Procession of The Holy Blood
Weissenau became very well known on account of the relic of the Blood of Christ which it received from Rudolph of Habsburg in 1283. Up to 1783 the famous Blutritt (English: Procession of the Holy Blood), similar to that of the neighbouring Weingarten Abbey, took place every year. It consisted of a solemn procession during which the relic was carried by a priest on horseback, accompanied by many other riders and a large crowd. The relic is still preserved in the old abbey church, which now serves as the parish church of Weissenau. Reference to it is made in the medieval epic Lohengrin.
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Famous quotes containing the words procession of, procession, holy and/or blood:
“The day was ending at it was the hour of which I do not want to speak, the hour without a name, when the sounds of evening ascended from all the floors of the prison in a procession of silence.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“Its imaginary value will increase with the years, and if he [his grandson-in-law] lives to my age, or another half century, he may see it carried in the procession of our nation’s birthday, as the relics of the saints are in those of the church.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“Ce corps qui s’appelait et qui s’appelle encore le saint empire romain n’était en aucune manière ni saint, ni romain, ni empire. This agglomeration which called itself and still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.”
—Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778)
“She will sing the song that pleaseth you,
And on your eyelids crown the god of sleep,
Charming your blood with pleasing heaviness.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)