Procession in Rome
Rome, Italy 2015
Priests led the procession of the Blessed Sacrament down a narrow street to another church only a block away. First came priests wearing cassocks and sandals holding their prayer books, then priests clad in cassocks and the white shirt called a surplice. They swung silver censers that released fragrant clouds of incense: preparing the way for the Blessed Sacrament enclosed in a gold sunburst-looking vessel called a monstrance. A canopy covered the priests who walked with the Blessed Sacrament which represents Christ, the king. The procession looked much as it might have done during medieval times if there were a human king under the canopy.
Following the canopy were nuns and the faithful. The hierarchy has not changed and I don’t suppose the nuns minded being last. They know that when the people in the procession get to heaven, nuns will not be the last. And heaven is where it matters.
Enough catechism for today…I want to tell you about my photo. I was happy to see the procession. The harsh summer sun beat down on the Roman street. No dark gothic arches or hallways, no candles, no atmosphere. I so wanted that feeling of a monastery and I worked and worked on this photo, making it dark, making it light, adding color, subtracting color, posterizing it, making it a digital painting. Nothing made me happy. Then this morning, I got the idea to blur everyone in the procession except the priest in the middle who is clutching his prayer-book. The blur suggests motion, the priest’s bowed head suggests reverence, the blurred figures erase modern Rome with tourists huddled against the wall behind the procession. I think this photo is done!
Don’t forget: It’s a process!!