Layo Woodley on “Donkey Jim” re-enacting Jesus riding into Jerusalem.
ST. EUSTATIUS--Palm Sunday rings in the Christian calendar’s Holy Week, which leads up to Good Friday and Easter. Churches in Statia are always well-attended in this period, also on Palm Sunday.
The Blessings of the Palms took place Sunday morning at the Roman Catholic Club House. Pastor Peter de Jong reminisced it would be his last Palm Sunday on St. Eustatius, as he is expected to depart the island for Kingston, Jamaica, in July. De Jong led a procession, followed by the 12 disciples and members of his church.
Layo Woodley astride “Jim the donkey” headed Bethel Methodist Church’s Palm Sunday Parade. The Boys and Girls Brigades joined members of the Methodist congregation as they waved palm branches along the route from Spanner’s Corner to the Methodist Church before start of the Palm Sunday Service.
The Palm Sunday processions are traditionally accompanied by the faithful waving palm branches to represent the branches the crowd scattered on the ground to welcome the arrival of Jesus Christ on a donkey to Jerusalem.
Pastor Peter de Jong (third left) of the Roman Catholic Church blessing the palms.
