As a boy growing up in the small town of Tepalcatepec in the Mexican state of Michoacan, Esteban Torres marveled at the intricate palm weavings that artisans and priests distributed each spring.
Now, from a flower shop in a Santa Ana strip mall, Torres preserves the Palm Sunday tradition himself.
Torres, 52, is one of a small number of crafts people who work in the background of Holy Week, weaving palm fronds into elaborate crosses, flowers and geometric shapes that will become tokens of faith in Catholic churches on Palm Sunday.
Every spring, Torres puts in an order for thousands of the fronds, which are harvested from palms in the Yucatan Peninsula. They arrive at the downtown Los Angeles flower market by way of Miami and he transports them, bundle by thick bundle, to his flower shop.
The fronds are long, ribbon-like and flexible; easy to pull apart, thread and fold into spectacular designs. The process takes up to two weeks, and then Torres -- like fellow artisans elsewhere in Southern California Latino communities -- delivers the finished products to a nearby parish.
Torres sells the pieces -- $5 for a flower, $7 for a cross -- but making them is also an act of devotion for him.
"I'm not a perfect Catholic, but this is my way of helping the church," he said.
Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem, when he rode into the city on a donkey and crowds welcomed him by waving and laying date palm fronds in his path.
For Catholics, the holy day marks the end of the solemn, 40-day season of Lent and the beginning of Holy Week, in which worshipers remember Jesus' last supper and his crucifixion and culminate the observances by celebrating his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
"Palms were a way of honoring heroes and people of importance, so we are commemorating Jesus' entrance, which ended up being his death," said Lesa Truxaw, director of the Office for Worship at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange.
Palm art has found an outlet in nearly every culture with a Catholic population. In Vietnam, it is a tradition to weave dragon shapes. In Ireland, Celtic designs are popular. In colder climates where palm fronds are not available, like in Russia, parishes may use olive or willow branches.
In Southern California, church officials say, the most sophisticated palm art is typically found at Latino-dominated parishes.
