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| Palm Procession on Broad Street in Monrovia, Liberia |
Palm Sunday in Liberia was no exception. All five delegates went to Trinity Cathedral in Monrovia to worship. We started with the procession. Out the gates of the church, palm waving and singing, we marched down Broad Street, turned at the end, marched back up (it is a boulevard with a divider in the middle) past the church, and then circulated around again. A new bell tower was dedicated, and rung for the first time calling all within earshot to join the congregation for mass.
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| Bell Tower Dedication |
Everyone was dressed in finery. Men in suit coats and ties (that looked hot in the 90+ degree weather), choir in robes, and women in their colorful Liberian dresses. Many, including me, wore lappas (a kind of wrap-around skirt that goes around about 2.5 times before getting tied and then rolled to adjust the length...I still need help putting it on:-) Some of the hats and scarves on women's heads were things of beauty.
We entered into the church and with you in Ohio or other parts of the world, followed the liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer. In the sermon, Bishop Hart kept repeating "the master has need of you." It was like a personal call. Then he said that the people spread lappas on the ground before Christ on the donkey. A translation of the text that reflected the spirit of Palm Sunday in the context of Liberian culture. I was particularly taken with the music. How the same words strike me differently when put to a different tune. Some of the music was Liberian, including the music during the offertory when every single person went up to deposit his or her gift in the containers in front of the alter area. The delegation was swept along with the flow of the congregation. So, the final day in Liberia was spent with the community that had welcomed us and shared their lives. Together we started—again—on the path through the final week leading to the resurrection. This is one Palm Sunday I will never forget.
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