PALM SUNDAY Palm Sunday was the sixth and last Sunday of Lent and the beginning of the

Holy Week. The date for Palm Sunday is March 24 of 2013. Holy week is the week before Easter, celebrating events in the last days of Jesus life. It begins on Palm Sunday and ends on Easter Sunday. Palm Sunday is a time of celebration as well as sadness because Jesus died on a cross less than a week after he had entered Jerusalem. The Sunday before Easter is known as Palm Sunday. It celebrates Jesus arrival in Jeru salem for the Jewish Festival of Passover. Huge crowds of people lined the streets welcoming him, laying down branches and their clothes. It was called Palm Sunday because when the people were welcoming Jesus back to Jerusalem on a donkey, they started waving palm branches along the way. Jesus went back to Jerusalem because it was time for the Jewish Feast of Passover. On that day, in churches children are always given crosses made from palm leaves and traditionally many churches will have a parade while people started singing and waving leaves. This helped them imagine the feeling of Jesuss entry. Finally, Palm Sunday also has the nickname of Fig Sunday because Christ supposedly had eaten figs when travelling to Jerusalem. MAUNDY THURSDAY Maundy Thursday falls on March 28 of 2013. Maundy Thursday is also known as Holy Thursday and is the beginning of the three day celebration of Easter. Which is the most important time of the year for Christians. This period is called Triduum, it is a big celebration remembering the last supper, cruxification and the death of Jesus. Also the Resurrection of new life. It commemorates the supper of Jesus with his Apostles. During the meal, Jesus took bread and wine and shared it with his disciples. Today, Christians share bread and wine in church as a sign of worship. The night of Thursday, was the night when Judas betrayed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Maundy Thursday is the day before Good Friday and it is one of those days that is officially known on the Christian calendar. The name Maundy is taken from the Latin word madantum meaning commandment. Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, commanded ( And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I loved you, so you must love one another ) - John 13:34. During the supper, Jesus washed the disciples feet. This act is a good way of reminding rulers that they are here to serve their subjects. In England the act was carried out by the Monarch in 1969. Up until then the King or Queen would have to wash the feet of the poor on Maundy Thursday in Westminster Abbey. Food and clothing were also handed out to the poor. GOOD FRIDAY Good Friday falls on March 29 of 2013. On this day, Christians remember the day when Jesus was crucified on a cross. The date of the first ever Good Friday will never be known. Did you know that the Anglo Saxon name for Good Friday was Long Friday because of the long fast forced upon this day. Good Friday was not celebrated th as the day when Christ died until the 4 century A.D. It is called Good Friday because it is derived from Gods Friday in the same way that good-bye is based from God be with ye. It is Good because the barrier of sin was broken. On the day, Jesus was arrested and was tried in a mock trial. He was handed over to the fierce Roman soldiers, to be beaten and whipped. He was also forced to wear a crown of sharp thorns. Jesus was commanded to carry his own cross outside the city to Skull Hill. He was so weak and in pain that someone called Simon from Cyrene, was pulled from the crowd and told to carry Jesuss cross. Jesus was nailed to the cross with two other criminals crucified on either side of him. A sign above Jesuss head read The King of the Jews. On Good Friday, some Christians fast remembering the sacrifice Jesus