Our Palm Sunday processional was born in a prison cell. Written around 820 AD by Theodulf, the Bishop of Orleans, it was penned while he was banished to a monastery in Angers under suspicion of treason against King Louis the Pious. A medieval legend holds that Theodulf sang the hymn’s magnificent 39 couplets from his cell window as the king passed by in a Palm Sunday procession, and that Louis was so deeply moved by the song that he immediately ordered the bishop’s release. While historians debate the legend’s accuracy, the hymn itself has served as the Church’s traditional Palm Sunday processional since the ninth century. Drawing heavily on Psalms 24 and 118, the text bridges the centuries, uniting our voices with the ancient crowds in Jerusalem and inviting us to present "our praise and prayer and anthems" to the Redeemer King who willingly rode toward the cross.
Sung at Our Saviour
2026