Cross processions in Russia have a vibrant
history and are hugely popular. So much so that 60,000 Russians are willing to
walk 100 miles to honor religious occurrences.
On
holidays and special occasions, Russian believers will all suddenly empty out
of the church and proceed outside, whether it’s swelteringly hot or snowing,
and follow the cross and the priests... sometimes for a walk around the church,
other times for hundred-mile hikes.
Cross
processions are a traditional and very popular part of Russian Christianity.
The tradition dates back to the Byzantine empire in 400 AD when saints
organized night processions around Constantinople to help protect the city from
the heretics of the day.
The
clergy leads the procession with a cross, a Bible, and religious banners.
Behind them, the crowd follows, singing religious hymns and sometimes carrying
candles. The procession makes frequent stops to pray (and sometimes get sprayed
with holy water).
Russians
love the tradition. Sometimes cross processions are held to celebrate church
holidays, such as Easter when the procession occurs at midnight. Everyone in
the church files out and walks around the church three times, singing
resurrection hymns. The empty church symbolizes the empty tomb of Christ.
Some
monasteries have daily processions in the evenings. Monks walk around the
perimeter of their monastery with candles. After they return to the gates of
the monastery and re-enter it, the monastery is locked for the night. This
procession is believed to protect the monastery from all evil and turmoil for
the night.
There is
another, especially popular, type of cross processions that reenacts spiritual
journeys of saints or miracle-working icons. One of the most famous ones is a
92-mile walk to the place where, in 1382, the Velikoretsky miracle-working icon
of St. Nicholas was found.
Though
the icon itself disappeared during the 1930s and the Soviet Regime outlawed
cross processions, pilgrims continued coming. Despite the danger of being
harassed, arrested and some even executed, unofficially, the tradition
continued throughout the entire Soviet period. In 1990, it was officially
reinstated.Today, the procession mobilizes up to 60,000 people and lasts a
week. Nights are spent in the fields.
Here is
an excellent photo essay of one procession, captured by Russian photographer
Alexei Yurenev. From the accompanying text:
“While
carrying supplies to last you a week, you start walking every day at 2 or 3
a.m. and stop at 9 in the evening. Every couple hours you take short breaks
with one long break in the afternoon.All you can do during those breaks is eat,
sleep and change the Band-Aids on your feet. Seeing thousands of people of all
ages walk beside you was empowering and an incentive to carry on.”
According
to a famous Russian priest, cross processions are physical expressions of
" one communal national faith and
zealous prayer for help and grace.” Indeed, the immeasurable zeal of people who
joyfully dedicate a week to communal, religious marches to glorify God is absolutely
stunning and inspiring.
Source: http://russian-faith.com/explaining-orthodoxy/religious-marches-are-big-part-russian-christianity-n1075
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