So
let us spread before his feet, not garments or soulless olive
branches, which delight the eye for a few hours and then wither, but
ourselves, clothed in his grace, or rather, clothed completely in
him. We who have been baptized into Christ must ourselves be the
garments that we spread before him. Now that the crimson stains of
our sins have been washed away in the saving waters of baptism and we
have become white as pure wool, let us present the conqueror of
death, not with mere branches of palms but with the real rewards of
his victory. Let our souls take the place of the welcoming branches
as we join today in the children’s holy song: Blessed is he who
comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel.
--
Saint Andrew of Crete from a
Palm Sunday sermon
