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Plum Sunday celebration.

Dumka, April 10 : Churches around Santhal Parganas of Jharkhand  celebrated Palm Sunday with processions and holy mass today.  The festival particularly at tribals’ home turf was celebrated with high religious grandeur.  Devotees with palm leaves gathered at different churches at this early morning to take part in the processions.

Palm Sunday is celebrates to mark the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem the week before his death and resurrection. “This  morning, a ceremonial procession was organized on the church campus followed by Mass,” said a Father Tom , who laid the procession and Mass at Borio Church at Sahabganj district.

“It is one of the major feasts of our Lord and it is the day on which Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem as a king. It also marks the beginning of the holy week during which Christians celebrate the mystery of their salvation through Christ’s death and his resurrection on Easter Sunday (April 16),” said anther parish priest,  of a  Church located outskirt of Dumka township.

The church members distributed palm fronds among the believers before the procession. The church will host a tableau on Good Friday in a prayer-focused Stations of the Cross event, which recreates the 14 different images depicting Jesus on his final day of life. Some of  followers acted the scene and spread the message of peace, prosperity, unity and cooperation among people.

Churches turn active in the entire region for celebrating the festival. Holy Week, or the series of sacred gatherings that commemorate the last days before Jesus’ crucifixion, is one of the busiest times of the year for churches. Although it’s a day of mourning, it is called ‘Good’ Friday because Jesus Christ died for the good of humankind. His death is mourned as his sacrifice for the mankind and not celebrated, explained the organizers at a Church in Dunka. Morning procession were taken almost from the churches in this region with a sizable devotees.

The Wednesday after Palm Sunday will witness regular prayers and Passion of Christ, said Father John Das of NELC church at Dumka. “Coming Thursday of the Holy Week will commemorate Christ’s last supper with his disciples and betrayal by his own friend Judas Iscariot,” he pointed out. On Good Friday, believers across the world observe fast and pray to remember Christ’s sentence to death by Pontius Pilate, the Way of the Cross and his death on it. Easter Sunday on April 16 will mark Christ’s resurrection, Father Das pointed out. He said special prayers would also be organized at the church premises in which prayers would be done for the betterment of all the human beings.