From St Francis de Sales:
“So many people spread their cloaks on the road, others, cut leaves in the fields. » Mark 11, 1-10 Sermon of Saint Francis de Sales, March 23, 1614 (Works,IX,36)
Our Lord was going towards Jerusalem, those of the city came to meet him, and cut olive and palm branches to adorn the path along which he passed. Everyone knows that the palm is given to martyrs as a sign of the victory they have won over all their enemies; but the olive tree represents the confessors who have done much for the glory of God in times of peace, because the olive tree is the symbol of peace. We see this when God, appeased after the flood, sent Noah, who was in the ark, an olive branch by the dove. But if the palm belongs to and represents particularly the martyrs, it also belongs to the confessors, because the life of the righteous is a continual martyrdom.
They are in a continual battle against their enemies, which are their own passions and inclinations, of which they remain masters, submitting them all to reason; and this is not a small victory, but a greater victory than conquering several cities. I make the following consideration about this people who threw their clothes in the streets where our Lord passed, to beautify the pavement.
What, I pray you, represent these garments thrown under the feet of the Savior? In Latin, habit and habitude are the same word; Now these good people teach us that if we want to honor our divine Master, as much as possible, we must throw all our habits, both good and bad, before him. Who will know how to place his virtues at the feet of our Lord, wanting to possess them only to honor him, and not for his own vanity, or to be esteemed for them?