The Sint Jan procession, the religious highlight for traditionally Catholic Laren, attracts a lot of attention. The sacrament procession for St. John the Baptist ran from St. John’s Basilica via St. Janstraat to St. Janskerkhof, where the Eucharist took place.
Sint Jan procession passes through Laren – NH News
On Sunday morning the procession departed from the Sint Jans Basilica to the Sint Janskerkhof. The Eucharist was held there, and then returned to the basilica.
The religious event was closed with a closing praise and an aubade from drum and show band MCC.
Saint John procession
The procession of St. John is an age-old tradition for the Catholics from Laren and the surrounding area. For centuries, the residents went to the Sint Janskerkhof for the feast of Saint John the Baptist. In 1580 this Catholic worship service was banned, but the Catholic Laarders continued to celebrate the feast in secret in the cemetery.
Around 1800 it became possible again to celebrate the religious festival in public. So in 1806 the brotherhood of Saint John was founded, charged with the organization of the pilgrimage that increasingly grew into a real procession.
In 1886, when Saint John’s Day coincided with Sacrament Day, it was changed to a sacrament procession. This makes this the oldest sacrament procession from above the rivers.
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