These blessed palm branches must not be discarded or disregarded, for by being blessed, they become a sacramental.

Newsroom (13/04/2022 09:00, Gaudium Press) Holy Week, the most important in the Catholic liturgy, begins with Palm Sunday, on which day we remember the triumphal entry of Our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, welcomed by the people who, with branches in their hands, chanted “Hosanna in the Highest.”

Blessed branches become sacramental

When celebrating this moment in the liturgy, the faithful take branches, which have been blessed, to participate in the procession that takes place before Holy Mass on Palm Sunday. After the celebration, the blessed branches, which become sacramentals, are taken by the faithful to their homes.

These blessed branches must not be disregarded or discarded in any way, for they serve as remedies, protection and, above all, a memory of the commitment that each Catholic has assumed as a follower of Christ. But in the end, what should one do with these branches after Palm Sunday?

The ashes of Ash Wednesday are from these branches

The ideal choice is to place them in a prominent place, near a Cross, the image of the Saints or pictures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary; in short, in a place where prayers are usually said in the home. Some people place them on the door of the house as a way of protecting the home.

It is a custom of the Church that, when the branches become dry, they are burnt and the ashes are scattered in the earth or buried. Parishes usually, after the branches are dry, burn them and keep their ashes until the following year to use them in Ash Wednesday celebrations. (EPC)

Compiled by Sandra Chisholm