co r p u s c h r i s ti
The Feast of Corpus Christi JUNE 19 Story by Marty Denzer | Photos by Megan Marley
THE SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST, the Feast of Corpus Christi, is celebrated in the United States on the Sunday following Trinity Sunday, which falls on June 19 this year. Observed in the Levant since ca. AD 448, the institution of the Eucharist was commemorated on Holy Thursday, a time of sadness emphasizing Christ’s Passion. The commemoration was often forgotten. A 13th century Belgian nun, Saint Juliana, loved the Eucharist. She longed for a Eucharistic celebration, especially following a vision of the Church under a full moon marred by one dark spot which she interpreted as the lack of a celebration.
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For years, Juliana appealed to local prelates, notably Robert de Thorete, then-bishop of Liege. Impressed by her vision, in 1246, he ordered a local celebration held in 1247, which continued sporadically. In 1261, Jacques Pantaleon became Pope Urban IV. In 1263, Peter of Prague, a German priest, stopped in Bolsena, during a pilgrimage to Rome. The priest worried about the laxity of the faithful and the clergy and was dubious about transubstantiation. He prayed to increase his faith and ease his doubts. The next day at Mass, during the consecration, the host began bleeding. Awed, Peter tearfully told the congregation, who also were
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awestruck. Placing the host on the corporal, he carefully wrapped both in linen. Peter requested an escort to Orvieto, where Pope Urban IV was in residence. He heard the priest, was shown the host, and ordered an investigation. Although he decreed the Feast of Corpus Christi, and may have placed the host, corporal and wrappings in Orvieto’s Cathedral where they are still venerated, the pope never officially sanctioned the “miracle.” His papal bull, Transiturus de hoc mundo, decreed the Feast of Corpus Christi — the first papally sanctioned universal feast in the history of the Church. Indulgences were granted to the faithful for attendance at Mass and the Divine Office on that day. Saint Thomas Aquinas penned the Office at Urban’s request, along with the hymn “Pange Lingua.” Explorers took the feast’s significance around the world. In 1519, on the Feast of Corpus Christi, Spanish explorer and cartographer Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda discovered a lush, semi-tropical bay on what is now the south Texas coast. Honoring the feast, Pineda named it “Corpus Christi.” The city later founded there adopted the name. Mexico, Panama and Paraguay also named places “Corpus Christi.” In the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese, a 5 p.m. vigil Mass will be held June 18 at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in St. Joseph, followed by a procession to The Pro-Life Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. In Kansas City, the Corpus Christi celebration begins with 11 a.m. Mass on June 19 at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, followed by a procession to Guardian Angels Parish for Benediction. June 19 also inaugurates the National Eucharistic Revival, a 3-year grassroots revival of devotion and belief in Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist, called for by the U.S. Bishops. This year covers dioceses, and 2023-2024 covers parishes. For more, visit www.eucharisticrevival.org. The fourth annual “In His Real Presence” Eucharistic Congress will be held Sept. 10 at St. James Parish in Liberty. For more information and to register, visit www. kcsjcatholic.org/eucharistic-congress or contact Lorie Sage in the Office of Divine Worship, sage@diocesekcsj.org or 816.756.1850.
