By Jenny Koch, Connecting Liturgy and Life
Editor’s note: For 2026, the weekly “Connecting Faith and Life” column has been renamed “Connecting Liturgy and Life.” The column consists of reflections on Part Two of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), which focuses on the Liturgy and the Sacraments.
cf. CCC 1200-1209
The global Catholic Church is a vibrant and complex communion. It is unified by faith in Christ and obedience to the Pope, yet around the world, Catholics express a spectacular diversity of liturgical practices. While the Roman or Latin Rite is the most widely known, the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches offer a window into the ancient roots of Christian worship, demonstrating that unity does not require uniformity. As stated in CCC 1203, “The liturgical traditions or rites presently in use in the Church are the Latin (principally the Roman rite, but also the rites of certain local churches, such as the Ambrosian rite, or those of certain religious orders) and the Byzantine, Alexandrian or Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite and Chaldean rites. In “faithful obedience to tradition, the sacred Council declares that Holy Mother Church holds all lawfully recognized rites to be of equal right and dignity, and that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way.”
This Palm Sunday, Maronite Christians from St. Louis to Lebanon will celebrate in a unique way. The Maronite Rite is one of the oldest Eastern Churches and traces its origins to St. Maron, a fourth-century hermit. Their liturgy is celebrated in Aramaic (Syriac) and Arabic, as well as local languages. On Hosanna Sunday — what we call Palm Sunday — Maronites enter into the sanctuary with handmade candles decorated with Easter symbols. Father Pierre Bassil, pastor of Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church in Lansing, Michigan, calls it a “colorful feast filled with children in dress with candles representing Christ, the Light of the World.”
In other Catholic churches, you will see olive or spruce branches, and in England and Poland, the feast is named Willow Sunday because they use willow branches. In some parts of Spain, Catholic parishioners create a float that includes Jesus riding on a donkey, and sometimes an actual donkey will carry a statue of Jesus. In Ethiopian traditions, “Hosanna” celebrations may look unique and familiar at the same time, representing what the Catechism calls authentic rites, “Through the liturgical life of a local church, Christ, the light and salvation of all peoples, is made manifest to the particular people and culture to which that Church is sent and in which she is rooted. The Church is Catholic, capable of integrating into her unity, while purifying them, all the authentic riches of cultures.”
Today, the Maronite Church in Lebanon and so many of our Eastern Church faithful are suffering. Conflict and social hardship surround the Middle East. All of the faithful, whether we are waving palm branches or olive branches on Palm Sunday, are called to pray for peace. In light of recent events, we can also pray for the resilience of the Christian presence in the Middle East. Pope Leo XIV was the first Pope to visit the Lebanese tomb of St. Charbel Makhlouf, a revered Maronite hermit-saint of the 19th century. At the monastery, monks bless and distribute oil for healing, and thousands have reported miraculous healings. EWTN reports two miracles so far in 2026 due to his intercession, and this “doctor of the sky” is not limited to Catholicism. His intercession has affected Muslims and other faiths. Recently, Pope Leo XIV has called his intercession a “river of mercy.” Here is a prayer to use, asking for the intercession of St. Charbel, as we continue to pray for a world in need of peace and spiritual renewal.
“O God, infinitely Holy and glorified in Your saints, who inspired the monk and hermit St. Charbel to live and die in a perfect likeness to JESUS, giving him the strength to detach from the world in order to live fully, in his hermitage, the monastic virtues of poverty, obedience and chastity, we beg You to grant us the grace to love You and serve You as he did.”
St. Charbel Makhlouf, pray for us!