Spiritual Practices and Rituals

Silhouetted figures practicing tai chi and engaging in prayer, capturing moments of spirituality and reflection across different cultures.

Catholic mass. The decisive call for catechumens. This important Lenten ritual is for catechumens preparing for full initiation. Baptism, Confirmation, and First Communion. Saint Pierre et Paul church. Saint Julien en Genevois. France.

Senior man practices tai chi as sun rises over skyline, The Bund, Shanghai, China

Priest Paris. France.

The shadow of drummers is cast on a wall during an Easter Holy Week procession in Trujillo, Extremadura, Spain.

ZBEKISTAN BUKHARA an old man with a white beard is praying crouching down in the KALON mosque

Oman, Nizwa, market

Luang Prabang,Laos;Buddhist monks receiving offerings

Catholic mass. The decisive call for catechumens. This important Lenten ritual is for catechumens preparing for full initiation. Baptism, Confirmation, and First Communion. Saint Pierre et Paul church. Saint Julien en Genevois. France.

Church visitors in private stalls spending time in prayer and meditation at the Old North Church in Boston; Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

The friday prayer (jummah). Masjid Al Noor mosque. Hanoi. Vietnam.

Rear view of nun entering in chapel, Radda in Chianti, Tuscany, Italy

Cairo, Egypt Jan 28, 2025 A man stands against a pillar at the Mosque of Muhammad Ali.

Secretary Gale Norton, far left, touring Old North Church in Boston with Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, looking up second from right, and other officials, during visit to the city to announce a Save America's Treasures Historic Preservation grant for the Church

State of Vatican City, Holy See, 2022-04-17. Easter Ceremony and Benediction urbi et orbi in St Peter's Square in the presence of Pope Francis. Photograph by Martin Bertrand.Etat de la Cite du Vatican, Saint-Siege, le 2022-04-17. Ceremonie de Paques et benediction urbi et orbi sur la Place Saint-Pierre en presence du Pape Francois. Photographie de Martin Bertrand.

Catholic Woman communion

Catholic priest helping migrants with administrative matters in Vernon, France.

Jewish mother helps her young son light worship candles during Sabbath evening ceremonies in Jerusalem hotel, Israel.

Dogon school children, Mali

People pray during church service, Iglooik, Nunavut, Canada

Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy Aug 5, 2025 A woman carrying a smartphone walks on the steps of the Church of Saint Eulalia,Chiesa di Sant'Eulalia

Mass in Lourdes, France

Jain sadhvis Bombay Mumbai Maharashtra India 20-May-2008 Copyright: xHemangixNakwe/DinodiaxPhotox

Holy confession during World Youth Day . Madrid. Spain.

St Joseph's church. Woman praying alone in a church. Singapore.

2011-05-15. Just before the service in an early Sunday morning in St .Paul's Chapel close to Ground Zero in NYC.

Toledo, 04/14/2014. Holy Monday. Procession of the Holy Nazarene Captive Christ of Toledo Photo: Luna Revenga archdc.

Nogales, Sonora Mexico, 8 October 2016, A fist is raised as activists held rallies on both sides of the U.S. and Mexico border fence to protest the increasing militarization of the border, the separation of immigrant families, and U.S. policies that make it hard for refugees fleeing repression to enter the United States. The events were organized by the School of the Americas Watch, a group of religious and community activists.

Rome, Palm Sunday Mass in the time of Coronavirus. Pictured, the faithful witness the mass from the windows of their homes.

Woman with a group of people wearing medical mask inside a church

Secretary Gale Norton speaking at Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island, announcing a Save America's Treasures program grant for the Synagogue, the nation's oldest

Ecuador, Pinchincha Province, Quito. Procession during Holy Week (Semana Santa) on Good Friday.

Blur envelopes a young parishioner who carries a candle-lit canvas lantern in a processional that celebrates Christians' Holy Week. It is a centuries-old annual Mendrisio tradition; Switzerland

Office of the Administrator - National Museum of the American Indian Tour , Environmental Protection Agency

Ali Abu Shwaima, Imam Segrate mosque, Muslim prayer on Friday at PalaSharp, Milan, Italy, 2010

Spain, Murcia region, Mula, convent, cloistered nuns

man carrying flag in the Corpus Christi procession

Secretary Gale Norton with Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri, fourth from left, and Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy, far right, among dignitaries outside Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island, after announcement of a Save America's Treasures program grant for the Synagogue

Jain sadhvis Bombay Mumbai Maharashtra India 20-May-2008 Copyright: xHemangixNakwe/DinodiaxPhotox

Congregation at worship in Leipzig, Germany's St. Thomas/Thomaskirche.

A demonstrator lifts a cross with the name of a demonstrator name who died in a police brutality case during the protests as citizens and demonstrators support the congress sesion in which Minister of Defence Diego Molano was put into Motion of No Confidence (Motion Censor) after the cases of police brutality during the first month of protests in Colombia that now reach at least 45 dead in police and abuse of authority cases. In Bogota, Colombia on May 24, 2021.

Zagreb, Croatia March 24, 2025 A nun walks through the Stone Gate, a medieval Virgin Mary shrine.

Usa, California, Los Angeles, 'Footprints At Mann'S Chinese Theatre, Hollywood. Grauman.'

04/17/2014. Alcala de Henares. Madrid. Spain. Easter week. Brotherhood of the Christ of the Doctrines and our Lady of Hope. Photo: of Saint Bernard. Archdc.

Sunday service in a Reformed church, London, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Italy, Umbria, Perugia district, Gubbio.'race of the Candles' (la corsa dei ceri)

Jewish man with tefillin reading religious prayer book

Mexico, Oaxaca, Teotitlan del Valle, Villagers flock to the cemetary to repair and decorate loved ones graves (Editorial Usage Only)

Lhasa wall of 1000 Buddahs at Linkor, man engraved mani

Secretary Gale Norton speaking at Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island, announcing a Save America's Treasures program grant for the Synagogue, the nation's oldest

Islamic Arts Museum. Colored postits on a wall. Messages. Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia.

Noh masks are displayed during Japan Day at Misawa Air Base, Japan, July 9, 2022. The masks come in many different styles to represent the different characters in plays.

Funeral of Oleg Yashchishin, Kirilo Vishivaniy, Sergey Melnik and Rostislav Romanchuk in the Jesuit Church of St. Peter and Paul, the four officers killed in a Russian missile attack two days earlier in a military camp near the border with Poland in Yavoriv, at least 35 people died, Lviv, Ukraine, Europe

Father Sergei during an exorcism in his church in Ochamchira. He is widely known as an exorcist and receives people seeking help from all over Russia, Ochamchira, Abkhazia, Georgia, Asia

Shaolin Monk Shi De Jian demonstrates traditional martial arts at the San Huang Zhai Monastery on the Song Mountain, China.

Woman praying in Saint Peter's cathedral, Beauvais, France

An Orthodox priest blesses the Soyuz rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome Launch pad on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013 in Kazakhstan. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 38 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and, Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA, is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 7.

Secretary Gale Norton speaking at Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island, announcing a Save America's Treasures program grant for the Synagogue, the nation's oldest

Nuns and brightly colored uniforms of Swiss Guard at Vatican City, center of Catholic Church, Rome, Italy, Europe

Madrid, 11/09/2021. Mass and procession presided over by the Archbishop Cardinal Monsignor Carlos Osoro on the occasion of the festival of Our Lady of Almudena, which was attended by President Isabel Díaz Ayuso and the mayor, José Luis Martínez Almeida. Photo: Jaime García. ARCHDC.

inauguration in Llucmajor of Bishop Antoni Vadell street, Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain.

Traveller using service bell to ring

Seated woman praying in Saint Nicholas catholic church, Brussels, Belgium.

Launch of a new Torah in a synagogue, Paris, France, Europe

May 11, 2012 "Lawrence Jackson made this great photograph of the First Lady touching the Hokie Stone before walking onto the field at Lane Stadium to give the Virginia Tech commencement address in Blacksburg, Va."

Switzerland, Canton of Grisons, Müstair, Benedictine abbey St. Johann in the Münstertal, sisters, sister Lutgard, herbal sister

A young nun leafing through a newly printed magazine. Pessano con Bornago-MI

Classical Indian Musician Sitar Player Ustad Shujaat Khan Mumbai Maharashtra India Asia Copyright: xArunxMishra/DinodiaxPhotox

Detroit, Michigan USA, 2 October 2021, Monsignor Charles Kosanke presides over the Blessing of the Pets at St. Anne's Basilica Catholic Church. The is held on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, who is the Catholic Church's patron saint of animals and the environment

Healing, Jesus manifestation, Stockholm, Sverige,20

Indigenous representatives of the Amazonian communities perform in front of Pope Francis in the Vatican gardens.

Launch of a new Torah in a synagogue.

Madrid 07/24/2015 Church of Santiago, at Calle de Santiago 29 In the image, detail of the Camino de Santiago credential. Photo: Maya Balanya ARCHDC.

USA, South Dakota, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Wounded Knee museum

The Pleasant Valley Church of the Brethren celebrates its 145th anniversary in Floyd, Virginia.

Douglas, Arizona, Healing Our Borders prayer vigil remembers migrants who died crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Three hundred bodies have been recovered in the Sulphur Springs Valley of Cochise County, Arizona. The vigil is held weekly at the international border crossing, organized by Frontera de Cristo. Franciscan Brother David Buer participates in the vigil

Jazz Funeral for Katrina Victims - 26-HK-345-3. Hurricane Katrina

Expedition 68 Soyuz Blessing. Russian Orthodox Bishop Ignatii blesses the Soyuz rocket, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad in Kazakhstan. Expedition 68 astronaut Frank Rubio of NASA, and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch aboard their Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft on Sept. 21.

The Samaritan Passover sacrifice on Mount Gerizim

Nogales, Arizona, A rally held on both sides of the U.S. and Mexico border fence remembers migrants who have died trying to cross the border. Border Patrol trucks watch the rally from the top of the hill. The rally was organized by the School of the Americas Watch, a group of religious and community activists.

Russia, Sakhalin; An orthodox ceremony in a small church in the suburbs of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

France. Lourdes. Elderly Pilgrims In Wheelchairs.

Catholic Fringe -- American Old Catholic Church

Visit of Secretary Gale Norton to Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island, for the announcement of a Save America's Treasures program grant for the preservation of the Synagogue, the nation's oldest

Pentecostalism in Latin America -- Bolivia

Devotees raise their pets to receive holy water blessings during a mass to bless pets and animals as part of 'World Animal Day' at Iglesia de San Francisco in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on October 9, 2025.

Secretary Gale Norton with Tex Hall, Chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota, unfurling gift from the Hall-led Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara Nation during events marking debut of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial traveling exhibit, Corps of Discovery II, at Monticello, Virginia

Catholic nun stands at a window in the Vatican, Vatican City State

AIRMAN Shelly Clements prepares the votive candles at the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. Base: Naval Air Station, Oceana State: Virginia (VA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Austria, Tyrol, Stams, Abbey Stams, Cistercian cloister, brother Pirmin

PRAYERS are said for the dead at the cemetery during the DEAD OF THE DEAD - SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE, MEXICO

african muslim people group visiting local honey production farm

Madrid. 04/28/2014. Search for the mortal remains of Cervantes in the Trinitarias church with the help of a georadar Photo Isabel Permuy ARCHDC.

Czech Republic, Prague. Monk with wine at National Wine Bank.

His Holiness XIVth Dalai Lama visits Barcelona after 10 years of his last visit for the conference Art of Happiness and other official acts 9th of September 2007

Greek Orthodox pilgrims at the Jordan river

Russian Orthodox Priest Father Sergei blesses the Soyuz rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad, Thursday, April 8, 2021 in Kazakhstan. Expedition 65 NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Oleg Novitskiy are scheduled to launch aboard their Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft on April 9.

Young man praying staying behind the bars

A group of Asian tourists stand outside the granite mausoleum housing the embalmed body of revered Vietnamese communist leader Ho Chi Minh in the capital Hanoi.

Preparation of the paschal lamb for the Orthodox Easter

Couple inside of St Patrick Church Manhattan New York City

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