Corpus Christi

It is fitting that the second year of our three-year National Eucharistic Revival begins today on the Feast of Corpus Christi. How did this feast come about?

In the year 1246, the bishop of Liège, Robert de Torote, directed this feast be observed in his diocese. He was persuaded to do so by St. Juliana, who was the prioress of Mont Cornillon, which was near Liège, and who had visions of this feast. Fifteen years later, Jacques Pantaléon, the archbishop of Liège, became pope and took the name Urban IV. In 1264 he directed the entire Church to observe the feast. It took until about the middle of the 1300s for the feast to be accepted world wide, and by the 1400s it had become one of the principal feasts of the Church.

As its Latin name implies, today we celebrate the Body and Blood of Christ. We believe Christ is truly present (the “Real Presence”) in the Eucharist. This is a fundamental doctrine of the Catholic Church which has been taught since the time of the Apostles.

The Eucharistic Procession is a devotion that goes back to those early years of the feast. It gives us an opportunity to move with Jesus, representing the journey we are on with him in our lives. It shows that Jesus is present among us out in the world, and we, the baptized, are called to bring him to others. We will celebrate such a procession today!

Thus, in the Feast of Corpus Christi, we celebrate our Savior’s closeness to us. He gives us the gift of himself in the Eucharist, and we become most intimately joined to him in Holy Communion. How blessed indeed we are that Jesus loves us so much that he would do this for us.

“How holy this feast in which Christ is our food; his passion is recalled; grace fills our hearts; and we receive a pledge of the glory to come, alleluia.” - Liturgy of the Hours, Corpus Christi, Evening Prayer, Antiphon of the Canticle of Mary

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Contact me at eucharist@stmli.org.