Commontide

For Guidance

O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light rises up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what you would have us do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices; that in your light we may see light, and in your straight path we may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Commontide
Blessing
Holy Week

Palm Sunday — Liturgy of the Palms

We praise you, Almighty God, for the acts of love by which you have redeemed us through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. On this day he entered the holy city of Jerusalem in triumph, and was hailed as King by those who spread their garments and branches of palm along his way. Sanctify these branches with your blessing, we humbly pray, that they may be for us signs of his victory. Grant that we who bear them in his Name may ever hail him as our King, and follow him in the way that leads to eternal life; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Found in the Prayer Book

  • Palm SundayLent & Holy Week

Provenance

Episcopal BCP 1979

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

This prayer over the palm branches is a 20th-century composition, first appearing in the 1979 American Book of Common Prayer, which brought back an ancient custom that Cranmer's Reformation prayer books had set aside: blessing the branches the congregation carries in procession, echoing the crowds who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem.