Passion Sunday is the fifth Sunday in

Lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...

in several

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

traditions, marking the beginning of Passiontide. In 1969, Passiontide was removed from the

liturgical calendar The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year, ecclesiastical calendar, or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical days and seasons that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be obs ...

of the Western Catholic Church for the

Mass of Paul VI The Mass of Paul VI, also known as the Ordinary Form or , is the most commonly used Catholic liturgy, liturgy in the Catholic Church. It was Promulgation (Catholic canon law), promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969 and its liturgical books were p ...

, but it is still observed in the Traditional Latin Mass and in the Anglican Use. It is also observed by some Anglicans and Lutherans. In

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, the day is known as Care Sunday.

Fifth Sunday in Lent

Until 1959, the fifth Sunday in Lent was officially known in the Roman Catholic Church as “Passion Sunday”. It marked the beginning of a two-week-long period known as Passiontide, which is still observed by Catholics who attend the Traditional Latin Mass or Anglican Ordinariates, as well as Western Rite Orthodox Christians, and various denominations in

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. In 1960,

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

's Code of Rubrics changed the name of that Sunday to “First Sunday of the Passion”, bringing the name into harmony with the name that

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

gave five years earlier to the sixth Sunday in Lent, “Second Sunday of the Passion or Palm Sunday”.

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

in 1969 removed a distinction that existed (although with overlap) between Lent and Passiontide, which began with the fifth Sunday in Lent. The distinction, explicit in the 1960 Code of Rubrics, predates it. He deleted the reference to the Passion from the fifth Sunday in Lent. Although Passiontide as a distinct liturgical season was abolished, the Roman Rite liturgy continues to bring the Passion of Christ to mind, from Monday of the fifth week in Lent onward, through the choice of hymns, the use on the weekdays of the fifth week of Lent of

Preface __NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literature, literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a ''foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface o ...

I of the Passion of the Lord, with Preface II of the Passion of the Lord being used on the first three weekdays of Holy Week, and the authorization of the practice of covering crosses and images from the fifth Sunday in Lent onward, if the Conference of Bishops so permits. Where this practice is followed, crucifixes remain covered until the end of the

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

celebration of the Lord’s Passion; statues remain covered until the

Easter Vigil The Easter Vigil, also known as the Paschal Vigil, the Great Vigil of Easter, or Holy Saturday at the Easter Vigil on the Holy Night of Easter, is a Christian liturgy, liturgy held in Christian worship#Sacramental tradition, traditional Christian ...

. The entrance antiphon of the

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

on the fifth Sunday in Lent begins with the word "''Iudica''" (older spelling, "''Judica''"). This provides another name for the day: "Iudica Sunday" or "Judica Sunday", similar to the name " Laetare Sunday" for the fourth Sunday. Due to of the custom of veiling crucifixes and statues before Mass on the fifth Sunday in Lent, this Sunday was called “Black Sunday” in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

where the veils were black, which elsewhere were generally purple. Those who continue to observe earlier forms of the Roman Rite or of liturgies modelled on it refer to the fifth Sunday in Lent by one or other of its previous names.

Lutheran readings

The historical readings for the fifth Sunday in Lent in the

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

tradition are Genesis 12:1–3,

Hebrews The Hebrews (; ) were an ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic-speaking people. Historians mostly consider the Hebrews as synonymous with the Israelites, with the term "Hebrew" denoting an Israelite from the nomadic era, which pre ...

9:11–15, John 8:46–59, and Psalm 43. I Corinthians 1:21–31 and Matthew 26:17–29 are alternate readings. The three-year lectionary appoints the following readings for the fifth Sunday in Lent: *

Psalm The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of H ...

**A: 116:1–9 **B: 51:10–15 **C: 28:1–9 *1st Lesson **A: Ezekiel 37:1–14 **B:

Jeremiah Jeremiah ( – ), also called Jeremias, was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, book that bears his name, the Books of Kings, and the Book of Lamentations, with t ...

31:31–34 **C: Isaiah 43:16–21 *2nd Lesson **A: Romans 8:11–19 **B:

5:7–9 **C: Philippians 3:8–14 *

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

**A: John 11:47-53/1-53 **B: John 12:20–33 **C: Luke 20:9–19

Sixth Sunday in Lent

In the

Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...

, the Gospel reading at the

of the sixth Sunday in Lent is an account in one of the

Synoptic Gospels The gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Mark, and Gospel of Luke, Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical ...

of the Passion of Christ. Until 1969, the lesson was always the account from the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

: the whole of chapters 26 and 27 (). In the 1955 reforms, this was trimmed to while for priests celebrating a second or a third Mass on that day, to just . Since 1970, the revised Roman Missal has been using a three-year cycle in which the accounts of Matthew ( or ), Mark ( or ) and Luke ( or ) are alternated in successive years. Until 1954, the official name of the sixth Sunday in Lent was simply “

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is the Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Its name originates from the palm bran ...

”. In 1955, the name became for 15 years the “Second Sunday of the Passion or Palm Sunday”. Since 1970, it has been “Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord”.

Food

In the north of England and parts of Scotland, it is a tradition to eat carlin peas on this day.''Heritage Vegetables'', Sue Stickland. London: Gaia Books. p 149 (1998)

References

{{Liturgical year of the Catholic Church Lent Catholic liturgy Christian Sunday observances March observances April observances