ORTHODOX CHURCH CELEBRATES PALM SUNDAY AND LAZARUS SATURDAY

According to the Gospel, as Jesus entered Jerusalem, he said, "Let the children come to me, for such is the Kingdom of Heaven." Typically, children bring palm branches to the church on Saturday afternoon, leaving them for the blessing during the Palm Sunday liturgy, where branches are distributed to the congregation.

This holiday falls during the Lenten season, traditionally observed with restraint from playing and singing. Customarily, believers wash themselves in rivers in the morning, symbolizing spiritual purification. 

They also retrieve a stone from the river, placing it on their foot and kicking it away, saying, "As far as I have cast this stone, may snakes be kept away from me."

Lazarus Saturday commemorates the event in Bethany, where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, as described in the Gospel of John. This event symbolizes the victory of life over death and foreshadows Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection, fundamental to the Christian faith.

Source: InfoBijeljina