Today is Palm Sunday, the last Sunday before Easter and the beginning of the most holy week in the Catholic tradition. On this day we commemorate Jesus’ triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem. The New Testament notes that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the Jewish crowds gathered to greet him by waving palm branches and by covering the path in front of his donkey with palm branches. Only days later Jesus would begin his journey to the cross.

In a few hours I will be commemorating Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem at Saint Teresa’s church on Clarendon Street in Dublin. Saint Teresa’s church is rooted in Ireland’s Discalced Carmelite Order, which came to Dublin in 1625. The present church goes back to 1786, when William Semple, a friendly Protestant building, leased the north-east section of Clarendon Street and leveled the existing building, which eventually ended up in the hands of the Carmelite Order. The church as it stands today opened for public worship on May 1st, 1797.

The streets around Saint Teresa’s are full of life and vibrancy, especially on Grafton Street. Being a pedestrian street, it is always crowded with natives and visitors from around the world. The Saint Teresa website says that many people stumble upon the church by accident, only to discover it is a “little oasis of peace and calm.”