Copts in Egypt will celebrate Palm Sunday amid strict security measures taken around churches in Cairo and other provinces.
Copts’ Leader Pope Tawadros II will visit the Bishop Bishoy monastery in Wadi al-Natrun to celebrate the day among other priests and worshippers.
Informed security sources said security for churches on Palm Sunday will be a ‘rehearsal’ for security measures taken on Easter Sunday, next week.
Copts make shapes with the palm leaves in commemoration of the entrance of Jesus in Jerusalem, when residents welcomed him while holding palm fronds.
Priest Salib Matta, of the Mar Girgis church in Shubra, said Palm Sunday is a remarkable occasion for the Coptic Church, adding that preparing the palm and forming shapes of hearts with them indicate pure hearts.
Meanwhile, several Copts who bought palm branches before the mass on Sunday commented on the high prices this year, adding that the braided palm fronds sold for LE13, while the non-braided ones ranged between LE7-8.
In Minya, Catholic and Orthodox churches were covered with flowers, palm branches and wheat spikes.
Although repairs carried out by armed forces at some churches in the province have not been completed, worshippers insisted on holding the masses.
In Alexandria, street vendors were selling the palm fronds and wheat spikes on the grounds of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
