Orthodox Christians around the world celebrated Palm Sunday yesterday, in remembrance of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. It marked the start of the Great and Holy Week – leading up to Jesus' death on Good Friday, and resurrection on Easter Sunday, also known as Pascha.
Non-orthodox Christians celebrate Palm Sunday on a different date, this year on March 20. The day is named so as a reminder that people threw palms on the ground as Jesus rode by, and though traditions vary, most churches hold ritual processions where palm branches are carried into the building. These palms are blessed, and sometimes folded into crosses.
Here's a look at some of the celebrations from across the globe:
An Orthodox priest blesses believers at a church during a Palm Sunday service in Minsk, Belarus.
A Christian Orthodox worshipper holds palm fronds as she attends a Palm Sunday mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City.
Egyptian Coptic Christians hold candles in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
A clergyman distributes pussy willow among Orthodox believers in front of the Bolshoi Theatre in central Moscow, Russia.
People raise the Syrian national flag outside Al-Saleeb church in al-Qassaa, in Damascus, Syria.
Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Christians attend mass in the Samaan el-Kharaz Monastery in the Mokattam Mountain area of Cairo, Egypt.
