Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, but how many people deeply understand this sublime miracle of love? How many know how the feast of “Corpus Christi” began and, above all, why it is celebrated?
Why is it celebrated?
The importance and significance of the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, commonly known as “Corpus Christi,” is easy to understand: it celebrates Christ's real presence in the Eucharist, instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper. As the “Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church” teaches: «Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist in a unique and incomparable way. He is present truly, really, substantially: with his Body and Blood, with his Soul and Divinity. In it, therefore, Christ is present sacramentally, that is, under the Eucharistic species of bread and wine, whole and entire: God and man» (no. 282).
It is a movable feast: it is celebrated on the Thursday following the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity or, in some countries, including Italy, on the following Sunday.
What are the origins of the liturgical feast?
To discover the origins of this feast, we must go back to the 13th century in Liège, Belgium, where the teachings of Berengar of Tours were circulating. According to him, Christ's Eucharistic presence was not real, but merely symbolic. During this same period, at the age of 16, Saint Juliana of Cornillon had a first vision, which was then repeated several times during her Eucharistic adoration. The vision showed the moon in all its splendor, crossed by a dark stripe. The Lord made her understand that the moon symbolized the life of the Church on earth, while the opaque line represented the absence of a liturgical feast to celebrate the Eucharist. For about twenty years, Juliana, who had meanwhile become the prioress of the convent, kept this revelation secret. Then she confided in two friends and in Canon John of Lausanne, whom she asked to consult theologians and ecclesiastics about establishing the feast. The responses were positive and encouraging. Finally, Robert of Thourotte, Bishop of Liège, accepted the proposal and instituted, for the first time, the solemnity of Corpus Christi in his diocese. Later, other bishops followed his example, establishing the same feast in the territories entrusted to their pastoral care.
When was the feast extended to the whole Church?
Giacomo Pantaléon of Troyes, who had met the saint during his ministry as archdeacon in Liège, was also won over to the cause of the Feast of Corpus Christi. It was he who, having become pope under the name Urban IV, instituted the solemnity of Corpus Christi in 1264 as a holy day of obligation for the universal Church, on the Thursday after Pentecost.
Although after the death of Urban IV the celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi was limited to certain regions of France, Germany, Hungary, and northern Italy, another pontiff, John XXII, restored it throughout the Church in 1317.
What is the meaning of the feast?
While on Holy Thursday the Church looks to the institution of the Eucharist, contemplating the mystery of Christ, who loved us to the end by giving himself as food and sealing the new covenant in his blood, on the day of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, attention shifts to the intimate relationship between the Eucharist and the Church, between the Lord’s Body and his mystical Body. The processions and acts of adoration celebrated on this solemnity publicly manifest the Christian people’s faith in this Sacrament.
The solemn procession and the infiorate
As one of the most popular celebrations in Christianity, the Feast of Corpus Christi is celebrated with impressive processions held along the streets of many Italian cities. The processions generally follow a route consisting of a floral carpet made up of a series of artistic compositions known as “infiorate”.
The Corpus Christi procession is a splendid act of public worship, with songs and prayers, of Christ present in the Eucharist and, at the same time, an act of thanksgiving to God for giving us such an immense gift. Let us therefore carry the Eucharist into our cities, towns, and squares, but above all let us nourish ourselves with it so that we, in turn, may become monstrances, carrying Christ along our streets.
