blessed Sunday!
