As part of a group of people moving through a predefined space in a ritual manner, I remember with fondness ours in Trinidad. All officials, students and various members of different organizations were gathered around the Cathedral in the hot blazing sun. As a teen, it seemed forever to start as the music and singers commenced our public devotion to Jesus as 'bread come down from heaven.' The privilege seemed awesome for us school boys/girls to hold the canopy which shaded the local Archbishop. The entire city was grounded to a halt as police and curious onlookers gazed at the revelry of this annual event. Any procession has a multi-functional dimension and can serve many different types of agenda. My third photo shows a group of Sunni Moslems celebrating the birthday of Mohammed. In their history, this rite for this particular group was once forbidden. Likewise in some parts of the world, Corpus Christi processions are also forbidden. A procession redefines its territorial claim and reaffirms both social and transcendent levels. I remember how proud Catholics were to reclaim its ground as we marched around the piazza. Here was the opportunity for the local Ordinary to preach against the ills and injustices of the community. In neighboring South America, these processions are carried out by los hermandades (brotherhoods) as a form of penance. The cucuruchos (marchers) did not complain. As a teen, I had no sympathetic ear in the sweltering heat! The blessing of the Archbishop sufficed any inconvenience.
On a transcendental level, we were often reminded to cling always to God and to the things of God. According to 4th century
spiritual writer, John Cassian, "that must be the road that the heart follows unswervingly." After hours on the road, our sunburnt faces recalled the lesson of a lifetime.
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