#processions

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims gathered at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal on the eve of her feast day on May 13th, joining in prayer, processions, and devotion at the very site where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children in 1917.

From "Ivan the Terrible" in Captain America Comics #4, June 1941. Joe Simon & Jack Kirby script, Jack Kirby pencils, Joe Simon & Jack Kirby inks.

Clips from the Holy Week processions in Calp, central Valencian Country. Video by Calp city council.

The Holy Week is the most important moment of the year in the Christian religion. It commemorates the last days, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Holy Week starts on Palm Sunday (a day in remembrance of Jesus's entrance to Jerusalem), and reaches its most important days on Good Friday (anniversary of Jesus's death on the cross) and Easter Sunday (which celebrates the day when Jesus was resurrected).

The Holy Week is held annually in March or April but the dates change every year because, like many Christian holidays, they follow the lunar calendar. Easter Sunday is held on the first full moon of spring, based on the Gregorian calendar in Western churches and on the Julian calendar in Eastern churches.

Festa de Nossa Senhora das Dores | Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Trofa, Porto)

The festivities in honor of Nossa Senhora das Dores (Our Lady of Sorrows), in the portuguese city of Trofa, are considered one of the biggest pilgrimages from the north of Portugal. The pilgrimage takes place on the third Sunday of August, where the traditional and secular procession takes place, unique for the grandeur of its “andores” (procession floats). There are a total of ten floats, all made by hand using countless of pins and a few hundred metres of ribbons and satin. The one carrying the image of Our Lady of Sorrows is the largest, measuring between 15 and 16 meters, which makes it taller than some of the surrounding buildings, and weighs more than six hundred kilos, requiring several men to move them.