solemnities

He had acted silly even at his own wedding, grinning during the solemnities, clowning when cutting the cake.

To read this novel is to wade through a great many solemnities on the order of:

In Ancient Athens, every year the opening solemnities of the Festival of Dionysus would include a parade during which the tribute won from foreign military adventures was proudly displayed.

The slow accretion of meaning and tradition brings something to the observation of Christian solemnities that nothing quite consciously arranged can match, and which commercial Halloween does not even try to.

“In an era of perplexities and solemnities,” read another of the ads, “Vanity Fair keeps intact its keen, tolerant, amused viewpoint.”