Palm Sunday Around the World

In Anglican and Roman Catholic churches, the palm crosses distributed are often kept in people’s houses for the year as a symbol of their faith. Although palms are now imported from Spain – which has the largest palm grove in Europe – the scarcity of the plant in the past meant that sometimes pussy willow, yew, or other indigenous trees were substituted.

After Palm Sunday, leftover palms are often burned and used for Ash Wednesday, when ashes are mixed with sacred oil and used to anoint the congregation as a sign of repentance.
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