St. Benedict’s hosted a bagpipe procession as part of the Mass on Sunday, March 29th. Historically, Palm Sunday was one of several occasions throughout the year where a parish can choose to host a procession. For those unfamiliar with the liturgical tradition, a procession is essentially a church’s version of a parade! Palm Sunday is noted for its particular Gospel reading of the day, commemorating Christ’s triumphal entry into the holy city of Jerusalem, where he was greeted by its inhabitants with waving palm (and other assorted trees) branches. The procession was led by local bagpiper, Mr. J.V. Hudson, and while it was fairly short (walking up and down Weaver Dairy Road), it was a glorious little parade of parishioners ranging in age from 91 to as young as 2! The previous year’s attendance saw seven people at the church, while this year’s Palm Sunday had right at 40 attendees!
The parish hopes to expand its use of the processional in the future. Traditionally, Anglicans have made use of processions for such occasions as The Feast of Corpus Christi-which includes a Eucharistic procession and on Rogation Days-wherein the parish processes around the boundaries of its property, a task referred to as “beating the bounds.” Please join us for our next procession, the more the merrier
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