heavenly Jerusalem. With joyful chant the procession returns to the sanctuary where the palms are laid aside and the Bishop resumes his cappa magna, and mass is begun. The blessing of Palms and carrying them in procession is of highest antiquity, (see Wiseman ib. pp. 128 & 129, Guéranger.)
3. The Mass contains nothing unusual—all traces of the joy of the preceding ceremony have disappeared save only that during the singing of the Passion the Palms the emblems of victory are carried in the hands as a protest against the indignities offered to Jesus by his enemies. In Cathedral churches the Passion is sung by three Priests clad as Deacons, one representing the narrator, a second, the persons who appear in the narrative, and the third representing our Saviour. For a more extended description of this dramatic chant, see the paper on "The Tenebrae."
