When it is said
It is the troparion, the hymn of the day, for both Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday, and it is sung at every service of the two days.
At the Liturgy of Palm Sunday it is sung as the refrain of the third antiphon.
At Matins of Palm Sunday the people are given blessed branches to hold. These are palms, or pussy willows in the Slavic churches.
Where it comes from
No author known
Two days, one hymn
Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday share this hymn, and the raising of Lazarus ties them together. Lazarus Saturday is the only day of the year when the Church sings its Sunday service of the Resurrection on another day of the week.
Why the crowds came with palms
John says the crowd went out to meet Jesus because they had heard He raised Lazarus (John 12:17-18). They took palm branches and shouted “Hosanna!” (John 12:13). The hymn puts the singers in that crowd, holding the branches that are blessed at Matins.
What the words mean
“The resurrection of all”
The Greek speaks of “the common resurrection”, the one every person will share. Martha told Jesus she knew her brother would rise “at the last day”, and Jesus answered, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:24-25). Raising Lazarus before His own death, He gave proof of that promise.
The Scripture in it
After Jesus had said this, He called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The man who had been dead came out with his hands and feet bound in strips of linen, and his face wrapped in a cloth. “Unwrap him and let him go,” Jesus told them.
The next day the great crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting: “Hosanna!” “Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the King of Israel!”
The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed were shouting: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”
But the chief priests and scribes were indignant when they saw the wonders He performed and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Do You hear what these children are saying?” they asked. “Yes,” Jesus answered. “Have you never read: ‘From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise’?”
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.
In Greek
Τὴν κοινὴν Ἀνάστασιν πρὸ τοῦ Σοῦ Πάθους πιστούμενος,
ἐκ νεκρῶν ἤγειρας τὸν Λάζαρον, Χριστὲ ὁ Θεός·
ὅθεν καὶ ἡμεῖς ὡς οἱ Παῖδες,
τὰ τῆς νίκης σύμβολα φέροντες,
Σοὶ τῷ Νικητῇ τοῦ θανάτου βοῶμεν·
Ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις,
εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος, ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου.
From the Triodion, Lazarus Saturday, on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America’s liturgical texts site.