Palm Sunday (Without the Donkey)

After the worst of the rain this morning, we had a wander through town and bumped into two Palm Sunday parades. The first comprised the priest, choir and congregation all carrying olive branches and singing along to a tune played on a mobile speaker.

We then saw another group of celebrants as we passed through Piazza della Signoria (piazza in front of Palazzo Vecchio). The clergy and choir were carrying palms, and the congregation, olive branches. Bystanders were offered olive branches too.

The priest blessed the plaque marking the spot where the monk Savonarola died back in 1498.

It was on Palm Sunday that year that San Marco’s monastery, where Savonarola was taking shelter, was stormed and Savonarola was captured, later to be hung and burnt.

Killed for challenging the Pope’s authority, having a part in the fall of the Medicis, and the public tiring of Savonarola’s brand of extreme piety, he was seen, after his death, as a forerunner to the early Protestant reformers, including Martin Luther.

In the twentieth century Savonarola was remembered as a champion for the poor and oppressed, and has been considered by the present-day Catholic Church for beatification.