Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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PROCESSIONS

Sacred functions in which clergy and people parade from one place to another. They may be held within a church, between churches, or outside a church or shrine. Processions are public acts of homage to God, to give honor to him or his saints, to ask for divine favor to thank him for blessings received, and to ask pardon for sins committed. Their practice goes back to Old Testament times to express the faith of a people, as distinct from the worship of a singly individual, and of a people who symbolize their co-operative actions, and distinct from merely their common profession of faith.