In a scene repeated throughout the diocese, On Tuesday, April 11, 2006, parishioners from Christ the Saviour Cathedral gathered to prepare the willows for blessing and distribution, on Willow (Palm) Sunday. On Willow, (Palm) Sunday we celebrate the Triumphant Entry of Our Lord into Jerusalem, one week before His Glorious Resurrection “And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way. And the multitudes… cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest” (Mat 21:8-9). Branches of pussy willows have been used in Carpatho-Rus and Eastern Europe from the times of old as a substitute for more exotic trees — most likely palms, and in these regions, the Sunday before Easter is known as Willow Sunday rather than Palm Sunday.