solemn ritual

As if, Herb thought, eating was for him a solemn ritual.

A sacrifice was a loss given formal respect by all in a solemn ritual.

Then, in a solemn ritual, the Elders began turning their robed backs on him.

This room is hereby dedicated to a solemn ritual."

Contemporary pre-industrial peoples guard secret names which are only used in solemn rituals.

Indeed, beneath the solemn ritual, "Einstein" has a folksiness.

And the solemn ritual of baptism began.

Cleaning his teeth twice a day became a solemn ritual which he observed through choice and not because his mother forced him.

Taking agbar, the leafy material that they smoked, was a solemn ritual.

Please depart; you are intruding upon my property and upon a solemn ritual."

Heather's death is marked by a cold and solemn ritual equal to the stylized savagery of those insects.

The solemn ritual was ended.

What should be a solemn ritual of citizenship has been turned into a sordid game of multidimensional hide-and-seek.

Slowly, giving her movement the air of solemn ritual, Ninety-first Diplomat was changing her position.

After weeks of furious calls for immediate revenge, the solemn ritual of a trial had focused the mob into a respectful audience.

Industries could fight air quality regulations on the grounds that they're not really belching pollution: they're conducting the solemn ritual of economic growth.

For three days, solemn rituals alternated with pop cultural references, high camp and playful but sharp intertribal teasing.

"It's not a solemn ritual," Mr. Irwin said.

Arha's youth is a haunting contrast between lighthearted childish escapades and dark, solemn rituals.

The solemn ritual of this band of ruffians is all the more comic for being presented in Cervantes' drily humorous style.

It was an ancient and rather solemn ritual, the admitting of young men of good family into Ireland's small and carefully chosen band of warriors.

We have trusted it even in the solemn ritual of a murder trial, confident that its lens is a more reliable and objective witness than any human eye.

Koots waited until after Kadem had bathed, eaten and carried out the solemn ritual of the midday prayers.

The Two Moon Meal was a complete success, a mellow, pleasant mixture of solemn ritual and delightful conversation, with some deeply moving incidents.

The celebration of the liturgy is designed to be catechetical, with solemn ritual, music, hymns, a familiar preaching style and Sunday mass lasts about an hour.