Who carries the cross at the religious procession. What is a religious procession really?

Already in the morning Holy Saturday believers ask each other a question, Procession for Easter 2018: what time. We can fully answer this question. Moreover, the date and time of the religious procession does not change from year to year. Or rather, the date changes, but the event - Easter - always remains the same.

On Saturday, after hectic preparations for the holiday, when all the Easter cakes are ready and the eggs are painted, you can relax a little. But, it should be remembered that the Easter evening service begins at 20.00. In general, it is better to get everything done before this time and calmly go to work. If you only want to attend the Procession of the Cross, then you need to arrive at the church closer to midnight.

How does the procession take place?

The religious procession is some kind of independent action in itself. It is held as part of the festive Easter service. Or rather, it divides the service itself into two parts. At first these are still mournful prayers about what happened to Christ during Holy Week. Then the priest, followed by all the ministers, and behind them the believers go out into the street, where the procession of the Cross takes place.

During the procession, church servants carry the most important icons, including banners and lamps. You need to walk around the temple three times and stop at the temple doors each time. The first two times the doors will be closed, and the third time the doors will open. And this good sign, which tells us that Easter has arrived. After the procession and after the priest informs everyone about the onset of Easter, the clergy change into white festive clothes and the services continue for several more hours.

It turns out that the date of the procession for Easter 2018 is April 7. More precisely, the service will begin in the evening, at 20.00 on April 7, but will gradually move on to April 8. Easter service amazing and very beautiful. If you have never gone to church this night before, we highly recommend doing so. In principle, you need to at least get to the procession and perform it. Then, if you lose your strength, you can go home.

What to do after the procession

Yes, in church, together with other believers, you were the first to learn the good news that Christ is Risen. This means that Easter has come and will end. Lent. You can eat any food, rejoice and have fun. But you shouldn’t eat illuminated foods immediately after you get home: no matter how much you might want to. According to the church charter, this is fundamentally wrong.

You definitely need to go to bed, and in the morning start celebrating Easter for real. In the morning the whole family gathers at the table. An Easter cake is placed in the center of the table, in which there is a candle from the church; illuminated foods are laid out around the Easter cake. You should light a candle and start your morning with prayer. Then each family member should eat a small piece of each illuminated product. After this, you can start eating, beat your eggs and simply enjoy such a wonderful, bright and eventful holiday.

So, you already know what time the procession will be on Easter, and how it will take place. All that remains is to find the strength to definitely go to church on this holy night. By the way, we remind you that on Holy Saturday it is recommended to adhere to strict fasting. This means not eating until the end of the evening service, and after it eating bread and drinking water. But, there is very little left until Easter arrives and the period of restrictions ends. Christ is Risen, which means we can celebrate this event in full force.

will take place on July 27 religious procession from Vladimirskaya Gorka to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Some perceive this as a demonstration of strength, the power of the Church. Opponents of the Church - as a political demonstration. What is a religious procession really?

In the Church throughout its history, forms of serving God were not limited to verbal prayer. Since the emergence of worship, along with such prayer there has been “prayer with hands” (for example, sign of the cross) and “prayer with feet” - participation in prayer processions. Such processions were never perceived as a demonstration of power or a political action; it was always a divine service, during which one had to not only pray to God with the mind, but also reinforce one’s prayer with physical labor - sometimes a very long procession.

We find an example of such a prayer procession in the early Church. The 4th century pilgrim Sylvia of Aquitaine describes a large religious procession that took place in Jerusalem on the night from Thursday to Friday of Holy Week. She says that during the night people were very tired, as they walked through almost the entire city, and “every one of them walked - old and young, rich and poor.” The Bishop of Jerusalem encouraged tired people, calling on them to “have hope in the Lord, who will give a great reward for this work.”

It should be noted that similar processions were held regularly not only in Jerusalem, but throughout the Roman Empire. For example, at the same time, the Great Litany arose in Rome - a large religious procession through the whole of Rome, during which the procession moved from one church to another with prayer, trying to visit the burial places of the martyrs. This litany continued all day and ended at St. Peter's Basilica.

Similar processions were made in Constantinople, and Emperor Justinian legalized that these processions should be carried out with prayer and with the obligatory participation of the priesthood, “for will there be a procession of the cross in which there are no priests offering solemn prayers?”

Processions of the cross took place in the Byzantine Empire during times of enemy invasion, drought or disease. The holiday of the Destruction of Trees known to us Life-giving Cross The Lord's Day originates from the procession of the cross, which took place in August in Constantinople with prayers that the city would be spared epidemics, which very often happened at this time.

The tradition of performing religious processions was also inherited by Slavic peoples. There is evidence of prayer processions in Bulgaria and Moravia. With the adoption of Christianity, religious processions began to be held in Rus'. The first Russian religious procession is considered to be a procession to the Dnieper for the baptism of the people of Kiev. “Vladimir went out with the priests of Tsaritsyn and Korsun to the Dnieper, and countless people gathered there,” The Tale of Bygone Years describes this procession.

It is in memory of this religious procession and the subsequent Baptism of Rus' that an annual procession of the cross is held from the supposed site of Baptism to the heart of Kyiv - the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

It is important to understand that the religious procession was never a demonstration of anything. The procession with slogans, flags and posters is a legacy of quasi-religious communist ideology. For Orthodox Christians, a procession of the cross is a divine service that is performed according to a strictly defined order in the church charter. Of course, the main activity of a worship service should be prayer. I think everyone understands what it should be about on the day of the Baptism of Rus': that our hearts should preserve the gifts that we received in our baptism. After all, this is what we are all called to do.

Alexander Adomenas

CROSS PROCESS
a solemn procession with a cross, banners and icons, accompanied by prayers for God's mercy on one occasion or another. The reasons for religious processions were both certain permanent holidays, days of saints and miraculous icons, and specific circumstances that required setting a date each time - the beginning and end of agricultural work, the first grazing of livestock, drought, continuous rains, epidemics and epizootics, the need to consecrate certain places (crossroads, wells, etc.).
During drought, for example, in Bobrovsky district. Voronezh province. The procession to the fields took place as follows. “On the appointed day, everyone gathers in church and, having served Matins and the Liturgy, raises the icons and banners and walks around the entire field. They walk ahead with icons, behind them is a priest, dressed in a phelonion and epitrachelion, carrying a cross; the accompanying clergy sings the voices of the Mother of God and various spiritual songs; The clergy is followed by people of different sexes and ages. In five places, chosen in advance, the entire movement stops, and prayer services are served with the blessing of water.” The first prayer service was dedicated to the Savior; at the end of the prayer service, everyone venerated the cross and the priest sprinkled holy water on everyone; the remaining water was poured onto the arable land. The second prayer service was dedicated Mother of God; third - St. Nicholas; fourth - prophet Ilya. The fifth was a prayer service for rainlessness.
In other places, a prayer service for rain during a drought was structured somewhat differently: they stopped not in pre-established places, but as the holy water was used up. water. This option was described in detail in 1856 in the Zaraisky district. Ryazan province. It all started with conversations between peasants, concerned about the condition of the grain. The religious basis of this preliminary discussion is evident from the notes of a contemporary of the event: “Bad; God doesn’t give rain,” says one. “Apparently, they angered the Lord God,” notes another, “recently I went to the field: it was too bad, and I wouldn’t have looked. The oats haven’t even risen a quarter from the ground, let alone are trussing, and the mounds are completely yellow and burnt.” “It’s time to raise the image,” says the third, “the Mukhinskys raised it the other day.” “They raised it in Rudnev yesterday,” notes the fifth, and the example of the neighbors finally resolves the issue.”
The day for raising the images was most often a holiday. They approached the priest in the evening - “here, they say, they want to raise the icon.” In the morning, all the men and women free from farming and children went to church. “After listening to Matins, they take the banners, all the images worn on Easter, the image of Elijah the Prophet and, preceded by the priest, while the clergy sing, they go to the village.” This procession was given such importance that, as we see from the evidence given, the composition of the icons was the same as on Easter. The image of Elijah the prophet is especially mentioned, to whom, as you know, people always turned to with prayers for rain.
The first stop, after all, in this version, was made in certain place- in the pasture, near the chapel. There they served a prayer service for rain with blessing of water and kneeling. After the prayer service, the religious procession either went around “the entire dacha, along the general boundaries” (that is, they went around all the land belonging to a given community), or they went only around the fields located in given time under the bread. The priest sprinkled the fields of St. water, which was accompanied by the singing of prayers. Having traveled a considerable distance, the procession stopped, as St. water. They refilled the water-blessing bowl from a nearby reservoir and again served a prayer service with the blessing of water, after which the process moved on. When they walked around the entire dacha, they served three to five prayer services, and sometimes more.
If there was a crossroads or a crossroads near the dacha of a village, then permanent chapels were erected there (in this case, a column with an icon under the roof), near which religious processions stopped when they walked around the fields. Anyone could carry the image during the religious procession; there were many of them, so they changed often; but those who carried the icon according to vow did not give it to anyone. The priest was paid for this service by the whole world, distributing it to the courtyards of the community.
Similar processions with prayers were also carried out in connection with other reasons for crop failures. They could include the blessing of wells, going around the village itself and going out into the field, and performing water blessings at crossroads. Sometimes after the prayer service, lunch was made in the field.
A prayer service in the fields for an end to the drought, preceded by a memorial service in the cemetery, was described in his memoirs by Metropolitan. Veniamin (Fedchenkov). He came from serfs and, while a student at the Theological Academy (the first years of the 20th century), came to his native village in Kirsanovsky district. Tambov province. There he sang in the choir. And then one day, in a dry summer, a group of men approached the choir and asked to convey a request to the priest: to perform a prayer service across the fields for rain. The priest agreed. “Men and women took the cross, banners, icons and headed to the sound of the bells... where? To our common cemetery... And there we first served a memorial service for all the deceased. It turned out, as my father explained to me along the way, this custom had been carried out since ancient times: the living prayed for the dead, so that they would pray to God there for the needs of their living descendants and loved ones... A wise and touching custom of Holy Rus'... At this time, our dear women - The pilgrims rushed to different ends of the cemetery, to their native graves, and here and there a plaintive cry was heard... Then we went singing prayers through the fields. What fervent prayers these were! Even now I cannot resist tears of pity and tenderness for these children of God... And more than once in the fields the following thoughts came to me: “Lord! You cannot help but hear these poor children of Yours! For this faith of theirs, for their tears, You will give them what they need! Give it to me! Give it to me!” - my heart almost demanded a miracle.
And it happened... Whether it started to rain that day or the next... And I don’t remember a time in my life when such prayer services remained unfulfilled.”
In other reports from the field, according to the programs of scientific societies, “processions of the cross in the field for prayer services” were highlighted for three reasons: regarding drought, for greenery (that is, to consecrate young seedlings of grain) and during sowing. In the latter case, after the prayer service with the blessing of water, the priest himself threw the first handful of seed grain onto the arable land, taking it from the seeder, where the collected grain was mixed - from each yard. Then he walked along the edge of the field across all the stripes, accompanied by a sexton with a holy bowl of water and sprinkled. And immediately behind him moved a peasant, chosen at the meeting to begin sowing.
Informants from Mosalsky and Zhizdrinsky districts. Kaluga province. emphasized plowing, sowing and harvest as reasons for prayers in the field. At the same time, they wrote that they served “before the icons,” that is, the prayer service was also preceded by a procession of the cross. A prayer service in the field associated with sowing could be before, during and after sowing. For example, in the village of Pochaevo and the villages related to it (Tarussky district of Kaluga province), after the spring sowing of grain, public prayer services were served, that is, ordered by the community. We didn't work that day.
Prayer services from natural disasters in some places they were performed not only when trouble had already visited the area, but they were served annually on certain days established by tradition, regardless of weather conditions. Thus, in the village of Meshkova (Orlovsky district of the province of the same name) there were annual prayer services in the field on the last Sunday before the Ascension - because of the drought; to Kazanskaya (July 8) - from hail.
Regarding the prayers that the peasants asked for, both in prosperous and unfavorable times, T. Uspensky explained in 1859: “Religious processions to the fields are carried out according to ancient custom, mainly during droughts, unexpected and untimely cold, etc. .; propitiatory prayers are performed. But moves are not delayed even when everything is favorable to the vegetation of grain plants and promises abundant fruits; but then the prayers are thanksgiving.”
If religious processions and prayer services associated with the beginning or end of certain stages of agricultural work were appointed mainly according to circumstances, then the prayer service on the occasion of the first cattle pasture was universally customary to coincide with St. George (Yuryev, or Yegoryev day) - April 23 (May 6 n.s.). So, in Bryansk district. Oryol province. on this day, according to the correspondent of the Tenishevsky Bureau, all the peasants drove all their cattle into the field and served a prayer service.
A special place in the annual system of processions and prayers was occupied by services dedicated to specific saints, as well as those associated with holy springs or wells and chapels. The passages to local shrines could be directed to a specific saint, but they might not have such a connection. Let's consider some options for such moves with prayers.
In the parish of Korotsk (Valdai district, Novgorod province) “on the day of the Martyr Friday there is a procession of the cross from the church to the chapel, located 14 versts and built near a swamp on the Klyuch. The chapel is located in ancient times By next case, as the legend says. Here the icon of the Great Church appeared. Paraskeva; The icon was moved from the chapel to the church three times, but returned there until copies were taken from it and placed in the chapel. On this day, pilgrims, especially women, out of vows or faith in the healing waters, consider it an indispensable duty to bathe in the springs flowing near the chapel.” This variant was a widespread expression of popular piety: a procession to a chapel dedicated to a particular saint and bearing an icon of that saint. Most often, local legends about the appearance of an icon or the construction of a chapel were also preserved. Such a move was, naturally, timed to coincide with the day of this saint.
In the same parish on St. Tikhon, a religious procession was made from the church to the grave of his parents (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk was born in the village of Korotsko) to serve the lithium. It was installed on August 13, 1861, that is, from the day of the glorification of the saint.
In the village Kuzhenkino of the same district took place annually “on the heel before Midsummer, otherwise on Midsummer Friday” a religious procession to St. a spring “remarkable for its clean and pleasant water.” No legend has been preserved about the time and reasons for the establishment of this passage in the village in the 1860s. The Friday before the day of John the Baptist was one of the twelve Fridays of the year especially revered by the people. It can be assumed that once upon a time, through prayers addressed to John the Baptist, some event occurred related to this spring.
In other cases, the collective memory of such events persisted into the late 19th century. (and sometimes keeps to this day) even details of the life of the saint related to this shrine. In the village of Pogorelovo (on the Uyatom river) of Poshekhonsky district. Yaroslavl province. it was known that the well, the water of which was considered holy and, accordingly, healing, was dug with the own hands of St. Cornelius. An annual religious procession was held to the well. In the same county in the village. Pokrovsky (on the Keshtom River) there was a well dug with the own hands of St. Leonid, a companion of the great saint. Abbot Adrian, Poshekhon miracle worker. The stone chapel, to which the religious procession was held annually, was built, according to legend, on the spot where St. Leonid. The chapel even preserved a stone that served as a headboard for the saint.
There were many religious processions dedicated to a specific shrine, which attracted thousands of pilgrims from different places. Usually this was in cases where the shrine had a long-standing wide popularity, and the move itself dates back hundreds of years from its foundation. This was the case, for example, in the 19th century. passage from Vyatka to the village. Velikoretskoe with the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. “Who doesn’t know how religious processions are carried out in Rus'? - writes A. Voznesensky, author of a study on the veneration of St. Nicholas of Myra in Russia, who described, in particular, this move. - At this time, dedicated to the special honoring of the shrine, each of the local and visiting pilgrims considers it his duty not only to bow to the shrine, but also to praise it and ask for mercy through it from the Lord and His saints in a special prayer song. So, within two days, for this purpose, huge masses of both the surrounding and the most distant inhabitants of the Vyatka land begin to arrive for the religious procession. On May 21, after the liturgy, the entire accumulated mass of thousands of pilgrims-aliens with the townspeople, with the bishop, the city clergy and the images of all the churches at the head, with church singing and the sounds of military music (“How glorious is our Lord”) is directed along the gentle slope from the cathedral to the river embankment Vyatka. Here a prayer service is performed to the Pleasant before him miraculous icon: the city seems to say goodbye for a while to its shrine-treasure, and then the image on a special beautiful boat, under a blue canopy, is transported to the other side of the river to proceed through the villages lying on the road: Makaryevskoye, Bobinskoye, Zagorskoye, Monastyrskoye and Gorokhovskoye, then to the village of Velikoretskoye."
For a long time, this religious procession, like some other Vyatka processions, was carried out by water on plows or rafts - along the Vyatka and Velikaya rivers; from 1778, by special decision, they began to carry it out by land, with the exception of crossings, of course. In the late 19th century. the crossing of people with the icon across Vyatka was accompanied by church singing and the ringing of bells, the banks were strewn with pilgrims. Most of them continued to participate in the procession until the river. Great; in the village Velikoretsk served two prayer services: in ancient temple Transfiguration, where the image of the Saint remained from May 24 to 26, and in the newer Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which had its own locally revered icon of him, called the “Resident.”
On May 24, after the liturgy, the procession headed to a vast stone chapel located in the forest, in a clearing, directly at the site where the image was found. In the middle of the chapel there is a well over a spring, which, according to legend, came from under the roots of the pine tree on which the image was once found. Then the pilgrims went to serve memorial services at the cemetery located not far from the chapel, which had its own wooden church XVII century
The procession with the icon of St. was returning. Nikolai Ugodnik from the village of Velikoretskoye (left on May 26) to Vyatka by a different route - through the village. Medyanskoe. Seven miles from Vyatka he was solemnly greeted at the chapel of the village. The fillets where the images remained the next day. On May 28, the march entered Vyatka, where a liturgy with a bishop's service and a prayer service took place. After this, the movement of the miraculous image began with other locally revered icons - the Kura Archangel Michael and the Tikhvin Mother of God - through the homes of those townspeople who wanted to serve a prayer service at their place.
This multi-day and multi-stage religious procession, which was, in essence, a system of religious processions with prayer services, was itself part of a larger system of processions with a particularly revered image of the Holy Hierarch of Myra in the Vyatka province. On June 1, all three of the above-mentioned icons went on a new religious procession, called Kurinsky, through the villages of the three counties closest to Vyatka, from which they returned to the center of the diocese only on July 16, having visited 1 city and 47 villages. Then the images were adopted by other cities and villages of the region: the Vyatka Lower religious procession included in the late 19th century. 6 cities, 1 settlement and 87 villages; and Verkhovoy (Sarapulsky) - 3 cities, 8 factories and 102 villages. The tradition of religious processions with the Velikoretsk miraculous image of St. Nicholas the Pleasant in other cities of the Vyatka region had deep historical roots: in 1569 miracles from this icon were noted in the city of Kotelnich, and in 1572 - in Slobodskoye, etc.
The Vyatka system of religious processions with a specific image was no exception. Similar phenomena of folk spiritual life occurred in other regions. Processions with the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God from Iveron Valdai Monastery covered numerous cities and villages of the Novgorod and Tver provinces - the entire system of these moves took almost half a year.
If the revered image was transported over long distances in a carriage, then its movement was still accompanied by many oncoming moves. Such were, for example, trips with the Kaluga Icon of the Mother of God around the Kaluga and Tula provinces. One of the indispensable participants in these trips in the middle. XIX century - Priest P.P. Shansky (future schemamonk Peter) described them in detail in letters to his daughter. We present here his story about his visit with the miraculous icon to the city of Aleksin and the surrounding area. “We went there (from Aleksin to Myshinka. - M.G.) in a carriage, while the bells were ringing in all the churches. It’s scary to say how many people took to the streets, believing that the icon had completely disappeared. Above the river (Okoya - M.G.), facing Myshinka, the mountain presented a solemn spectacle: literally all of it was dotted with people in festive attire. The people stood until we arrived in Myshinka. The next day we returned back to the city. The icon was again greeted with ringing in all churches. All the people came out to meet him - from young to old. From behind the bridge they took the icon and carried it as if through the air. Everyone turned their gaze to the face of the Most Pure Mother of God. After bringing the icon, we would have to serve prayer services on the embankment, but for their celebration we went out of town, to the last street. And it is impossible to describe this solemn procession without tears. And in the first house where we served, there were no flowers laid, but, to our surprise, the fragrance was indescribable. After the prayer service was served, the townspeople went home, only those coming from the villages did not leave; for them, every 5 houses, we served prayer services on the street. The leader of the nobles wanted to ask the priest. Synod on permission to visit 40 volosts, but there is still no answer. The disease (cholera - M.G.) in the city stopped on the 1st day.”
Regarding the spiritual impressions received by P.P. Shansky in these trips, in his biography, gives the following assessment, relating not so much to the cleric himself, but to the state of the people's faith: “How much indisputable evidence he saw of the triumph of our faith and hope! For forty years he was a constant witness of the people's love, reverence and worship of the Great God and His Most Pure Mother; for forty years he witnessed the ineffable mercy of the Queen of Heaven towards this people, so sensitive to the trends of Divine grace.”
Above, the movement of religious processions that met the traveling shrine was noted. There was also a different structure of complex passages, formed from many simple processions: from several settlements - centers of parishes, scattered over a vast territory, independent processions of the cross moved on a certain day to one point where a shrine or several shrines were located. A monastery could be such a center for the simultaneous movement of many religious processions, as if along radial routes. For example, to the Belogorsky St. Nicholas Monastery (Osinsky district of Perm province), located on one of the spurs Ural mountains, on All Saints' Day there were religious processions from neighboring villages and factories. A solemn prayer service was served at the Royal Cross, built from huge mast trees and consecrated in memory of the salvation of the emperor. Nicholas II from assassination attempt. Here the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, a copy of the Athos Icon, was especially revered.
Let us also note the features of annual religious processions with the relics of saints, which were preserved throughout the 19th century. in many monasteries and individual temples that possessed such shrines. Usually these were passages around a temple or monastery, but some of them acquired complex routes with stops for prayer services, consecrating a large space and attracting huge crowds of people from surrounding villages and pilgrims from other districts and provinces. According to the observations of a pilgrim published in the 1840s, in Novgorod on April 30, the day of the discovery of the relics of St. Nikita - Bishop of Novgorod, in the morning, when the bells of the St. Sophia Cathedral (which by this time had eight centuries of existence) were ringing, people rushed from the trade and Sofia sides to the Kremlin Square and filled it. The clergy from forty churches in the city itself and fourteen surrounding monasteries gathered at the cathedral. The bishop, dressed in the seven-hundred-year-old vestments of St. Nikita, who were found along with the incorruptible relics, bowed before the shrine, and the archimandrites raised the relics of the saint to the upper roof of the shrine for the passage. “Prayers who flocked from everywhere for this spectacle” sank to their knees.
The procession went to Sofia Square, filled with people, from under the arch of the archbishop's chambers: following the banners stretched “an endless row of clergy with candles in their hands, then deacons and priests with censers and ancient icons of the cathedral,” then “the sacred body of St. Nikita, highly supported by ten archimandrites, abbots and builders of the Novgorod monasteries.” When the procession stopped at the southern doors of the cathedral for the litany, crowds of people “rushed to the relics in order to pass under them, according to ancient Orthodox custom.” “They wanted to stop the people’s desire for the shrine, but the pious Bishop Leonid, although he himself suffered more than others from the pressure of the crowd, ordered everyone to be allowed in so that no one would be deprived of spiritual consolation.” During the entire procession, a prayer service to St. was performed. Nikita.
The next day was the feast of the Midsummer, the bishop served again and went out with a procession to the Jordan to Volkhov, “preceded by banners and crosses and all the ancient shrines of Novgorod.” They carried the miraculous icon of the Sign of the Mother of God. Past the bridge, “strewn with people,” we went down to Volkhov, “covered with ships.” From Jordan, the religious procession moved north, around the Kremlin wall and stopped for a litany at the chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and the next litiya was on the square in front of the cathedral. “The people eagerly threw themselves under the icon of the Sign.”
Of interest are the rules of behavior during the religious procession, compiled by Met. Filaret regarding a specific procession from the Golutvin Monastery to Kolomna in memory of the end of cholera, but of a general nature.
“The clergy must remind themselves and others in good time,” these rules said, “that in order for this good undertaking to bear good fruit, for this it is necessary that the work of God be accomplished with deep and continuous reverent attention. When you enter a procession of the cross, think that you are walking under the leadership of the saints, whose icons are marching in it, approaching the Lord Himself, to the extent that it is possible for us to be weak. The earthly shrine signifies and calls upon the heavenly shrine; presence of the cross of the Lord and holy icons and sprinkling blessed water cleanses the air and earth from our sinful impurities, removes dark forces and brings light ones closer. Use this help for your faith and prayer and do not make it useless for you through your negligence. Hearing church singing in the procession, combine your prayer with it; and if you cannot hear from a distance, call to you the Lord, the Mother of God and His saints in the manner of prayer known to you. Do not enter into conversations with those accompanying you; and answer the one who begins the conversation with a silent bow or only a short one necessary word. The clergy should be an example of order and reverence, and the laity should not crowd among the clergy and upset order. It doesn’t matter if you lag behind in body: do not lag behind the shrine in spirit.”
A special type was made up of one-time, non-repeating processions of the cross, appointed for some exceptionally solemn occasion of spiritual life. Despite the fact that they were organized “from above” - by church authorities and were coordinated with secular ones, nevertheless, by the type of behavior of the people, by virtue of the very reason for the celebrations, they were an expression of mass religiosity. This was, for example, the religious procession from Moscow to the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra in the September days of 1892: on the occasion of the five hundredth anniversary of the repose of St. Sergius of Radonezh. The parishioners of Moscow churches carefully prepared for this move, ordering banners with the image of the Reverend, the appearance of the Mother of God to him, and images of saints - his followers. During the march, they carried in front not only more than seventy banners, but also many icons, including the miraculous icons known to all Muscovites: the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God from the Kremlin Assumption Cathedral, the image of St. Alexy from the Chudov Monastery, copies of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God from the Iveron Chapel, the icon of St. Andronik and Savva from the Spaso-Andronikov Monastery and St. Stephen of Perm from the church at the First Moscow Gymnasium."
On September 21, 1892, from early morning, crowds of people began to flock to the Kremlin, and at 8 o’clock in the morning, after a short prayer service, the religious procession moved through the Spassky Gate along Nikolskaya Street, towards Krestovskaya Zastava. One of the participants described the composition and prayerful mood of the procession as follows: “The procession of the cross moved majestically, slowly and smoothly, in a solid mass, clogging the longest and widest streets of Moscow. A simple peasant woman in a tattered coat walked along with an elegant lady dressed in the latest fashion; an illiterate man walked next to a learned professor - both with bare heads, both with the same reverence for the Great Holiday... One thought, one prayer animated this innumerable crowd, gave it life, merged all the individuals into one huge whole, whose name is the Russian land "
Eyewitnesses testified that within Moscow, more than 300 thousand people took part in this religious procession. From Krestovskaya outpost Vladimir icon The Mother of God and part of the banners returned to the Kremlin, and the course moved further, along the Trinity Highway, and went to the Lavra from September 21 to 24, with an overnight stay in Bolshie Mytishchi and Bratovshchina. At night they sang spiritual songs around the fires. At the “Cross” chapel, ten miles from Sergiev Posad, a meeting took place between Muscovites and pilgrims who joined them along the way with religious processions from Vladimir, Suzdal and Kovrov. Crowds of pilgrims came out from Sergiev Posad to meet them. “Many were on their knees and prayed fervently, others, from the fullness of the feeling that gripped them, could not restrain themselves from tears.” At the walls of the monastery, Moscow and Vladimir pilgrims were met by a large religious procession of the Lavra. In the Trinity Cathedral, at the relics of the Saint, vespers were celebrated, and all night there was a stream of pilgrims to venerate the relics.
MM. Gromyko

Mention of the first religious processions is found in Old Testament. Among them are the journey of the sons of Israel from Egypt to the promised land, the procession around the ark of God, the circumambulation of the walls of Jericho, the transfer of the ark of God by David and Solomon.

Processions of the cross are regular (or calendar) and extraordinary. Regular processions take place on certain days. They take place several times a year in honor of shrines and great church events, for example, the Velikoretsk religious procession, which takes place annually in early June, etc.

Calendar processions also take place on the day of the Epiphany, Easter, and the feast of the Second Savior for the blessing of water. During the religious procession, bells are ringing, which is called the Blagovest. Clergymen are required to wear liturgical attire.

Extraordinary processions are assembled in times of disaster, for example during war, famine, epidemics, natural disasters. Such religious processions are accompanied by intense prayers for salvation.

The procession can last several minutes, several days and even weeks or months. In this case, people stock up on food to eat during stops, and also take with them sleeping mats, waterproof raincoats, reliable shoes and necessary medications that may be needed along the way.

Processions can take place both on land and in the air. The clergy take all the necessary attributes with them on board the plane and, while reading a prayer, sprinkle the city with holy water during the flight. In addition, there are sea religious processions, when clergy perform prayer services or funeral services on board a ship or other vessel.

Taking part in the procession means accepting spiritual cleansing and reminding other people of the power Orthodox faith, since this procession symbolizes bearing one’s cross and following the word of the Savior.

Sources:

• website of the Sayan Church of the Annunciation

IN Orthodox Christianity there are many traditions. One of these are processions of the cross, performed on special occasions. holidays.

The practice of religious processions has a very ancient history. Since the establishment of Christianity as the main religion of the Roman Empire (IV century), religious processions have become an integral part of church liturgical life.

A procession of the cross is a procession of believers with icons, crucifixes and banners through the streets settlement. Processions of the cross are a visible symbol of witnessing the Orthodox faith to people. Such processions can take place not only along the streets of a city or village, but also simply around the temple. At the same time, the clergy and choir sing certain prayers and passages from the Holy Scriptures are read.

According to the liturgical Charter of the Orthodox Church, processions of the cross are performed during patronal church holidays. Also, the move can be carried out along other memorable church dates. The execution of a religious procession can be determined by the rector of a particular temple.

Processions of the cross can also take place on days when various shrines arrive in the city. For example, miraculous icons of the Mother of God. In this case, the clergy and people can march with the miraculous icon from one church in the city to another. Processions of the cross can also be held at holy springs. When believers come to the holy spring, a water blessing prayer is performed.

The main component of the procession is the prayer of believers. Each participant in such a procession should silently pray for his own needs, as well as the needs of his neighbors. In addition, during religious processions, prayer is carried out for the entire population of the city or village.

Religious traditions slowly but surely coming back into our lives. At Easter, even people of little faith enjoy coloring eggs, buying and baking Easter cakes, and preparing Easter eggs. It seems that a miracle will happen on this day, people will become kinder, happier, dearer, more sociable. True Believers Orthodox people already in Maundy Thursday They washed everything, prepared it and are about to go through the “path of the soul” - the Procession of the Cross. So, how the procession of the Cross is carried out for Easter 2018, when it will take place, varieties, process and many interesting things - further in the article.

Interesting! The Jews were among the first to go through the prototype of the procession. They made a long journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. How to cook for Easter.

What is the Procession of the Cross?

The procession with external and altar crosses gave the process its name. It is particularly solemn. The clergy, together with the flock, with church banners, icons and shrines, make a procession around the temple, from one church to another or to some holy place. At Epiphany, the procession goes from the church to the “Jordan” - a special ice hole. It is cut down for the festive illumination of water in the form of a cross.

Interesting! Kings Solomon and David took part in the prototypes of the procession, so the procession has a long history.

Interesting! The very first naval religious procession took place across the Black Sea, in honor of the canonization of the most talented naval commander F. F. Ushakov.

It is wrong to think that the procession of the Cross is always festive and joyful. The procession with the shroud, which is held during Holy Week, is suffering, sorrow and crying. When performing it, they remember the burial of Christ.

Easter Procession

Its antipode is the Easter procession. The procession commemorates the meeting of the myrrh-bearing women with the Risen Jesus Christ. The Holy Resurrection of Christ is particularly solemn. Everything in the temple dark clothes are replaced by light ones. Believers come to the temple for the festive evening service, which begins on Holy Saturday and continues after midnight. The religious procession is an integral part of it and lasts until midnight.

Interesting! Procession around Russian Orthodox Church moves counterclockwise, the Old Believers - clockwise, according to the movement of the sun.

The priest reads prayers and lights candles together with the believers. The choir begins to quietly sing a song, which gradually gains strength and merges with the Easter peal - in memory of the holy myrrh-bearing women who met the Risen Lord. It is at this moment that the procession begins, the priest and his flock circle the church three times to the sound of jubilant ringing. In the hands of the clergyman is the icon of the Resurrection.

Important! If there is only one clergyman in the church, then the Gospel and the icon are carried by ordinary residents, thereby becoming direct participants in the sacrament.

The Procession of the Cross for Easter 2018 ends in front of the closed western doors of the church,
the bells fall silent. The abbot, facing the East, marks the locked gate with a censer three times in the shape of a cross. After the clergy sings the troparion three times (a short hymn in which the essence of the holiday is revealed or the saints are glorified) - “Christ is Risen”, the doors of the temple open and everyone, rejoicing and rejoicing, enters it. This action symbolizes the entry of the myrrh-bearing women into Jerusalem with the joyful news of the Resurrection of the Savior.

Important! On Easter, Orthodox people greet each other with the words “Christ is Risen!”, to which they must respond “Truly He is Risen!”

All Easter week The doors in all temples and churches are kept open, at this time the sky is closer than ever to us.

Interesting! Catholics, unlike Orthodox believers, make a procession after the service.