Palm Pasen (Palm Sunday)

In the reformed traditions of the Christian church, Palm Sunday is celebrated the Sunday before the easter weekend. This day signifies the entry into Jerusalem by Jesus of Nazareth riding a colt (a young donkey) and the people welcomed him by laying down palm branches and clothing for him to ride over. One of the reasons this is recognised is that it is where Jesus is welcomed as a king and then less than a week later, he is tried by the religious leaders and the Roman governor and put to death.

Palm Sunday however has many different ways of celebration in the Christian Church. One of the most common is to have a procession into a church waving palm branches and singing Hosanna! Sometimes this procession features someone posing as Jesus riding a donkey.

In Holland though, the traditions are a lot different and those traditions were introduced to the Wellers Hill-Tarragindi Uniting Church (WHATUCA) in Brisbane QLD recently. 

The first thing about these traditions is that it is based on the northern hemisphere season cycle where Easter falls in Spring and there is a sense of excitement of new life. Easter is a celebration of the Christian faith and of new life. 

On Palm Sunday its almost like the lead up to the final celebration a week later in Holland. “I remember for Palm Sunday it was a wonderful pre-celebration for Easter and quite a big deal in our family compared to what it might have been like in other families” explains Lydia Pitcher, a first generation Australian whose parents emigrated to Australia from Holland in the sixties.

Lydia Pitcher explains to the children how to dye their eggs

“In our family, in preparation for Palm Sunday we would bake special bread in the shape of Roosters and this would be part of a traditional celebration centerpiece with little roosters and a braided basket and in that basket we would put coloured eggs that had been coloured with food dye.” Lydia says 

“My Mum would teach us how to do the dyeing in bowls with hot water and a little bit of vinegar and food colouring. As a child just watching those eggs change colour and the patterns you could make and then polishing them up with a bit of oil, it was a wonderful happy kind of feeling.”

The Palm Paas Stock

Another element that was introduced to WHATUCA was “Palm Paas Stok” – a wooden cross with some ribbon and a rooster on top. It could also have an orange or some coloured eggs that were hand blown and dyed or even a wreath plaited out of bread. “In Holland each child would make their own cross and in some villages have a parade through the village and the children would add some twigs and greenery to symbolize new life” Lydia says “much the same as some of the young kids would have an Easter bonnet parade here in Australia”.

3 year old Alexandra Gees gets into the dyeing of eggs

With Australia being regarded as a multi cultural society more and more, it’s fascinating to discover the rich Christian heritage that exists. The Children and parents at WHATUCA had a great time colouring hard boiled eggs and sharing in just a small part of a tradition that would have seen many children on the other side of the world doing the same thing.

Nathan and Daniel Godfrey proud of their efforts

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