The Church Enters The City

C All Glory, laud, and honor
To Thee, Redeemer, King
To whom the lips of Children
Made Sweet Hosannas Ring.

Thou art the King of Israel,
Thou David’s royal Son,
Who in the Lord’s name comest,
The King and Blessed One.
C
The company of angels
Are praising Thee on high,
And mortal men and all things
Created make reply.
C
The people of the Hebrews
With palms before Thee went;
Our praise and prayer and anthems
Before Thee we present.
C

To Thee, before Thy Passion,
They sang their hymns of praise;
To Thee, now high exalted,
Our melody we raise.
C
Thou didst accept their praises;
Accept the prayers we bring,
Who in all good delightest,
Thou good and gracious King.

C All Glory, laud, and honor
To Thee, Redeemer, King,
To whom the lips of Children
Made Sweet Hosannas Ring.

———

Palm Sunday marks the entrance into Holy Week, a period anticipating the triumph of the Kingship of Christ and the tension of his looming passion. Just as the Hebrews lauded Christ as he rode into Jerusalem, the Church, too, lifts its voice in praise, singing, “Hosanna to the son Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest” (Matthew 21:9 New American Bible Revised Edition). As Christ entered the gates of the earthly Jerusalem, we now enter the gates of Holy Week. This sacred span of days becomes a new Jerusalem for us, not bound by location and lineage but existing as a spiritual locus in which we encounter the glory and saving grace of Christ the King.

Palm Sunday serves as this gate into the new Jerusalem, and it is here where the triumphant hymn “All Glory Laud and Honor” finds its place. Long associated with Palm Sunday liturgies, the hymn was initially composed in Latin¹ by Saint Theodulph of Orléans (760-820). Since then, it has been sung generation after generation by the Christian faithful. The opening verse and repeated chorus of the song place us in a symbolic joining of the procession of Christ into Jerusalem:

All Glory, laud, and honor
To Thee, Redeemer, King
To whom the lips of Children
Made Sweet Hosannas Ring.

But this singing is not merely a historical recitation of Christ’s entry into the city of Jerusalem. By exalting this cry of welcome and praise, we herald what remains true—that Christ has come to save us all. The scope of the hymn’s praises widens in the following verse:

The company of angels
Are praising Thee on high,
And mortal men and all things
Created make reply.

At this moment, the new Jerusalem is revealed: a city not of a physical location but formed of praise. As the Church on earth sings this hymn, the Church Triumphant of the Heavens joins us in praise. The liturgy of the Church becomes the architecture of this new Jerusalem and worship its business. As the procession advances, the following verse recounts the usage of cloaks and palms (Matthew 21:8) by the crowd that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem:

The people of the Hebrews
With palms before Thee went;
Our praise and prayer and anthems
Before Thee we present.

In some Palm Sunday liturgies, this scene is brought to life with the entrance procession, where palm leaves are waved and cast before the processional party in a liturgical embodiment of the historical entrance. But this time the palm leaves are waved, we praise the entrance of the risen Christ, and a new crowd following him—the Church—to a new Jerusalem.

This triumphant entry into Jerusalem that we remember each Palm Sunday is no mere reenactment of a point in Christ’s earthly ministry— it is a transformative event, emphasizing the Church’s role as the place to encounter the new Jerusalem and the risen Christ. As the author of Hebrews writes, “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven” (Hebrews 12:22–23). In embracing Holy Week as the new Jerusalem, we are invited to enter deeply into the mystery of our faith—a mystery that transcends time, drawing the entire body of the Church into communion with one another—the Church Militant on earth, Penitent in purgatory, and Triumphant in Heaven—and with the Creator. The liturgy becomes the bustling streets of this sacred city, woven with prayers, praises, and in preparation of our hearts for the sacred Passion of our Lord and for the promise of salvation that lies at the heart of the Gospel.