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Where Did the Custom of Holding Religious Processions in Times of Public Calamity Come From?
January 26
(The Commemoration of the Great Earthquake)
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
January 26
(The Commemoration of the Great Earthquake)
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
When public calamities befall us — for example, drought, or unseasonable weather, or when hail by God’s permission devastates the fields, or fires occur, or floods, or some other misfortune — then we usually take up the holy icons from the church, carry out the honorable crosses and banners, and with them perform processions around our villages, fields, and gardens, and we beseech the Lord for mercy. Do you know, brethren, where this custom of performing such processions in times of calamity came from, and who handed it down to us? If you do not know, I will tell you.
The custom of performing processions came to us from Greece, from where we received the Orthodox Christian faith. This can be proven by the fact that there, processions during public calamities were performed already in very ancient times. Thus, in Constantinople, at the death of Emperor Theodosius the Younger, on one of the Sundays there occurred an earthquake that continued, with interruptions, for three months. During this time the walls of the city collapsed, many houses were destroyed, and many national monuments also perished. In those days of calamity the emperor, together with the people, performed processions and continually cried out with tears: “Deliver us, O Lord, from Your righteous wrath for our sins, through repentance. For You have moved the earth and troubled it with shaking because of our lawlessness, that we may glorify You, the only good and loving God” (Prologue, Jan. 26).
The custom of performing processions came to us from Greece, from where we received the Orthodox Christian faith. This can be proven by the fact that there, processions during public calamities were performed already in very ancient times. Thus, in Constantinople, at the death of Emperor Theodosius the Younger, on one of the Sundays there occurred an earthquake that continued, with interruptions, for three months. During this time the walls of the city collapsed, many houses were destroyed, and many national monuments also perished. In those days of calamity the emperor, together with the people, performed processions and continually cried out with tears: “Deliver us, O Lord, from Your righteous wrath for our sins, through repentance. For You have moved the earth and troubled it with shaking because of our lawlessness, that we may glorify You, the only good and loving God” (Prologue, Jan. 26).
