passiontide

Passiontide is the last two weeks of Lent, when the read-ings and prayers of the liturgy focus on the Passion of Our Lord. The word 'passion', in the Christian sense, does not mean an intense emotion; it refers to the histor-ical events of Jesus' suffering and death. Although for several centuries the Fifth Sunday of Lent was known as Passion Sunday, after the Second Vatican Council this name was restored to the Sunday at beginning of Holy Week, formerly called Palm Sunday. As a penitential season of the Church, Passiontide is evidently even more ancient than Lent.