In den Niederlanden wird Willibrords Gedenktag noch heute festlich begangen. Sein Grab in Echternach ist seit dem 15. Jahrhundert jedes Jahr am Pfingstdienstag Ziel der Springprozession, die 1497 erstmals urkundlich erwähnt wurde und bei der er vor allem um Heilung von Epilepsie angerufen wird. Schon 1246 hatte Papst Innozenz IV. einen Ablass verfügt für alle, die an Feiertagen zu Willibrords Grab pilgern. Dabei springen heute jährlich mehr als 10.000 Pilger entgegen der immer noch verbreiteten Meinung nicht vor und zurück, sondern in Wechselschritten nach vorn - wie es die Wallfahrer vermutlich im 16. Jahrhundert eingeführt hatten. Der Trierer Erzbischof verhängte im Jahr 1777 ein Verbot der durchaus umstrittenen Springprozession, die manchen zu ekstatisch geriet und möglicherweise auf heidnische Ursprünge zurückgeht. Erst unter Napoleon wurde sie wieder erlaubt und inzwischen von der UNESCO in die Liste der Meisterwerke des mündlichen und immateriellen Erbes der Menschheit aufgenommen

www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienW/Willibrord_von_…

Each year, on the Tuesday of Pentecost (a Christian religious festival), the hopping procession of Echternach (Iechternacher Sprangprëssioun) takes place in the medieval town centre of Echternach, the oldest city in Luxembourg. Documented since the year 1100, the procession is founded on the cult of Saint Willibrord, a monk and founder of the Abbey of Echternach, revered for his missionary activities, his kindness and gift of curing certain illnesses. Despite the opposition of the Church due to the pagan elements of the procession, its successive bans did nothing to stop it spreading to the rest of the region and permeating every social class. The procession begins early in the morning in the courtyard of the ancient abbey, in the presence of the highest ecclesiastical authorities in the country and of many other countries. Singers recite litanies and then some 8,000 dancers take over, split into 45 groups according to a ritual transmitted from generation to generation. It ends with a service in the basilica. The current procession is a religious event deeply rooted in the tradition expressed through prayer, songs and dance – the historical form of worship. Nowadays, the procession, supported by the civil and religious authorities is increasingly popular despite secularization, with an average each year of 13,000 participants coming from Luxembourg and the neighbouring regions.
Documents
In the course of time the Church has taken an ambivalent attitude towards religious dances. On the one hand the psalms repeatedly encourage dancing as an expression of joy, on the other hand church councils decided to forbid religious dances, because they originated in pagan ritual dances and led to abuses. It is difficult to establish whether Echternach’s dancing procession is a continuation of such pagan practices as were taken over by Christianity, and usually placed under the patronage of John the Baptist (in Echternach, that of St. Willibrord).
The fact is that soon after Willibrord’s death in 739 great crowds of pilgrims started to come to the grave of the saint. More than 150 places which depended on the abbey, were obliged to come to Echternach at Whitsuntide to deliver their tithe. The dancing procession may very well have originated in these gatherings. A document of 1497 for the first time mentions springen-heiligen (“dancing saints”). This means Christians who in a situation of distress took a vow, or those who, released from serfdom, put themselves under the special protection of a saint. No doubt the expression also means the pilgrims from Waxweiler, who had in this way committed themselves to St Willibrord. There remains the question of what made them come to Echternach in the form of a dancing procession. With great probability this can be explained by the numerous epidemics (plague, epilepsy) which haunted Europe from the 11th to the 14th century. Penance processions of so-called “flagellants” passed through the lands and thus it may have happened that, in imitation of the movements of the disease, people expected protection against or recovery from it, according to the principle of homoeopathy: to heal a disease by its analogy. This was done in connection with St Willibrord, who was implored for the healing of epilepsy and children’s nervous diseases.
In spite of interruptions and bans the procession has survived to this day. A widespread cliché has it that the dancers jump a few steps forwards and then again backwards, a popular idea with politicians and journalists. The reason may be that in former times, when the procession was not yet as well organised as it is now, it sometimes came to a standstill, so that the pilgrims had to jump on the spot or even recede, and this gave the impression that the backward movement was systematic. This false impression was copied again and again, though it was already refuted in the 19th century by eye-witnesses. However, there have always been groups who felt indebted to a presumed tradition and jumped both forwards and backwards. Since 1947 only the forward movement has been in use - a sidestep to the left, and a side-step to the right.
The original melody is founded on a simple folk tune, which is found all over Europe in numerous variations. In the 19th and 20th centuries it was expanded and harmonised.
The dancing procession still appeals to modern man, as it enables him to include his whole body in his prayer. Jumping and dancing are an expression of joy, but they can become real penance through the effort required. It evokes the feeling of advancing towards the eternal goal in the community of the people of God.
Every year on Whit Tuesday some 12-14,000 pilgrims take part in the procession, among them eight to nine thousand dancers.
www.willibrord.lu/…/historical-aspe…

Todos los años, el martes de Pentecostés, fiesta religiosa cristiana, se celebra en la ciudad medieval de Echternach, la más antigua de Luxemburgo, la procesión con danzas llamada Sprangprëssioun. Su celebración, certificada por documentos que datan del año 1100, tiene por finalidad rendir culto a San Wilibrordo, el monje fundador de la abadía de Echternach, al que se venera por su labor misionera, sus buenas acciones y sus dones para curar algunas enfermedades. Aunque la Iglesia se opuso antaño a que se celebrara esta procesión por considerar que tenía elementos paganos, las prohibiciones de que fue objeto periódicamente no lograron impedir que su aprecio se extendiera por toda la región y entre todas las clases sociales. La procesión comienza pronto por la mañana en el patio de la antigua abadía, en presencia de los más altos dignatarios eclesiásticos del país y de otros países. Con arreglo a un ritual transmitido de generación en generación, los cantores entonan letanías y, luego, unos 8.000 bailarines, divididos en 45 grupos, inician sus danzas. La procesión finaliza con un oficio religioso en la basílica. Actualmente, la procesión es un evento religioso profundamente arraigado en la tradición que se expresa mediante las plegarias, los cantos y la forma histórica del culto, esto es, la danza. En nuestros días, la procesión cuenta con el apoyo de las autoridades civiles y religiosas, y su popularidad va en aumento a pesar de la secularización de la sociedad, ya que cada año acuden a ella unos 13.000 participantes procedentes de Luxemburgo y países vecinos.
www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php