In London, Washington and Little Rock as well, lawyers and judges will be gathering next week to pray for the blessings of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the administration of justice.
The events coincide with the opening of the legal year in England as well as the beginning of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023-24 term.
Central Arkansas' 29th annual Red Mass will be held be noon Friday at Christ the King Catholic Church, 4000 N. Rodney Parham Road.
"Red" refers to the color of the vestments worn by the clergy at these events and also symbolizes the Holy Spirit. In England, it's also the hue of the robes worn by wig-crowned High Court judges.
The event is sponsored by the St. Thomas More Society of Arkansas, an association of Catholic lawyers, judges and other legal professionals named after a Lord High Chancellor who sided with the church over his earthly sovereign.
Bishop Anthony Taylor of the Diocese of Little Rock will preside.
The desire is for God to help members of the profession "administer our judicial system and legal system with justice and fairness," said Jim Goodhart, the society's president.
Similar services are being held elsewhere as well.
"We're in unison with others across the country doing the same thing," he added.
Last year's procession included priests in red and judges and academics in black.
A color guard from Catholic High School's Marine Corps Junior ROTC also participated.
"It's not an ecumenical-type service. It is a true Roman Catholic Mass, but it is [welcoming] to all religions and faiths," said Connie Brown Phillips, one of the society's board members.
The organization also organizes an annual interfaith service in the spring.
In the Catholic Church, Thomas More is the patron saint of statesmen and politicians.
In 1535, he was a martyr for the faith.
"King Henry VIII wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry, at that point, Anne Boleyn. And he went to Thomas More ... to try to get permission to do that. And, of course, he said, 'No, you can't do that,'" Phillips said.
More lost his job and then his life, eventually convicted of treason after refusing to sign an oath recognizing the king as supreme governor of the church in England.
His last words, reportedly, were "I die the king's good servant and God's first."
Red Masses date back to medieval days and were held not only at Westminster, but also in Paris and Rome.
They fell out of favor in London, however, following the English Reformation, only to be revived in the late 19th century, according to an article in the 1893 Scottish Law Review and Sheriff Court Reports.
The Red Mass, in Washington, was held for years in January, after the start of the congressional session, only shifting to the fall in the 1970s.
In England, it has traditionally been in the fall; the start of the court and school years (at least at Oxford and Cambridge) roughly coincided with the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, or Michaelmas, on Sept. 29.
Friday's Mass will be followed by a luncheon honoring two recipients of this year's St. Thomas More Award, which recognizes exemplary Christians in the legal profession: Sherwood District Court Judge Milas "Butch" Hale and James Badami, former executive director of the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission.