Palm Sunday marks the start of the one of the busiest and fullest liturgical periods of the year for the Catholic Church and the Vatican.<\/p>\n
VATICAN CITY \u2014 Pope Leo XIV will celebrate the liturgies of Holy Week and the Easter Triduum for the first time as pope this week.<\/p>\n
Palm Sunday marks the start of the one of the busiest and fullest liturgical periods of the year for the Catholic Church and the Vatican, where Leo will celebrate five Masses and preside over several other liturgies and devotions between March 29 and April 6.<\/p>\n
Here is the Vatican\u2019s full schedule for Holy Week and Easter 2026:<\/p>\n
On Sunday morning, March 29, the pope celebrates Mass in St. Peter\u2019s Square for Palm Sunday, also known as Passion Sunday or the Commemoration of the Lord\u2019s entrance into Jerusalem.The 10 a.m. Mass begins with a grand procession of the pope with deacons, priests, bishops, cardinals, and laypeople carrying large palms.<\/p>\n
The procession, which winds around the square and its central obelisk, includes olive tree branches, palm fronds, and the large, weaved palms called \u201cpalmureli.\u201d The Vatican expects to distribute 120,000 olive branches at the Mass.<\/p>\n
Afterward, Leo leads the Angelus prayer, as he does every Sunday.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo will begin Holy Thursday, April 2, with the celebration of the chrism Mass at 9:30 a.m. in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica.<\/p>\n
Many of the cardinals, bishops, and priests living in Rome typically concelebrate this Mass, in which the pope, as bishop of Rome, blesses the oil of the sick, the oil of catechumens, and the chrism oil to be used in the diocese during the coming year.<\/p>\n
At 5:30 p.m., Leo will celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord\u2019s Supper at the Basilica of St. John Lateran.<\/p>\n
Celebrating the Mass at the cathedral church of the Diocese of Rome restores a long-standing practice that Pope Francis set aside in favor of demonstrating closeness to prisoners by offering the Mass at some of the city\u2019s prisons.<\/p>\n
Continuing the liturgies of the Triduum, Leo is scheduled to preside over a service for the passion of the Lord on Good Friday at 5 p.m. in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica.<\/p>\n
During this liturgy, which is not a Mass, it is the custom for the papal preacher \u2014 currently Father Roberto Pasolini, OFM Cap \u2014 to give a sermon on Christ\u2019s crucifixion.<\/p>\n
In the evening, the pope will lead the Stations of the Cross devotion at the Colosseum starting at 9:15 p.m.<\/p>\n
Leo will celebrate the Easter Vigil Mass at 9 p.m. in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica.<\/p>\n
The Easter Vigil, which takes place on Holy Saturday night, \u201cis the greatest and most noble of all solemnities,\u201d according to the Roman Missal.<\/p>\n
The liturgy begins in darkness with the blessing of the new fire and the preparation of the paschal candle. At the Vatican, cardinals, bishops, and priests process through the dark basilica carrying lit candles to signify the light of Christ coming to dispel the darkness.<\/p>\n
The pope also typically baptizes new Catholics at this Mass.<\/p>\n
The morning of Easter Sunday, Leo will preside over Mass in St. Peter\u2019s Square at 10:15 a.m. on a flower-decked parvise.<\/p>\n
After Mass, he will give the annual Easter \u201curbi et orbi blessing\u201d from the central balcony of St. Peter\u2019s Basilica.<\/p>\n
\u201cUrbi et orbi\u201d means \u201cto the city [of Rome] and to the world\u201d and is a special apostolic blessing given by the pope every year on Easter Sunday, Christmas, and other special occasions.<\/p>\n
For Easter Sunday, the square will be decorated with thousands of flowers from the Netherlands, a custom spanning 40 years.<\/p>\n
This year, the arrangements will include 65,000 tulip, daffodil, hyacinth, and mini daffodil bulbs; 220 white and orange violets; 7,800 roses, delphiniums, anthuriums, chrysanthemums, gerberas, and matthiolas; 600 branches of plumosa; 80 azaleas; and 600 long branches of willow catkins, long branches of eucalyptus, and various types of foliage.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo will mark Easter Monday, also called \u201cMonday of the Angel,\u201d by praying the Regina Caeli, a Marian prayer recited during the Easter season, at noon from a window of the Apostolic Palace.<\/p>\n
Holy Week in the Vatican<\/p>\n
This article was originally published on EWTN News English.<\/p>\n