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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

The Greater Litanies & the Meaning of Liturgical Processions

Fr. David Friel · April 25, 2021

UR CHURCH boasts a multiplicity of processions. These processions pervade not only the liturgical year, but even every Mass. In the Roman Rite, for example, we have a procession to the altar at the start of Mass and another one to the place for the reading of the Gospel. There also developed a procession at the offertory and a procession of the faithful to the communion rail. We have festive processions on Corpus Christi, commemorative processions on Candlemas and Palm Sunday, and penitential processions on Rogation days. We also have special processions at our disposal for all sorts of intentions: for imploring rain, for imploring fair weather, in time of famine, in time of pandemic, in time of war, and for giving thanks to God.

What is the purpose of all this processing? What is the meaning of all this walking around?

On one level, liturgical processions remind us that we are pilgrims—members of a pilgrim Church, making our way on toward eternity. When we join in a procession, we are praying with our bodies, just like when we stand, sit, and kneel. We are an incarnational people, and processing is one way in which we express who we are as wayfarers en route to heaven.

On another level, the particular procession observed annually on April 25th has a specific significance that should not be overlooked. The Rogation procession is one of the oldest processions in the whole of Christian liturgy, and it is also one of the clearest examples of a Christian celebration that was developed to replace a pagan celebration.

The pagan festival of Robigalia was celebrated in ancient Rome each year on April 25th. Robigalia was a celebration that besought the “god” Robigo to spare the crops, preserving the grain from mildew. Around the year AD 450, however, this date was given a new Christian significance. Nearly sixteen centuries old at this point, the Rogation procession is an incredibly ancient tradition.

What is the meaning of this particular procession? The Greater Litanies and the Rogation procession are about beseeching God’s mercy, that He might govern the world and all that lies therein with gentle providence. When Christians baptized the festival of Robigalia, we kept the sense of needing God’s help, but we placed our needfulness not in the hands of a false “god,” but rather in the hands of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

In the course of time, Christians gave to this occasion a beautiful reading from the Epistle of St. James, wherein we recall the humble trust of Elijah. Elijah prayed for a drought . . . and a drought of three-and-a-half years ensued (cf., 1 Kgs 17)! Then Elijah prayed for rain, and the Scriptures tells us that “the sky gave rain and the Earth brought forth its fruit” (James 5:18).

Today’s ceremonies, therefore, are about invoking the merciful providence of the living God upon our world. They are about acknowledging our own powerlessness to govern the affairs of our lives and our world. They are about expressing trust in the goodness of God, Who wills to provide for us, if only we will let Him. All of this is bound up in the ritual action of the Greater Litanies and the Rogation procession and Mass.

Rogation days are not something that ought to be consigned to a former era, when “less-sophisticated” people had minimal “control” over their environment and were therefore somehow more dependent upon the Deity to look favorably upon them. Modern man has just as much need for such an occasion today as the ancients had back in the fifth century when the Rogation procession began.

In fact, in a world that sees itself as self-sufficient—a world that thinks it has it all figured out and that seems to believe it can operate perfectly well without the intervention of any Godhead at all—perhaps the Greater Litanies and the Rogation Mass are needed more than ever before.

From volume 1 (“The Sacraments and Processions”) of Rev. Philip T. Weller’s edition of the Roman Ritual:

Precisely because the world openly flaunts its indifference and incredulity, the true followers of Christ should accept the challenge and seize the opportunity of holding public processions, so as to avow their unflinching stand. If these proceed from the heart, if they are carried out in a spirit of earnest prayer, deep reverence, and faith, characterized by penitence, gratitude, and Christian joy, the grace they procure and the edification they give will be inestimable.

When a ruthless and greedy government parades its manpower in threat for or incitement to war, the Church can counteract with a calm and confident procession for peace. When the downtrodden are driven angrily to demand bread of their overlords, the Church instead has a procession for the time of famine. When the worldlings curse and despair in their powerlessness against the acts of God and His visitations, the people of God have recourse to the ritual prayers and processions for the time of plague, drought, flood, or tempest.

In place of revelry and gross ebullition to celebrate a victory or a bountiful harvest, Christ’s Mystic Body can celebrate with a procession of thanksgiving. While the world honors its dubious heroes with fanfare and confetti, the Church pays homage and respect to the bones of the glorious company of martyrs, confessors, and virgins. To atone for the heresiarchs’ blasphemy in rejecting our Lord’s gift of His Body and Blood, Catholics venerate and adore It in streets and fields on Corpus Christi. As an aid to enhance and explain the mystery re-enacted in the Mass of Candlemas and Palm Sunday, there is a preliminary procession of the Church, the Bride of Jesus, going to meet her divine Spouse.1

May our time spent processing here on Earth prepare us for the life of heaven!

NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   The Roman Ritual in Latin and English with Rubrics and Plainchant Notation, vol. 1, trans. and ed. Philip T. Weller (1950; repr. Boonville, NY: Preserving Christian Publications, 2007), 478-479.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Extraordinary Form 1962 Missal, Passing on Tradition Last Updated: April 25, 2021

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    PDF Download • “Offertory” for this Sunday
    This coming Sunday, 12 October 2025, is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). Its OFFERTORY ANTIPHON (PDF) is gorgeous, and comes from the book of Esther, as did the ENTRANCE CHANT last Sunday. Depending on a variety of factors, various hand-missals (all with Imprimatur) translate this passage differently. For instance, “príncipis” can be rendered: King; Prince; Lion; or Fierce lord. None is “more correct” than another. It depends on what each translator wants to emphasize and which source text is chosen. All these pieces of plainsong are conveniently stored at the blue-ribbon feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Why A “Fugue” Here?
    I believe I know why this plainsong harmonizer created a tiny fugue as the INTRODUCTION to his accompaniment. Take a look (PDF example) and tell me your thoughts about what he did on the feast of the Flight of Our Lord Jesus Christ into Egypt (17 February). And now I must go because “tempus fugit” as they say!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Reminder” — Month of October (2025)
    Those who don’t sign up for our free EMAIL NEWSLETTER miss important notifications. Last week, for example, I sent a message about this job opening for a music director paying $65,000 per year plus benefits (plus weddings & funerals). Notice the job description says: “our vision for sacred music is to move from singing at Mass to truly singing the Mass wherein … especially the propers, ordinaries, and dialogues are given their proper place.” Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The introduction of the vernacular will certainly be a great sacrifice for those who know the beauty, the power and the expressive sacrality of Latin. We are parting with the speech of the Christian centuries; we are becoming like profane intruders in the literary preserve of sacred utterance. We will lose a great part of that stupendous and incomparable artistic and spiritual thing, the Gregorian chant. We have reason indeed for regret […] We are giving up something of priceless worth.”

— Pope Paul VI

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