Organized a procession. The history of the origin of the processions

The beginning of the processions goes back to the Old Testament history. Their prototypes were made by kings David and Solomon. In ancient Israel, when some important matter was conceived, for the haste of which the prayer of the whole people was needed, people's processions were arranged with the carrying of the Ark of the Lord.

In the New Testament history, the founder of the processions was our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem - an exampleprocession, given by the Lord himself, who solemnly entered the city for suffering on the cross, accompanied by the people and with universal exclamations: “Hosanna to the Son of David”.

Solemn processions with a cross at the head entered the composition of Christian services in ancient times. Constantine the Great (III-IV centuries) went to war only accompanied by priests, and before battles he made a religious procession. Emperor Justinian (5th-6th centuries), knowing the miraculous power of religious processions, legally determined the time and procedure for performing religious processions, especially noting its necessity before the construction of churches and monasteries, and also forbade religious processions without bishops and priests.

In the future, every outstanding event of the Church was marked by processions: the founding and consecration of churches, the transfer of relics and church shrines, the meeting of archpastors and kings by the people and clergy, solemn and state festivities - were always accompanied by common prayers with processions. Processions were held not only in the days of joy, but also in the days of sorrow. So, during the three-month earthquake that befell Constantinople, a propitiatory procession was held under the leadership of Emperor Theodosius the Younger and Patriarch Proclus.

People in Russia have always loved religious processions, appreciated their cleansing and prayer power. The popular faith in haste in the help of heavenly intercessors, honored during the procession, was boundless.

Yes, and the history of Holy Russia literally from the first days of its birth is connected with the procession: the first baptisms of the people of Kiev were preceded by a solemn procession to the place of baptism - the Dnieper River.All the centuries of Russian history were connected with an invisible spiritual thread: The relics of the first Russian saints, the passion-bearers Boris and Gleb, were solemnly transferred in the procession.

More than once, Moscow, the heart of Russia, was saved from the invasion of foreigners and gentiles by penitential codes of the cross. For example, with the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, Moscow was carried around in 1395 during the invasion of Tamerlane and in 1480 during the invasion of Akhmat.

During the Great Patriotic War besieged Leningrad was surrounded by the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in a procession.By the 2000th anniversary of the Nativity of Christ, a many-month religious procession passed through the whole country.

Religious processions are ordinary, local and extraordinary.Ordinary processions include processions around the church on Paschal Matins and every day on Paschal week after the Liturgy; on the feast of the Epiphany to bless the water in the pond.Local processions in honor of locally venerated saints and great events of church importance. These processions include the procession to the Irgen, where the relics of the locally revered saints, the Irgen warrior martyrs, are buried.

Extraordinary religious processions are held with the permission of the diocesan authorities in especially important cases of church life. An emergency procession may also be allowed during times of famine, drought, disease, and war. In 2007, an emergency religious procession was held in Chita in defense of Orthodox faith and Russia, directed against Catholic expansion in the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church.

A lantern is carried ahead of the procession - a symbol of Divine light, tearing apart the darkness of sinfulness.

Behind the lantern they carry the altarpiece of the Mother of God and the altar cross. Next, in two rows, in pairs, are the banner-bearers and the priest-bearers with candles in large church candlesticks, the deacons with candles and censers, and behind them the priests. Priests carry holy icons, altar crosses. The last couple of priests carry one Gospel, and the one on the right carries a cross. The archpastor walks behind the priests, accompanied by subdeacons with symbols of episcopal authority - the dikirion and the trikirion. The choir and the laity follow.

Procession deeply symbolic. The solemn ringing of bells expresses the triumph of the Cross of Christ, majestically carried, surrounded by a host of faithful who follow him like warriors following their sign. The procession is led by the saints, whose icons are carried in front.

Processions of the cross consecrate all the elements of nature (earth, air, water, fire). This comes from icons, incense, the overshadowing of the altar cross on all sides of the world, sprinkling with water, burning candles ...

Julia Biktimirova

The procession is a pious ancient tradition. However, not everyone knows what its meaning is. The procession is a crowded solemn prayer procession from one temple to another, around the temple or to some designated place, such as a holy spring, with a large altar or outward cross, from which the procession itself received its name. Participants in the procession also carry the Holy Gospel, icons, banners and other shrines of the temple. Priests and clergy perform a procession in liturgical vestments. During the procession, liturgical hymns are sung: the troparion of the feast, the irmoses, and sometimes the feast canon (during Paschal week).

The procession is an expression of the common people's faith and fervent prayer to the Lord and Mother of God for the gift of grace to the Church and people.

There were religious processions in the IV century in Byzantium. St. John Chrysostom staged night processions against the Arian heretics through the streets of Constantinople. For this they were made silver crosses on poles, which solemnly rushed around the city along with holy icons. People walked with lit candles. Later, in the fight against the heresy of Nestorius, special religious processions were arranged by St. Cyril of Alexandria. In Constantinople, for the consecration of places and the aversion of diseases, they were taken out of the imperial palace to the temple of Sophia Life-Giving Cross and carried through the streets.

In Russia, religious processions were made in times of disaster: a drought that threatened to destroy the crop, plague or cholera epidemics, and threats of enemy attacks. People spent many days on their feet, in fasting and prayer, in the heat or in the rain, but then the grace of the Lord was great. Moral enlightenment, caused by the action of the Holy Spirit, was experienced by everyone.

In the 20th century, it became possible to conduct air religious processions. Oddly enough, the first such overflight of Russian cities took place during the Great Patriotic War, although few people know about it. On December 2, 1941, before the counteroffensive against the Nazi troops that was being prepared, a Li-2 aircraft with the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God flew on board. The plane was driven by Stalin's personal pilot Alexander Golovanov, later Marshal, founder of long-range aviation. This historical moment is reflected in the documentary footage of the film "Unknown War", as well as in the memoirs of Alexander Golovanov's relatives.

The procession, along the path of which angels invisibly follow, encloses the settlement, the city and the entire state. An impregnable stronghold, surrounded by a wall of fiery prayer.

The procession is a solemn procession with a cross, banners and icons, accompanied by prayers for the mercy of God.

Religious processions are performed in honor of church holidays; when transferring the relics of saints, religious shrines; during natural disasters, epidemics and wars, as a way to ask God for protection and salvation from the troubles that have befallen.

There were also religious processions dedicated to certain saints, or shrines, or associated with holy places. In the case when the shrine has a long-standing wide popularity and the passage itself counts many years from its foundation, it gathers thousands of pilgrims.

In our country, religious processions were borrowed from the Greeks and were carried out according to the customs of the Church of Constantinople. The church history of Russia began with a procession to the Dnieper for the baptism of the people of Kiev. The annals reflect the later religious processions at the behest of the great Russian princes Yaroslav I, Izyaslav I, Vladimir Monomakh. In addition to regular and church-wide (on Easter, Epiphany), there were many initiated religious processions in Russia, caused by various circumstances of its historical life. They were performed with special solemnity and special splendor with the indispensable participation of patriarchs and kings.

In the 12th century, a tradition appeared to make religious processions while transferring the relics of saints. So, during the reign of Vladimir Monomakh, on May 2, 1115, a religious procession took place during the transfer of the relics of Saints Boris and Gleb from old church to the new stone Vyshegorodsky temple. The solemn event was attended by governors, boyars, clergy and ordinary people. With the singing of psalms and burning candles, they accompanied the relics of the saints.

In 1352, in Pskov, the Orthodox made a religious procession, crying out to the help of God to get rid of the pestilence. Archbishop Vasily of Novgorod put on sacred robes and, accompanied by the clergy and all able-bodied residents, walked around the city with a cross and holy relics while loudly singing and praying.

Under Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, an annual religious procession was established from the center of St. Petersburg to the Porokhovye to mark the drought of 1730. Forests were burning near Petersburg, and there was a threat of fire in the city itself. Then a procession was made with a prayer service from the city center to the Ilyinsky temple. According to legend, it soon began to rain, saving the capital. The tradition of this procession lasted for about forty years.

The beginning of the 20th century was marked by a bright flourishing of religious processions. Religious processions to transfer the relics of saints became extraordinary events in the life of the people. As, for example, the religious procession of the higher clergy with the participation of the Sovereign Emperor Nicholas II and members of the imperial family on the occasion of the uncovering of the relics in 1903 Reverend Seraphim Sarovsky. The religious procession with the relics of St. Joasaph Bishop of Belgorod in 1911 had a similar great significance.

In the reference book "Orthodox Russian monasteries" for 1910, it is indicated that 505 annual religious processions took place in 171 monasteries. About 19 of them were many weeks and even many months bypassing the surrounding villages and cities of Russia with miraculous icons.

After the October Revolution, religious processions were banned in the country. However, pilgrims made pilgrimages to places of appearance miraculous icons, memorable places. Currently, the traditions of religious processions are being revived.

For a long time, only a procession on foot with the participation of clergy and believers was recognized as a procession. However, thanks to technological progress, with the blessing of the clergy, non-canonical religious processions began to take place. During the Great Patriotic War, on December 2, 1941, an airplane flew around Moscow with the miraculous list of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God on board (according to other sources, it was the icon of the Kazan Mother of God). After that, the capital escaped the onset of the enemy.

During the procession, the land on which we live is sanctified, as if sanctified by the feet of the Savior Himself, the Mother of God and the saints of God, walking on it in their faces. Then air, fire, water are sanctified, without which we cannot do in our earthly life. They are consecrated by sprinkling holy water and overshadowing on all four sides with a patronal cross in places where the procession stops.

Metropolitan Filaret drew up the rules of conduct during the procession from the Golutvin Monastery to Kolomna in memory of the cessation of cholera, but they are of a general nature.

“When you enter the procession, think that you are walking under the leadership of the saints, whose icons are walking in it, approaching the Lord Himself, since our weakness is possible. The shrine of the earth marks and invokes the shrine of heaven; the presence of the Lord's cross and holy icons and sprinkling holy water cleanses the air and earth from our sinful impurities, removes dark forces and brings the bright ones closer.

Use this help for your faith and prayer and do not make it useless for you by your negligence. Hearing church singing in the procession, join your prayer with it; and if you can’t hear from a distance, call on the Lord to you, Mother of God and His saints in the manner of prayer known to you. Do not enter into conversations with companions; and to the one who starts the conversation, answer with a silent bow or a brief word only necessary. The clergy should be an example of order and reverence, and the worldly should not crowd between the clergy and upset order. It does not matter if you lag behind in body: do not lag behind the shrine in spirit.

You won’t even need to find out, the procession for Easter 2018: what time if you go to the evening service. The service begins on Saturday evening and continues until and after midnight. As for the procession, which is part of the festive service, it takes place some time before midnight.

About the features of the procession

If given short description Procession on Easter or on another Christian holiday, then we can say that this is a solemn procession. First come the clergy with icons and other paraphernalia, church banners. Behind them are the believers who came to the service. During the procession, a large area of ​​the church is consecrated.

The procession takes place several times during the church year. In addition to Easter, this also happens at Epiphany, at the second Savior for the blessing of water. Also, church processions are often organized in honor of some great church or state events. Sometimes the procession is held by the church for emergencies, for example, when natural disasters, disaster or war.

What else is important to know

Since the morning of Holy Saturday, believers have been asking each other a question, Procession for Easter 2020: what time. We can fully answer this question. Moreover, the date and time of the procession does not change from year to year. Or rather, the date changes, but the event - Easter, always remains the same.

On Saturday, after the fussy preparations for the holiday, when all the Easter cakes are ready and the eggs are painted, you can relax a bit. But, it should be remembered that the Easter evening service begins at 20.00. In general, it is better to have time to do all the work before this time and already calmly go to the service. If you want to get only to the procession, then you need to come closer to midnight.

How is the procession

The procession is some kind of independent action in itself. It runs within
festive Easter service. Rather, it divides the worship itself into two parts. At first, these are still mournful prayers about what happened to Christ in Holy Week. Then the priest, followed by all the ministers, and behind them the faithful go out into the street, where the procession is being performed.

During the course, church servants carry the most important icons, also banners, lamps. Three times you need to go around the temple and each time stop at the door of the temple. The first two times the doors will be closed, and the third time the doors will open. And this is a good sign that tells us that Easter has come. Already after the procession and after the priest informs everyone about the onset of Easter, the clergy change into white festive clothes and the service continues for several more hours.

It turns out that the date when the Procession of the Cross 2020 is April 18. Rather, the service will begin in the evening, at 20.00 on April 18, but will gradually move to April 19. The Easter service is amazing and very beautiful. If you have never gone to church this night before, we strongly recommend that you do so. In principle, you need to reach at least the procession and make it. Then, if the forces already leave, you can go home.

What to do after the procession

Yes, in the 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. great post. You can eat any food, rejoice and have fun. But you should not eat illuminated foods immediately after you come home: no matter how much you want. According to the church charter, this is fundamentally wrong.

You should definitely 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 products are laid out around the Easter cake. You should light a candle and start your morning with a prayer. Then each family member should eat a small piece of each illuminated product. After that, you can start eating, beat eggs and just enjoy such a wonderful, bright and eventful holiday.

So, you already know what time the procession for Easter will be, and how it will take place. It remains only to find the strength in yourself to go to church on this holy night. By the way, we remind you that Great Saturday it is recommended to adhere to a strict post. This means not to eat until the end of the evening service, and after it, eat bread and drink water. But, there is very little left until Easter comes and how the period of restrictions ends. Christ is Risen, which means that we can celebrate this event in full force.

We wish Easter this year to bring you good and kind events in large volume. For holiday table offers