This Christian observance falls on the Sunday before Easter and is the sixth and last Sunday of Lent, which began on Ash Wednesday. The beginning of Holy Week, Palm Sunday marks the day when Christ rode into Jerusalem a week before his death and resurrection and was greeted by its people, who strewed cloaks and tree branches along his path to honor him as their king. This event is known as the Triumphal Entry.

Nowadays, Palm Sunday service often includes the blessing of palm leaves (or substitute branches from yews, willows, or other plants) before a procession into or in the church, after which hymns are sung and readings that focus on Christ’s final week are given. In many Christian denominations, palm fronds are burned at the end of the service; the ashes are saved for use on the next Ash Wednesday.

Palm Sunday is also called Passion, Branch, Yew, Willow, Blossom, or Fig Sunday, as well as Flower Day and several other names.

Born in 1743 in Shadwell, Virginia, Jefferson was the third president of the United States and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. He began his political career in 1769 in the Virginia legislature. Forty years later, he retired as president of the United States. He died on July 4, 1826, at Monticello, his home in Virginia. He once wrote, “All my wishes end where I hope my days will end—at Monticello.”

Thomas Jefferson was a dedicated farmer, and his interest in agriculture is evident in much of his writings. His plantation Monticello included vegetable gardens, flower gardens, orchards, vineyards, grain fields, and ornamental landscapes. Jefferson worked on improving plant varieties as well as agricultural tools, such as the plow.

To celebrate his birthday, pay a visit to the country home he designed. To fully grasp his political philosophy, called Jeffersonianism, read his collected works, including “The Fundamentals of Government.” It was none other than Abraham Lincoln who said, “The principles of Jefferson are the axioms of a free society.”