A recent comment asked why Lent 5 (this coming Sunday), the Sunday before Palm Sunday, was previously called “Passion Sunday”. Was there at some stage of Christian history a reading of the Passion on this day? The Church of England continues to call this “Passion Sunday”. The NZ Lectionary also calls this “Passion Sunday” and the (now-nearly-never-used- does-anyone-at-all-still-us-it?) NZ home-grown “Two Year Series” of readings also calls Lent 5 “Passion Sunday” (with the theme “the cross”) NZPB page 579. I have looked in some books, looked around online, and tweeted the question, but have not received what I regard as a sufficient explanation. Personally, I’m with the renewed lectionary that sees Palm Sunday as Passion Sunday and each year has a different reading of the passion story on Palm/Passion Sunday. This aside, in this post I’m more interested in the history of calling Lent 5 “Passion Sunday”. Please add in the comments what you know.
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Passion Sunday is the classical designation for the Fifth Sunday of Lent. Under the pre-Vatican II calendar it marked another intensification of the Lenten period. I don’t believe that Isidore of Seville refers to it in his De Ecclesiasticus Officiis but Amalarius of Metz devotes a short chapter to it in his (4.20) where he says right out, “Dies passionis Domini computantur duabus hebdomadibus ante pascha Domini. (The days of the Passion of the Lord are reckoned as the two weeks before the Pasch of the Lord)”
Aelfric of Eynsham says basically the same thing writing a couple of centuries later: “Þeos tid fram ðisum andwerdan dæge oð ða halgan eastertide is gecweden cristes ðrowung tid. (This time from the present day [the Fifth Sunday in Lent] until the holy Easter-tide is called Christ’s Passion-tide.)”
So, yes, it’s a well-documented feature of the historic Western liturgy. Oddly enough, the main lectionary reading for the day appears to have been John 8:46-59 so the reference isn’t to the reading of the Passion on that day but rather a direct liturgical turning towards the passion as the Antiphons, responsaries and finally readings begin building up the conflict and moving to the events of Holy Week and Triduum.
Hope that helps…
I thought it was because the deficit in chocolate was causing a surfeit in desire …
In the Roman Catholic Liturgy we do read the passion on Passion Sunday. It’s more popularly known as Palm Sunday because the liturgy begins with the blessing of palm or other branches, followed by the reading of the narrative of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem in the last wseek of his mortal life. Then, usually, there is a procession from the place where the blessing took place to the church proper. “Passiontide” has begin. The gospel during Mass is the account of the Passion as found in the gosppel being read that year. In 2010 we are reading the gospel according to Luke. Happy Easter!
Thanks, Phil, for your contribution, but I think you have misread the post. Most of us, not just Roman Catholics, are reading the Passion on Lent 6 = Passion/Palm Sunday and this year from Luke. Prior to Vatican II it was Lent 5, as the post explains, that was called “Passion Sunday” – the question was: why?
I think the answer to the question of understanding the passion sunday with the palm sunday must have had some politics with the popes of pre 60s and post 60s.which is not clear. why all this confusion.
Here is a link to an ebook which provides a concise explanation for Passion Sunday, and Passiontide. Please read into this chapter the notion that this particular Sunday of the year serves as a Sunday addition to Good Friday.
[edited so the link clicks straight from this comment (I hope) - Bosco]
For a Youth Quiz I am wondering how to explain why we use the word Passion (not because of reading The Passion) but why call it Passion…..I think it means because of the great love Jesus had for us…i.e Passion often does refer to great love….any other simple explanations?
Yes, Mona, any good dictionary should indicate there’s a variety of uses of “passion”, love being one of them. It comes from French from Church Latin passiō suffering, from Latin patī to suffer.