The traditional Palm Sunday Procession will take place on the eve of the Feast of the Entry of Our Lord into Jerusalem, Saturday, 8 April 2017. The faithful are invited to take part in this event. The procession will begin by the Vesper Service officiated at the church of Radu Vodă Monastery in Bucharest, followed by the blessing of the palm branches.
At 16.15 p.m., the procession, led by His Grace Timotei of Prahova, Assistant Bishop to the Archdiocese of Bucharest, will travel to the Patriarchal Cathedral on the following route:
Radu Vodă Monastery → Mărăşeşti Ave. → Dimitrie Cantemir Ave. → Bibescu Vodă Str. → Şerban Vodă Str.→ Metropolitan Cathedral of St Spyridon → United Principalities Str. → Ienăchiţă Văcărescu Str.→ St Catherine Str. → St Catherine Church– University Chapel → Bibescu Vodă Str. → Hill of Joy → Patriarchal Cathedral. (see map below)
There will be two stops: in front of St Spyridon Metropolitan Cathedral and St Catherine University Chapel (Patriarch Justinian Faculty of Orthodox Theology), where the professors and students of the Faculty of Theology will join the procession. Prayers and litanies will be uttered.
All clergy from Bucharest and Ilfov County, including charity (missionary) priests (who serve at hospitals, social centres, cemeteries, military units, penitentiaries etc.) will join the procession. All believers desiring to witness publicly their faith in Christ’s Resurrection are invited to join the procession.
The pilgrimage will end with the blessing of the great icon of the Feast of the Entry of our Lord into Jerusalem, officiated on the Hill of Joy (Hill of the Patriarchate) and the homily of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Beginning with 2008, the tradition of the clergy and faithful procession taking place on the eve of the Feast of the Entry of our Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) was re-established in Bucharest and the cities of Prahova County. Pilgrimage represents a public witness of our faith in the Sacrifice and Resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ by prayers and church hymns.
