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Monday 24 September 2012

Manchester Marian Procession 2012

The Christian Life Movement (nothing to do with Christian Life communities) will be holding their annual Marian Procession in Manchester on Saturday 6th October. This procession started on a small scale around 8 years ago (the first year the procession was inside the parish church) and last year 1000 people walked behind Our Lady. Wilmslow Road, along which the procession passed, is the busiest bus route in Europe, and passengers on at least one bus who saw and heard the procession joined in the chorus of Immaculate Mary.

The CLM was founded in Lima, Peru where many processions take place annually, notably for the Lord of the Miracles which takes place in October and is the largest Catholic procession in the world. However, whilst Latin American know-how was essential in the construction of the platform on which the statue of Our Lady of Reconciliation is carried, and the statue itself was imported from there, this is by no means a Peruvian tradition brought onto the streets of the curry mile. Manchester has a long history of popular piety of this type, as can be seen in this video, which also shows how the cultural traditions of the local Catholic community have been incorporated into the procession. Volunteers who carry the statue (they are the ones wearing the cloaks) receive spiritual as well as practical preparation.




The promotional video made for the procession is also worth a look:



Please pray for good weather (or at least minimal rain!).

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