Processional supplies

Processional canopies

Canopies are used in processions and solemn occasions for the Blessed Sacrament and bishops, legates, and even blood royal princes under particular circumstances.

Relics carried in the procession are not to be taken beneath a canopy unless in the unusual event of detached parts of the True Cross or instruments of the Passion. The color of the canopy in Blessed Sacrament processions must always be white.

In many places, such as Rome, it is customary to use an umbrella, or ombrellino, to transport the Blessed Sacrament from one altar to another or deliver the Holy Viaticum to the sick.

Processional banners

Since medieval times, processional flags have been widely used in the Church. They were commonly mentioned in England before the Reformation. However, it is unclear whether these vexilla were floating draperies in the sense that we now use the term.

Some early versions of the Sarum Processional have woodcuts that depict a sturdy wooden or metal frame. Two particular vexilla were carried in the Rogation processions and others, one portraying a lion and the other a dragon.

Most portions of the Church currently utilize a number of highly embroidered banners in liturgical processions of various types, but the Rituale Romanum appears only to consider a single banner.

Processional Hymns

The Catholic Church recognizes a special category of songs explicitly produced for processions in the early Middle Ages instead of breviary hymns. A refrain was almost always included in these processional hymns.

Such hymns were particularly plentiful in England, and several may be found in the Sarum Processional. The song "Gloria, laus et honor" is still performed in the procession on Palm Sunday. At the same time, the hymn "O Redemptor, some carmen temet concinentium" is sung at the ceremony of the consecration of the oils on Maundy Thursday.

Other processional supplies include Altars Bells, Albuton Cups, Memorial trees, Crucifixes, Holy Water Pots & Sprinklers.