Scriptum est enim

There was a custom worth preserving which was practiced on Palm Sunday in Poland. During the procession with palms, after the entrance to the church and the chant of the antiphon Pueri Hebraeorum, the assistants stopped and knelt in front of the bare cross lying on the floor. Subsequently, the priest gently hit the figure of the Crucified with the blessed palm three times, each time higher, intoning the antiphon Scriptum est enim which repeats the words spoken to Apostles by Christ foreshadowing their abandonment of the Master (Mt. 26,31-32).

When the choir finished the chant, the priest raised the cross twice, intoning the antiphon O Crux, ave, spes unica, whereas at the third time he sung Te, fons salutis, Trinitas. When the choir finished the chant, the priest put the cross on its place, censed it and kissed. After the dialogue:

V. Erue a framea, Deus, animam meam.

R. Et a cornibus unicornium humilitatem meam.

the priest said the prayer:

Oremus. Deus, qui nos regendo conservas, parcendo justificas: per passionem inigeniti Filii tui, Domini nostri, Jesu Christi, a temporali tribulatione nos eripe, et aeterna nobis gaudia largire. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. R. Amen.

Subsequently all raised and the procession headed for the presbytery.