PROCESSIONS
GU
PROCESSIONS
two acolytes— one to liis right, the other to bis left — each with a lighted taper in his band. The carrying of the
tatu.es, etc., is committed to the care of the brotherhoods, associations, and partly to the young men ami girls of the community; the relics are carried by the clergymen, or, il the procession is held in honor of the rein-, by the leader of the procession. The principal crucifix (see Pkocesskhial Cross) is generally carried
; i by a subdeacon; subdeacons also carry the crucifixes before the chapters, the archbishops, and the I he crosses are carried before the pope and arch- bishops in such a way that the image of the crucified one is turned towards those dignitaries. The principal crucifix opens the procession, unless a flag has been pre- ferred, in which case the crucifix follows al some dis- tance. Brotherh Is and corporations arc in the habil
of having flags carried before them. The most impor- tant of these customs arc very old. Sozomen (Uist. Eccl. i. 8, C. *) and the biographer of St. Caesarius of Aries (Sur. 27 Aug.) knew already of the carrying of crosses or crucifixes (during many centuries naked crosses were alone in use) and of lighted tapers. In former times the book of the Gospels was sometimes carried along with the cross ( 1/7. .v. Porphyr. Ep. Sur. 26 Feb.). Flags, which, it must be observed, are not prescribed, but only allowed, are mentioned by Gregory of Tours (Hist. Franc, i. •">. c. 1). Gregory the Great ordered an image of Mary to be carried about as early as 590 I Baron. Annul, ad a. 590). In the 4th century, we find processions held for the purpose of transferring relics solemnly to the churches (Socrat. Hist. Eccl. i. 3, c 11'.: Augustine, Confess, i. 9, c.7). The Synod of Bra- ga in 572 (ibid. c. 6) calls this a solemn custom (see Cone. Clovesh. a. 717. c. 16). The faithful walk (ibid. c. 6 i quietly and devoutly. Idle talk, forward looking around, laughing, showy suits, luxury of dress, etc., shock the pious mind. The men walk ban headed : the clergy and magistrates alone arc. with some restrictions, allowed to cover their heads. The clerks wear the chas- uble; only on most sacred occasions, as at the proces- sion of the Corpus Christi, we find the custom thai al least some of the subdeacons wear the tunica, some of the deacons the dalmatica, several priests the planeta, and the ecclesiastics of higher rank the pluvial. The sub- deacons who carry the crosses wear the tunica, besides the amictus, alba, and cingulum. For the laymen there are no longer any rules in ibis respect. So/omen ( Hist. Eccl. i. 8, c. 8) speaks of all the faithful bearing burn- ing tapers; we hear of them in other places appearing barefooted, in sack and ashes (Cone. Mogunt. a. 813, c. 33); < barlemagne himself, according to the narrative of a monk of St. Gall, set the example of walking bare- footed in procession at Ratisbon (Mart. De Ant. Eccles. Hit. i, 4, c. 27, a. 7) ; but these are things of the past. The purport of the prayers is in accordance with the pur- pose of the procession. V-t tie- Church has given some ndes. At theophoric processions, especially thai of the Corpus Christi. the hymns in honor of the Eu- charisl rausl be sun- in preference (Pangt lingua, Sacris solemniis, Verbum supemum prodiens); special songs are also prescribed lor the procession at Candlemas .and on Palm-Sunday ; for the litanies of Si. Mark's I >ay and of the Week of Prayer, the litany of All-sain is' .and the versicles and orations which follow it in the breviary are prescribed. At the funeral procession of full-grown I prayers of intercession ; at the funerals ol chil-
dren, thanksgiving prayers are in use.
V i . i inordinary processions are generally under- taken for a purpose thai must be submitted to God in special prayers, regulations have been mad.' lor these The Roman ritual mentions expressly the processio adpetendam pluviam, the processio adpostu- kmdam procession in time of famine, in
time of epidemic ami plague, in time of war. in any other -real distress, the thanksgiving procession, and. finally, thai for the translation ol relics. Originally the people sang psalms oM Buch occasions (Jerome, Ep. 108,
al. 27; Gregor. Xazianz. Or. 10; 17/. 8. Porphyr. Ep. 8ur.2G Feb.); only when the purpose of the procession
was io obtain some favor from God, it was an early cus- tom to exclaim quite frequently, "Kyrie eleison," or recite other prayers of penitence (Chrysost. Orat. contr. In, I. 1 1 theatr.). This is the way the litany of All- saints' has been little by lit 1 1 1 ■ composed. The common Roman I Irdo sa_\ s: "( tones in commune • Kyrie eleison' decantent, el cum contritione cordis Dei misericordiam exorent pro peccatis, pro pace, pro peste, pro cms. rva- tione frugum el pro cseteris necessitatibus." Mabillon (Comment, in Ord, Rom. p. 34 i saw an old Roman ritual according to which a hundred ••Kyrie eleison." a hun- dred •• Christe eleison." and again a hundred "Kj rie elei- son" were to be said kneeling, in such a propitiator] procession. As the psalms ceased link- by little to be known by heart, rosary-praying, which has become of so general use in our day. took their place. The pro- cession comes out of a place of worship, and. its walk performed, returns to it. If (as at funerals) not all the participants, the clergy, al least, with the chanters and the beanr of the principal cross, always return. Even if a bishop or pope is received outside of the doors of the city, it is customary for the clergy to start from the church and return thither with that high personage The procession on Candlemas-day and Palm-Sunday starts at the call of the leader, "Procedamus in pace-" (the choir answering, " In nomine Christi. amen"). In theophoric processions the leader or the chanters give the signal by commencing the hymn Pangt lingua; if it is a supplication, the assembly kneel down a few minutes praying, the chanters commence to sing the litany of All-saints', and the procession starts, singing the hymn Sancta Maria, which is a part of that litany. If in supplications (which is often the case in rural com- munities) the litany of All-saints' is not recited in Latin, the procession commences thus: the ecclesiastic leader kneels on the lowest step of the high-altar, begins to say the rosary aloud, rises at the first Ave of I he first decade, and therewith gives the signal for starting. The litany procession stops frequently at one. or two, or even more places of worship. The clergy (orat least the superiors) ol i lie church where it stops receive it in chasuble and Stole, with bWO acolytes, at the gate of tlie churchyard, or at the portal of the church, and offer holy water to the clerks and distinguished laymen of the procession. In such places of worship il is customary to sing an an- liphony. and a versicle and oration ill honor ol the pa- tron of the church; sometimes a high-mass, with or without sermon, is held in one of them. The laymen , like at such occasions to sing three times the song of triumph and the little dexology. This stopping, w hich, especially in Milan, is so extensively ill use during the