God in the streets of Gotham

Monday, June 1, 2015

*Dan Gonzalez

English Spanish

Corpus Christi is not just a coastal city in southern Texas. The Latin words translate to "Body of Christ."

This Sunday we celebrate the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ —also known as Corpus Christi. Where the solemnity is not observed as a holy day, it is assigned to the Sunday after Trinity Sunday.

This day honors the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It is one of the few celebrations that do not commemorate an event in the life of Jesus or Mary. Instead, it is dedicated to a fundamental tenet of Catholicism — Jesus' sacramental presence in the consecrated bread and wine.

This is also one of the few feasts that were promoted by laypeople and only later adopted by the universal Church. Juliana of Liège, a 13th-century Norbertine canoness, longed for a feast day outside of Lent to honor the Eucharist. After receiving several visions of Christ, she petitioned her bishop to institute the day, which eventually propagated to nearby cities and towns.

On Aug. 11, 1264, Pope Urban IV issued the papal bull Transiturus de hoc mundo. It declared Corpus Christi as a feast day — the very first papally sanctioned universal feast — throughout the entire Latin Rite. Curiously, the successors of Urban IV did not uphold the decree and the feast was suspended until 1311 when it was reinstated by Clement IV at the Council of Vienne.

The solemnity is an act of thanksgiving to Christ who, by instituting the Eucharist, gave the Church her greatest treasure: "The Eucharist is 'the source and summit of the Christian life.' The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch." (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1324)

On Holy Thursday, the Church properly commemorates the institution of the Eucharist. But the joy of that day is curtailed since the Lord's Passion takes place in the evening. In addition, several other key events occurred on Holy Thursday, namely the washing of the disciples' feet and the institution of the priesthood. The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ focuses entirely on the Eucharist.

The Collect (formerly "Opening Prayer") announces the theme of the celebration: "O God, who in this wonderful sacrament have left us a memorial of your Passion, grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption. Who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever."

The Gospel acclamation recalls the words of Jesus to the crowds: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever."

This Sunday's observance underscores the joyous aspect of Holy Thursday. Eucharistic exposition and benediction are common devotional practices, as are eucharistic processions along city streets. Grassroots films — an independent film studio — produced this moving video (below) highlighting a Eucharistic procession through the streets of New York City.

How does your parish celebrate the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ? Eucharistic exposition? Benediction? Procession? Share and let's learn together!

Comments from readers

Bernardo Garcia-Granda - 06/02/2015 10:11 AM

My wife and I visited Seville, Spain during Holy Week this past April. The processions in the streets there are a tradition carried out year after year. It is a profoundly, amazing experience. We rarely see processions in our country, but watching the video of the procession in New York City is inspiring, and perhaps something that we should take up in our local parishes in Miami. Our parish, Prince of Peace, will have a procession after Mass at 11:30 am but inside the parish facilities. It would be wonderful if we would do it in the sorrounding streets.

Margaret Chuckaree - 06/02/2015 09:58 AM

It was refreshing to see this video of taking the body and blood of Christ through the streets of New York. I am originally from Trinidad and Tobago and we celebrated the feast of Corpus Christi, first as a public holiday on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday (which incidentally is the feast day of Trinidad and Tobago. We observed Corpus Christi with a procession in the main square in Port of Spain, Independence Square, how renamed Brian Lara Promenade. We processed around the square, with the recitation of the rosary, hymns and ended the procession at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception where the Archbishop did Benediction. These memories I will never forget.

Bernardo Garcia-Granda - 06/02/2015 10:11 AM: My wife and I visited Seville, Spain during Holy Week this past April. The processions in the streets there are a tradition carried out year after year. It is a profoundly, amazing experience. We rarely see processions in our country, but watching the video of the procession in New York City is inspiring, and perhaps something that we should take up in our local parishes in Miami. Our parish, Prince of Peace, will have a procession after Mass at 11:30 am but inside the parish facilities. It would be wonderful if we would do it in the sorrounding streets.

Margaret Chuckaree - 06/02/2015 09:58 AM: It was refreshing to see this video of taking the body and blood of Christ through the streets of New York. I am originally from Trinidad and Tobago and we celebrated the feast of Corpus Christi, first as a public holiday on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday (which incidentally is the feast day of Trinidad and Tobago. We observed Corpus Christi with a procession in the main square in Port of Spain, Independence Square, how renamed Brian Lara Promenade. We processed around the square, with the recitation of the rosary, hymns and ended the procession at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception where the Archbishop did Benediction. These memories I will never forget.