The ceremony was well prepared to be as spectacular as possible so as to appeal to the people and to ensure that this act of homage to Jesus the Saviour made an unforgettable impression on them.
Those honoured to carry the cross were chosen which, depending on the length of the procession, could be several hundred men in the larger places. The cross would be carried in procession through the decorated streets until it reached the point where it would be put up.
The square was filled with people, joining their voices to those of the missionaries who had stayed by the cross with the young people chosen to carry it.
After Vespers, all the faithful being assembled at the square where the cross was, we proceeded to bless it. Then the procession began to move singing the Vexilla Regis and some canticles. The Mayor and his deputy wearing sashes, accompanied by the municipal council which he had invited, followed the cross, immediately preceded by the clergy. Nothing disturbed the order and decorum of the procession. We arrived a little behind time at the place where the cross was to be planted
Diary of the Marignane Mission, 15 December 1816, O.W. XVI
Sevrin, on the basis of all the missions of this period which he researched, describes the final scenes thus:
As soon as the cross was erected, the preacher approached the pedestal, and gave a last discourse to the immense crowd, into which he put all the power of his voice, all the fire of his heart, all the resources of his eloquence, to beg these Christians, some strengthened in the good road, and others who had returned there, to remain faithful to their commitments, and to launch a last appeal to those who, up to the end, had resisted God’s generosity. This speech usually produced good reactions. The preacher summoned them, once more, to forgive their enemies, and incited them to new acclamations of “Long live Jesus! Long live the Cross!” This was repeated with varying degrees of enthusiasm, depending on the extent to which it had won over hearts and souls.… They then went to kiss the wood or the pedestal of the cross, and returned in procession as they had come.
SEVRIN, Les missions, I, p. 324-325