Palm Sunday, one of the 12 great feasts of the Lord, was liturgically celebrated today in the Church of St. Nicholas in the Old Town of Kotor.

The hierarchal vicar of Kotor and Tivat, the parish priest of Kotor, Archpriest-staurophorus Nemanja Krivokapić, said in his sermon that Lazarus Saturday, which we celebrated yesterday, and Palm Sunday are feasts one after the other, and they speak of the solemn entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.

"The Lord came to Jerusalem several times during His life on earth, to preach, to visit the Jerusalem temple, because He fulfilled all the customs, as all the Jews did.
However, this entry into Jerusalem is the last one that happened before the Last Supper, the betrayal of Judas, the suffering and the Resurrection. Before the events that had been awaited for so many centuries.
Christ's entry into Jerusalem is preceded by the event when He resurrected Lazarus, which was a sign when, in the days that were coming, the days when He would suffer, He was to testify to people and tell them that He is not just someone who talks nicely, who can heal someone because He has some power, but that He is the One who is the Lord of life and death, and He resurrected someone who had been lying in the tomb for four days and gave him life again.
People were to know then that when they would catch, judge and crucified Christ, so that they would not be afraid, but that they would know that it was God.
This is also told to us by the troparion that we have sung many times both yesterday and today (“Generally resurrected, before the conviction of your passion, you raised Lazarus from the dead, Christ our God, so that we, the mighty children of victory, bearers of signs, cry out to you, the conqueror of death: Hosanna in the highest, blessed are you who dwell in the name of the Lord!”).
Therefore, before the general resurrection, this resurrection of Lazarus convinces us that You are truly God,” said Fr. Nemanja.

Furthermore, as he emphasized, the events that are to come also indicate that this is the One who was spoken of as coming, suffering, and resurrecting (as well as the seemingly insignificant event of the washing of feet with expensive perfume).

“The very entry into Jerusalem was accompanied by a multitude of people who had gathered, having heard of His miracles that He had performed. The resurrection of Lazarus, who had already lain in the tomb for four days, was particularly resonant.

He was welcomed solemnly with songs and hymns – “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Hosanna in the highest). They hailed him as someone who raises the dead and performs miracles, but they were not aware that they were doing something much more important, namely, hailing the One who is truly the King, who comes in the name of the Lord, God Himself, who comes to suffer and save the world.
He is the King of glory, He is the Lord, because the suffering that will happen is a voluntary suffering. He humbly endures what follows Him because that is why He came and knows that after that comes the Resurrection.
Jesus Christ himself was welcomed in Jerusalem by the people, especially children, who carried palm and olive branches, and that is why the Church is decorated like this today, we remember in another way, when we make a procession.
The Church has celebrated this holiday for centuries, since Constantinople, when the procession went through the entire city. That is how we do it today. Yesterday, children in a procession with palm and olive branches and bells walked around the Church. This is not just a beautiful custom, but an essentially important moment because in this way we are like those people who truly welcomed Christ and shouted “Hosanna in the highest”, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”.
Every holiday that we celebrate, we do not celebrate only to remember what happened 2,000 years ago, but by participating in that holiday, we participate in the event itself, we place ourselves in that context.
By celebrating a holiday liturgically, we include ourselves in those events. By participating in the procession yesterday and today at the Holy Liturgy, we are those people who then shouted “Hosanna in the highest”.
So that today, on this holy day and this holy holiday, to the One Who is truly the King of glory, Who truly came to suffer for us and be resurrected for us, we cry out, "Hosanna in the highest", "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord", amen", said, among other things, Father Nemanja.