The Feast of Corpus Christi

What is the Feast of Corpus Christi?

The institution of the Holy Eucharist is celebrated on Holy Thursday during Holy Week. But the Feast of Corpus Christi gives the church a chance to celebrate the gift of the Body and Blood of Jesus in a more festive way than what is appropriate during the Week of Christ’s Passion and Death.

When is Corpus Christi?

The Feast of Corpus Christi is celebrated the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, two weeks after Pentecost, which is always 50 days after Easter. In the United States, the feast is always transferred to the following Sunday.

The History of the Feast Day!

The actual feast is very old, dating from 1246, and celebrated by the universal church under Thomas Aquinas.

Interestingly the Old Testament priest, Melchizedek, plays a more significant role in the mass on this day.  Usually only mentioned in the first ( and long) Eucharistic prayer, he gets a proper mention in the Psalm response for the Feast of Corpus Christi.

A Eucharistic Procession!

Priests are encouraged to hold Eucharistic Processions for the faithful on this date.  My current pastor is the only priest in my lifetime who has ever done so, and I appreciate the beauty, history, and significance of this every year. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate with us again.

In years past our processions were a little longer. I’ll share this story.

One year, as I was snapping pictures I noted several of the neighbors coming out to watch the procession. This one particular gay couple were acquaintances. Mr. Pete and I had a huge oak tree taken down from our rental property a few months earlier. It was a big tree so it was quite a spectacle to see it come down. A lot of people came to talk with us including this couple. We chit-chatted for a couple of hours and they told me about their dogs and a new litter of puppies.

So on Corpus Christi, I waved to them and stood across the street to watch the procession go by. Some other folks came up to my friends and asked them, “Hey, what’s going on?” The couple enthusiastically explained to them that this was something the church did every year and that it was something they looked forward to.

So right there, by the field of Forgotten Dead, with a Pride flag flying high, people were coming together and evangelization was going on. It was a moment I won’t soon forget.