Religious procession is a crowded procession of clergymen and a believing people, which goes from church to church, passes around the church or goes to a reservoir to perform blessing. During the procession, there is always an external cross, banners (panels with the face of Jesus Christ), the Gospel, and icons.
The mention of the first religious processions is found in the Old Testament. Among them - the journey of the sons of Israel from Egypt to the promised land, a procession around the ark of God, a walk around the walls of Jericho, the transfer of the ark of God by David and Solomon.
Religious processions are regular (or calendar) and emergency. Regular processions take place on certain days. They are held several times a year in honor of the shrines and great church events, for example, the Great Cross procession, which takes place annually in early June, etc.
Calendar processions also take place on the day of the Epiphany, on Easter, on the feast of the Second Savior for sanctification. During the procession, the ringing of bells sounds called evangelism. Priests are necessarily dressed in liturgical robes.
Extraordinary processions gather in adversity, for example, during war, famine, epidemics, natural disasters. Such religious processions are accompanied by intense prayers for salvation.
The procession can last for several minutes, or several days and even weeks or months. In this case, people stock up on food to have a snack during stops, and also take bedding for the night, waterproof raincoats, durable shoes and necessary medications that may be needed on the way.
Processions can take place both on land and in the air. The priests take with them on board all the necessary attributes and, reading a prayer, sprinkle the city with holy water during the flight. In addition, there are maritime processions when clergy perform prayers or memorial services on board a ship or other vessel.
To take part in the procession means to accept spiritual cleansing and remind other people of the power of the Orthodox faith, since this procession symbolizes the bearing of the cross and following the word of the Savior.
