PYONGYANG, April 5. /TASS/. Orthodox Christians are celebrated Palm Sunday, the feast that commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, in North Korea.
The main service was delivered at the Holy Trinity Orthodox church in the south of Pyongyang by Father Fyodor, Korean Orthodox priest who studied at the Moscow Theological Seminary. Russian diplomats, including Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora, attended the service.
The Holy Trinity Church was built in the North Korean capital on the order from Kim Jong Il after his visit to one of Russian churches in the Far East in 2002.
Korean builders finished construction in summer of 2006. On August 13, 2006, Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Kirill, who is now Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, consecrated the church.
According to Gospel, Jesus’s triumphal entry to Jerusalem took place six days before his Resurrection. Celebrating people laid down palm branches in front of Jesus, as he resurrected Lazarus on Saturday.
In memory of Jesus’ triumph, Christians come to celebrations with tree branches. In many countries, palm branches are not used. In Italy, believers bring olive branches, in France - boxwood, rosemary and laurel, and in Russia - pussy willow.
Holy Week follows after Palm Sunday. On April 12, Orthodox Christians will celebrate Easter.
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