| Sumario: | This article ethnologically examines the resilience and social significance of two vernacular Roman Catholic religious rituals on Croatian islands—Hvar’s Passion procession *Following the Cross* (Za križen) and Rab’s Marian spring procession *Crosses* (Križi)—within the context of islandness, defined as the lived experience shaped by prolonged insularity. Both rituals, dating back to at least the 16th century and rooted in lay confraternities, serve as embodied communal practices that foster social cohesion, collective identity, and affective experiences amid demographic challenges and de-insularisation processes. The study highlights how these processions blend sacred and vernacular elements, generating collective effervescence and communitas through synchronized bodily movement, singing, and ritual roles, while also reflecting local social hierarchies and campanilism. Despite modern secularization and changing island life, these traditions remain vital symbolic anchors of island identity, mediating continuity between past and present in the Eastern Adriatic archipelago.
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