By John Payne, Special to The Message
The origins of the feast of Corpus Christi began over 800 years ago around the city of Liège – in present-day Belgium – with a young woman known as Juliana of Mont-Cornillon, who would be officially recognized as a saint by Pope Pius IX in 1869. The details of her life are transmitted in a vita written not long after her death in 1258.
In a mystical encounter, Christ is reported to have told her that the moon represented the Church while the gap signified the lack of a feast day that he desired. He commissioned St. Juliana with the task of effecting the institution of a feast of his body and blood, a focus of Holy Thursday that was overshadowed by the washing of the feet and the remembrance of the Lord’s Passion.
In the apparitions, Christ wished that the Eucharist, in addition to its daily celebration, would receive special focus with its own feast, as the honor due to it could regularly be tepid or even absent. St. Juliana did not esteem herself worthy for such a feat, but after 20 years of begging to be released from it and repeatedly receiving the response that she was in fact the woman for the job, she finally accepted her mission.
At this point, the feast was spreading, but it was still a local affair when St. Juliana died in 1258.
In 1264, Urban IV issued the papal bull Transiturus de hoc mundo, which instituted the Feast of Corpus Christi for the entire Latin Church on the Thursday following the Octave of Pentecost. Pope Urban IV gave to St. Thomas Aquinas the task of composing both the office and the Mass for the feast.
Corpus Christi is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. It celebrates the Real Presence of Christ; Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist.
The traditional method of celebration is a Eucharistic procession after Mass that can extend anywhere from around the Church property to many miles around the town. Through the years, the practice grew to what we still do today, a procession with Christ in the Monstrance and along the route we have “prayer stops” at three locations along the procession. A temporary altar is set up and the minister carrying the Monstrance places Jesus on the altar. Incense is used to honor the Blessed Sacrament. Then a gospel reading and Collect prayer is read, and finally, the minister blesses the crowd with the Blessed Sacrament and the procession continues. Typically, during the procession, songs are sung and prayers like the Rosary or the Chaplet of Divine Mercy are prayed.
The Cathedral at St. Benedict has been holding a Corpus Christi Procession every year since 2012. Archbishop Charles C. Thompson was our bishop and he promoted bringing back into practice the Corpus Christi Procession. Bishop Siegel participates any year he is able. This year, the Feast of Corpus Christi is Sunday, June 22. Our route is a half-mile walk through the Lincolnshire neighborhood (directly south of the church). Our procession includes singing Eucharistic Hymns, Praying the Rosary and the three prayer stops along the route. We conclude with Benediction in church.
We have water tables along the way and we have always had the support and backing of the Knights of Columbus, who have led the procession with the Fourth-Degree Knights and other Knights that have carried the Eucharistic Canopy to protect the Monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament and the minister from the elements of the weather.
It has been good to see that many parishes around the Diocese have now started their own traditions with the Corpus Christi Procession, but if you do not have a procession, the Cathedral has one immediately following the 10:30 a.m. CDT Mass. We have volunteer police officers to keep us safe on our walk and a parade permit from the city allowing us to walk safely in the center of the street. We welcome anyone to join us in this public display of love and adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity; the Corpus Christi.