Palm Sunday Passion Narrative
The Gospel of Mark
Short Form
(Year B)
The narrative of the Lord's Passion is read without candles and without incense, with no greeting or signing of the book. It is read by a Deacon, or, if there is no Deacon, by a Priest. It may also be read by readers, with the part of Christ, if possible, reserved to a Priest.
Deacons, but not others, ask for the blessing of the Priest before singing the Passion, as at other times before the Gospel.
The symbols in the following passion narrative represent:
N Narrator
J Jesus
O Other Single Speaker
C Crowd, or more than one speaker
YEAR B
GOSPEL (Short Form) Mark 15:1-39
The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ
The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
N. As soon as morning came, the chief priests with the elders and scribes, that is, the whole Sanhedrin, held a council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate questioned him,
O. Are you the king of the Jews?
N. He said to him in reply,
J. You say so.
N. The chief priests accused him of many things. Again Pilate questioned him,
O. Have you no answer? See how many things they accuse you of.
N. Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.
Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them one prisoner whom they requested. A man called Barabbas was then in prison along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion. The crowd came and began to ask him to do for them as he was accustomed. Pilate answered,
O. Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?
N. For he knew that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate again said to them in reply,
O. Then what do you want me to do with the man you call the king of the Jews?
N. They shouted again,
C. Crucify him!
N. Pilate said to them,
O. Why? What evil has he done?
N. They only shouted the louder,
C. Crucify him!
N. So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged, handed him over to be crucified.
The soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort. They clothed him in purple and, weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him. They began to salute him with, "Hail king of the Jews!" and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him. They knelt before him in homage.
And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him out to crucify him.
They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. They brought him to the place of Golgothaâ€"which is translated Place of the Skullâ€"they gave him wine drugged with myrrh, but he did not take it. Then they crucified him and divided his garments by casting lots for them to see what each should take. It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." With him they crucified two bandits, one at his right and one at his left. Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying,
C. Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days! Save yourself by coming down from the cross.
N. Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes, mocked him among themselves and said,
C. He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from that cross that we may see and believe.
N. Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him. At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three o'clock Jesus cried in a loud voice,
J. Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?
N. Which is translated,
J. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
N. Some of the bystanders who heard it said,
C. Look, he is calling Elijah.
N. One of them ran, soaked a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink saying,
O. Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down.
N. Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.
(All kneel and and pause for a short time.)
N. The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last, he said,
O. Truly this man was the Son of God!
- The Gospel of the Lord.
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
The English translation of Psalm Responses, Alleluia Verses, Gospel Verses from Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL); the English translation of Antiphons, Invitatories, Responsories, Intercessions, Psalm 95, the Canticle of the Lamb, Psalm Prayers, Non-Biblical Readings from The Liturgy of the Hours © 1973, 1974, 1975, ICEL; excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission.