Procession

PROCESSIONE. – From pro, “forward,” and cedere, “to walk,” it is, in general, the ceremonial proceeding in public, with measured steps, of a group that precedes or follows an image or an illustrious personage.

I. IN CATHOLIC LITURGY

The order of the procession is laid down by the Roman Ritual (tit. IX): the Cross always opens the cortege, followed by the people (two by two) and the clergy according to hierarchical order; psalms and hymns are sung (s. Agost., De civ. Dei, 22, 8), and special prayers are recited, in some regions or on certain occasions accompanied by dances and rhythmic gestures (e.g., the famous dancing procession of Echternach in honor of s. Willibrordo, on Whit Tuesday); besides the Cross, other sacred symbols, banners, relics, statues, etc., are carried. A distinction is made between processions independent of other liturgical acts, such as litanies, Eucharistic processions, pilgrimages, and the procession for the reception of the bishop on his entry or during his pastoral visitation, and processions joined to liturgical functions, such as station processions, candle processions, palm processions, and processions to the baptismal font. There are ordinary processions, which recur every year on certain feasts or days (of candles, of palms, the litanies, etc.), and extraordinary ones, which are ordered for particular circumstances on the occasion of a calamity or as an act of thanksgiving.

Religious processions were and are in use among all peoples (v. below). Before the Constantinian peace, Christians had only funeral processions; by the end of the 4th century at Jerusalem, as is recounted in Eteria’s Peregrinatio (CSEL, 39, ch. 24 ff., pp. 71-101), commemorative processions of the events of Christ’s life in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, etc., were already highly developed. S. Ambrogio (Ep. 22 ad sor.) and s. Agostino (Conf., IX, 7) describe processions on the occasion of the translation of relics. At Rome, the litanies known as the greater litanies were introduced (v. ROGAZIONI) in substitution for the pagan feast in honor of Robigo (25 Apr.). An integral part of liturgical life are the station processions, revived and reorganized by Gregorio I, on the anniversary feasts of the martyrs, especially on the principal feast days of the ecclesiastical year and on the weekdays of Lent. On the four most ancient Marian feasts (Nativity, Annunciation, Purification, and Dormition or Assumption), a great procession with torches was held from S. Adriano at the Forum to S. Maria Maggiore. In the liturgy of the Mass, the three ceremonial processions were formed: the entrance of the celebrant (Introitus), the offerings of the faithful at the Offertory, and Communion; the procession for the reading of the Gospel was then added. In times of public calamity, extraordinary penitential processions were introduced (the famous one of 591 ordered by s. Gregorio Magno). To implore heavenly blessing upon the fruits of the fields, in addition to those of the minor rogations, other processions were held through the fields, with four stations at which the beginnings of the four Gospels were sung, each in the direction of one of the four cardinal points; in some regions they were then held on horseback with the Blessed Sacrament or with a relic of the Most Precious Blood (Blutritt of Weingarten in Germany). The most solemn of all is the Eucharistic procession of the feast of Corpus Domini and on the occasion of both national and international Eucharistic congresses,

Grand and picturesque processions are held in Spain, notably, for example, that of the Rosary, or the one lasting 10–12 hours during Holy Week at Siviglia and in other Spanish cities. In Germany, penitential processions held at night by men during Lent flourished in recent years.

This form of public worship, too, is regulated by the CIC (cann. 1290-95), which deals with processions in general and, in particular, with the Corpus Christi procession. The Pope alone has the right to order public processions, whether ordinary or extraordinary, for the whole Church; whereas local Ordinaries may permit extraordinary processions in their respective dioceses and transfer or even abolish ordinary ones, with the exception of the Eucharistic procession, which the CIC also permits religious to hold during the octave of Corpus Christi.

The Rituale Romanum (tit. IX, capp. 6-14) indicates the following extraordinary processions for reasons of public utility: 1) to ask for rain; 2) for fair weather; 3) to avert a storm; 4) for propitiation in time of famine; 5) of widespread mortality or plague; 6) of war; 7) or of any other calamity; 8) for thanksgiving; 9) for the transfer of relics.

Except when they enjoy particular privileges (such as the Dominicans for processions held on the 1st Sunday of October), religious, even exempt religious, depend on the bishop for processions conducted outside their churches and cloisters (can. 1293). But if they have no cloister, they may freely proceed in procession even along the street adjoining the convent or church (S. Congr. dei Riti, 27 luglio 1628). All the more do Chapters, parish priests, rectors of churches, confraternities, and all other diocesan juridical entities require the Ordinary’s permission to conduct processions; they are expressly forbidden to introduce new processions or transfer or suppress those already existing without the bishop’s permission, and indeed must cooperate with him in uprooting abuses or bad practices when necessary. The Ordinary’s powers in this regard are not nullified by contrary customs or immemorial prescriptions, since disciplinary supervision of worship belongs to him alone (S. Congr. dei Riti, Tarent., 3 febbr. 1922). Parish priests have the right to lead and order any ordinary public procession within their respective parishes, even if it has been ordered by religious, except for the Eucharistic procession organized by them during the octave of Corpus Christi and conducted outside the church (can. 467, 7; Commiss. per l'interpretazione del CIC, 12 nov. 1922; AAS, 14 [1922], p. 395; 17 [1925], p. 582).

All male religious families must take part in public processions, whether ordinary or extraordinary; whereas only the beneficed clerics or those otherwise assigned to the service of a particular church are obliged to attend processions proper to that church (can. 1294). The Ordinary has the right and duty to prescribe, in accordance with the disciplinary and liturgical laws, everything concerning the order of precedence among the persons taking part, the place, the time, and the ceremonies or rites to be observed in processions, so that the purpose of such manifestations of worship may be achieved.

In Italy, when held outside places designated for worship, processions are subject to the authorization of the Public Security authorities (art. 25 T. U. Leggi P. S. 18 giugno 1931, n. 773).

Even primitive peoples practice the p. Thanks to the descriptions of missionaries and explorers, the procession that the Australian Arunta call inticiuma is well known; under another name, it is also practiced among other tribes. It consists in proceeding in procession toward the place where the tribe’s totemic ancestor is believed to reside and, for the purpose of promoting fertility, causing fragments of stones from that place—which is believed to be rich in fertilizing power—to be scattered.

In China and Japan, processional rites are frequent and picturesque. In Babylon, the p. was honorary in character and consisted in carrying through the city the statue of the god seated on a throne and preceded by his court. In Egypt, the p. was even more imposing, because on that occasion the image of the god, always jealously enclosed in the innermost recess of the sanctuary, was placed on a boat-shaped carriage; and, if the p. proceeded along the Nile, priests and people accompanied the image from the bank with dances, hymns, and illuminations, which Herodotus describes (II, 59–63).

In Greece, solemn p. were: that of the Panathenaea, depicted in the frieze of the Parthenon, when all the classes of the city ascended to the temple to offer a peplos to Athena; and that which preceded the beginning of the Olympic games, formed by the city magistrates, priests, and representatives of the various cities who went to offer Zeus a solemn sacrifice at the Altis. For the p. in Rome V. POMPA.

In the mystery religions, the p. played a very important role. Eleusinian mysteries (v.), the procession that brought the “sacred things” from Athens to Eleusis was famous. In the Isiac mysteries, the procession accompanying the goddess’s image from her temple to the seashore, at the reopening of navigation, was magnificent (navigium Iisidi, on 5 March, described in brilliant colors by Apuleius [Metam., XI, 8 agg.]). At the close of the public festivals of Cybele in Rome, on 27 March, a solemn procession accompanied the goddess’s image from her temple on the Palatine to the little river Almo on the Via Appia, where the lavatio of the goddess’s silver statue took place. — Vedi tav. II.