In response to popular clamour, Cardinal Raimondo de Vico arranged a penitential procession from San Marcello to St Peter's.
This was a particularly bold move, suggests McCann, reflecting the desire of the citizenry who remained in Rome to be proactive rather than merely await death quietly.
The French religious historian Jean Delumeau describes it as, effectively, a "neo-pagan demonstration".
Led by friars of the Servants of Mary, the procession began on August 4 and ended on August 20, and comprised members of the nobility and churchmen alongside ordinary Roman citizens (wearing black habits and carrying crosses), as well as "barefoot youths with their heads covered in ashes", notes Kira Albinsky.
As the procession passed, the Romans implored the crucifix to intercede on the city's behalf with calls of "Mercy, Holy Crucifix!"
 while flagellating themselves.
The city authorities, mindful of contagion, attempted unsuccessfully to halt the procession.

According to local tradition, as the crucifix toured a neighbourhood, the people of that neighbourhood were allegedly cured of the Black Death, so that each neighbourhood sought to have the crucifix stay with them as long as possible.
By the time the crucifix reached St Peter's, the plague had begun to ebb in the city, and eventually in the whole Italian Peninsula.
Contemporaries saw this as a miracle in which the crucifix played a key role.
According to contemporary chroniclers, the reason for the long duration of the procession despite the relatively short distance between the church and the Vatican was that each district attempted to delay the crucifix due to the good it was doing.

Cardinal de Vico established a confraternity to promote its cult.
The crucifix's power, comments Delumeau, was now twice proven in people's eyes.
In response to popular clamour, Cardinal Raimondo de Vico arranged a penitential procession from San Marcello to St Peter's. This was a particularly bold move, suggests McCann, reflecting the desire of the citizenry who remained in Rome to be proactive rather than merely await death quietly. The French religious historian Jean Delumeau describes it as, effectively, a "neo-pagan demonstration". Led by friars of the Servants of Mary, the procession began on August 4 and ended on August 20, and comprised members of the nobility and churchmen alongside ordinary Roman citizens (wearing black habits and carrying crosses), as well as "barefoot youths with their heads covered in ashes", notes Kira Albinsky. As the procession passed, the Romans implored the crucifix to intercede on the city's behalf with calls of "Mercy, Holy Crucifix!"  while flagellating themselves. The city authorities, mindful of contagion, attempted unsuccessfully to halt the procession.
According to local tradition, as the crucifix toured a neighbourhood, the people of that neighbourhood were allegedly cured of the Black Death, so that each neighbourhood sought to have the crucifix stay with them as long as possible. By the time the crucifix reached St Peter's, the plague had begun to ebb in the city, and eventually in the whole Italian Peninsula. Contemporaries saw this as a miracle in which the crucifix played a key role. According to contemporary chroniclers, the reason for the long duration of the procession despite the relatively short distance between the church and the Vatican was that each district attempted to delay the crucifix due to the good it was doing.
Cardinal de Vico established a confraternity to promote its cult. The crucifix's power, comments Delumeau, was now twice proven in people's eyes.
Crucifix of San Marcello