Q: I have two questions I hope you can answer.
On Palm Sunday, following the Third Form, it seems that there is no Gospel reading, just a procession by ministers to the altar. It then says after the entrance antiphon the priest, “continues the Mass in the usual way”.
So, two questions:
1) When and where are palms blessed?
2) Is there a Penitential Act?
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A: The third form includes no blessing or distribution of palms, no reading of the Palm Sunday gospel. I was surprised to see the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments recommending this for parishes, reserving palm branch blessing only at the cathedral, but that is what they did.
Yes, the third form includes the penitential act.