palm

Article

An ancient symbol of victory. It was adopted by the early Christians to represent the triumph of the faithful over the enemies of the soul. They are the special badge of martyrs, and the Congregation of Rites in 1688 regarded the representation of a palm on a catacomb tomb as proof that a martyr was interred there, but this was later declared untenable.

The palm tree gives shade and fruit, and hence is emblematic of God‘s protection and grace.

Palm branches carried by the faithful on Palm Sunday are retained, burned, blessed and form the ashes used in the following year’s Ash Wednesday services.

Associated in Art with

• Saint Acacius of Byzantium
• Saint Accursies of Morocco
• Saint Achilleus of Terracina
• Saint Agapitus the Martyr
• Saint Agatha of Sicily
• Saint Agrippina of Rome
• Saint Alexander of Bergamo
• Saint Amalburga
• Saint Anastasia of Sirmium
• Saint Andeolus of Smyrna
• Saint Angelus of Jerusalem
• Saint Ansanus the Baptizer
• Saint Apollonia of Alexandria
• Saint Augusta of Treviso
• Saint Bacchus
• Saint Barbara
• Saint Bavo of Ghent
• Saint Calamanda of Calaf
• Saint Columba of Sens
• Saint Emerentiana
• Saint Eulalia of Barcelona
• Saint Euphemia of Chalcedon
• Saint Febronia of Nisibis
• Saint Ferrutius
• Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen
• Saint Fidentius of Todi
• Saint Florian of Lorch
• Saint Foillan of Fosses
• Saint Fortunatus of Aquileia
• Saint Gervase
• Saint Hermengild
• Saint John of Cologne
• Saint Julitta of Iconium
• Saint Lambert of Maastricht
• Saint Leocadia of Toledo
• Saint Lucian of Antioch
• Saint Macra of Rheims
• Saint Magnus of Orkney
• Saint Mark the Evangelist
• Saint Maurice
• Saint Oswald of Northumbria
• Saint Paul the Hermit
• Saint Protase
• Saint Roderick of Cordoba
• Saint Secundus of Asti
• Saint Sigismund of Burgundy
• Saint Stephen the Martyr
• Saint Tarcisius
• Saint Theodore Stratelates
• Saint Torpes of Pisa
• Saint Valeria of Limoges
• Saint Venantius of Camerino
• Saint Wernher of Oberwessel
• Saint Winifred of Wales

MLA Citation

• “palm”. Emblems of the Faith. Saints.SQPN.com. 25 December 2012. Web. 21 May 2013. <>