Holy Week starts

My palm

Today is the last day of Lent ... the last Saturday before Palm Sunday. Thousands of indian migrant workers packed into the Old City to make the Way of the Cross ... it's the only day they are free to worship because Sunday is a working day. All the indian priests in the country were at hand for confessions and leading the Way of the Cross in groups. It was very crowded in the streets, something we have not seen for a long time since the war started. Yes it's a war ... everyone admits it except the government.

I bought a palm branch for Palm Sunday procession yesterday. Many christian shops have started selling them ... braided in traditional style. They come in 3 sizes: small, medium and large. The medium costs US$10. Pretty hefty but since I didn't have a palm last year, I thought I should get one this year. I'll probably not go for the whole procession from Bethfage down to St. Anne's (Sheep's Pool) but I'll wait at Gethsemane of maybe at St. Anne's itself where the Patriarch will bless the people with the Blessed Sacrament.

Exhaustion has overtaken me and I've been sleeping for the past several hours ... in fact I slept during work and class. Total body shut down. Holy Week will be a long rest for me .... I hope.