Corpus Christi (feast)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ |
Corpus Christi procession. Oil on canvas by Carl Emil Doepler
|
| Also called |
Corpus Domini |
| Observed by |
as a public holiday in Austria, Brazil, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, East Timor, parts of Germany, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, parts of Spain and Switzerland, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago |
| Date |
Thursday after Trinity Sunday; 60 days after Easter, or the Sunday immediately following this |
| 2017 date |
June 15 |
| 2018 date |
May 31 |
| 2019 date |
June 20 |
| 2020 date |
June 11 |
| Frequency |
annual |
Rock of the Eucharistic Miracle in Bolsena 1263
The
Feast of Corpus Christi (
Latin for "
Body of Christ") is the
Roman Rite liturgical
solemnity celebrating the
real presence of the body and blood of
Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, in the
Eucharist—known as
transubstantiation. Two months earlier, the Eucharist is observed on
Maundy Thursday in a somber atmosphere leading to
Good Friday. Corpus Christi emphasizes the joy of the Eucharist being the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
The feast is liturgically celebrated on the Thursday after
Trinity Sunday or, "where the Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is not a
holy day of obligation, it is assigned to the Sunday after the Most Holy Trinity as its proper day".
[1]
At the end of
Holy Mass, there is often a
procession of the
Blessed Sacrament, generally displayed in a
monstrance. The procession is followed by
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. A notable Eucharistic procession is that presided over by the
Pope each year in
Rome, where it begins at the
Archbasilica of St. John Lateran and passes to the
Basilica of Saint Mary Major, where it concludes with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
The celebration of the feast was suppressed in
Protestant churches during the
Reformation,
because they do not hold to the teachings of transubstantiation.
Depending on the denomination, Protestant churches instead believe in
differing views concerning the
presence of Christ in the Eucharist,
or that Christ is symbolically or metaphorically part of the eucharist.
Today, most Protestant denominations do not recognize the feast.
[2] The
Church of England abolished it in 1548 as the
English Reformation progressed, but later reintroduced it.
History
St. Juliana of Liège
The institution of Corpus Christi as a feast in the
Christian calendar resulted from approximately forty years of work on the part of
Juliana of Liège, a 13th-century
Norbertine canoness, also known as Juliana de Cornillon, born in 1191 or 1192 in
Liège,
Belgium, a city where there were groups of women dedicated to
Eucharistic worship. Guided by exemplary priests, they lived together,
devoted to prayer and to charitable works. Orphaned at the age of five,
she and her sister Agnes were entrusted to the care of the Augustinian
nuns at the convent and leprosarium of Mont-Cornillon, where Juliana
developed a special veneration for the
Blessed Sacrament.
[3]
She always longed for a feast day outside of Lent in its honour. Her
vita reports that this desire was enhanced by a vision of the Church
under the appearance of the full moon having one dark spot, which
signified the absence of such a solemnity.
[4][5] In 1208, she reported her first
vision of Christ
in which she was instructed to plead for the institution of the feast
of Corpus Christi. The vision was repeated for the next 20 years but she
kept it a secret. When she eventually relayed it to her confessor, he
relayed it to the bishop.
[6]
Juliana also petitioned the learned Dominican
Hugh of St-Cher, and
Robert de Thorete,
Bishop of Liège. At that time
bishops could order feasts in their
dioceses,
so Bishop Robert ordered in 1246 a celebration of Corpus Christi to be
held in the diocese each year thereafter on the Thursday after Trinity
Sunday.
[7][8][9]
Hugh of St-Cher travelled to Liège as Cardinal-Legate in 1251 and,
finding that the feast was not being observed, reinstated it. In the
following year, he established the feast for his whole jurisdiction
(Germany, Dacia, Bohemia, and Moravia), to be celebrated on the Thursday
after the Octave of Trinity (one week later than had been indicated for
Liège), but with a certain elasticity, for he granted an indulgence for
all who confessed their sins and attended church "on a date and in a
place where [the feast] was celebrated".
[10]
Jacques Pantaléon of Troyes was also won over to the cause of the
Feast of Corpus Christi during his ministry as Archdeacon in Liège. It
was he who, having become Pope as
Urban IV in 1264, instituted the Solemnity of Corpus Christi on the Thursday after Pentecost as a feast for the entire
Latin Church, by the
papal bull Transiturus de hoc mundo.
[3][11]
The legend that this act was inspired by a procession to Orvieto in
1263, after a village priest in Bolsena and his congregation witnessed a
Eucharistic miracle of a bleeding
consecrated host at
Bolsena,
[9]
has been called into question by scholars who note problems in the
dating of the alleged miracle, whose tradition begins in the 14th
century, and the interests of Urban IV, a former Archdeacon in Liège.
Though this was the first papally imposed universal feast for the Latin
Church,
[12] it was not in fact widely celebrated for half a century, although it was adopted by a number of dioceses in Germany and by the
Cistercians, and in 1295 was celebrated in
Venice.
[13]
It became a truly universal feast only after the bull of Urban IV was
included in the collection of laws known as the Clementines, compiled
under
Pope Clement V, but promulgated only by his successor
Pope John XXII in 1317.
[13][14]
While the institution of the Eucharist is celebrated on
Holy (Maundy) Thursday, the liturgy on that day also commemorates Christ's
washing of the disciples' feet, the institution of the
priesthood and the
agony in the Garden of
Gethsemane.
So many other functions took place on this day that the principal event
was almost lost sight of. This is mentioned in the Bull
Transiturus
as the chief reason for the introduction of the new feast. Hence, the
feast of Corpus Christi was established to create a feast focused solely
on the Holy Eucharist.
[4]
Three versions of the office for the feast of Corpus Christi in
extant manuscripts provide evidence for the Liège origins and voice of
Juliana in an original office, which was followed by two later versions
of the office. A highly sophisticated and polished version can be found
in BNF 1143, a musical manuscript devoted entirely to the feast, upon
which there is wide scholarly agreement: the version in BNF 1143 is a
revision of an earlier version found in Prague, Abbey of Strahov MS
D.E.I. 7, and represents the work of
St. Thomas Aquinas following or during his residency at
Orvieto from 1259 to 1265. The office can also be found in the 1343 codex
Regimen Animarum.
[15]:13 This liturgy may be used as a votive Mass of the Blessed Sacrament on weekdays in ordinary time.
[16] The hymn Aquinas composed for
Vespers of Corpus Christi,
Pange Lingua or another eucharistic hymn, is also used on Maundy Thursday during the procession of the Blessed Sacrament to the
altar of repose.
[17] The last two verses of
Pange Lingua are also used as a separate hymn,
Tantum Ergo, which is sung at
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
O Salutaris Hostia, another hymn sung at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, comprises the last two verses of
Verbum Supernum Prodiens, Aquinas' hymn for
Lauds of Corpus Christi. Aquinas also composed the
propers for the
Mass of Corpus Christi, including the
sequence Lauda Sion Salvatorem. The
epistle reading for the Mass was taken from
Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians (
1 Corinthians 11:23-29), and the
Gospel reading was taken from the
Gospel of John (
John 6:56-59).
When
Pope Pius V revised the
General Roman Calendar (see
Tridentine Calendar), Corpus Christi was one of only two "feasts of devotion" that he kept, the other being Trinity Sunday.
[18] In that calendar, Corpus Christi was celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday.
[19] The feast had an
octave until 1955, when
Pope Pius XII suppressed all octaves, even in local calendars, except those of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost (see
General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII).
From 1849 until 1969, a separate
Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
was assigned originally to the first Sunday in July, later to the first
day of the month. This feast was removed from the General Roman
Calendar in 1969, "because the Most Precious Blood of Christ the
Redeemer is already venerated in the solemnities of the Passion, of
Corpus Christi and of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and in the feast of the
Exaltation of the Holy Cross. But the Mass of the Most Precious Blood of
Our Lord Jesus Christ is placed among the votive Masses".
[20]
Celebration
Roman Catholic Church
The feast of Corpus Christi is one of five occasions in the year on
which a diocesan bishop is not to be away from his diocese unless for a
grave and urgent reason.
[21]
By tradition, Catholics hear Mass then go in procession through the
streets of their parish church’s neighborhood, all whilst praying and
singing. The Eucharist, known as the Blessed Sacrament, is placed in a
monstrance and is held aloft by a member of the clergy during the
procession. After the procession, parishioners return to the church,
where Benediction usually takes place.
[22]
Anglicanism
The celebration of Corpus Christi was abolished in England in 1548.
[23][24] The
Church of England
always keeps the celebration, known also as The Day of Thanksgiving for
the Institution of Holy Communion (Corpus Christi). This is assigned
the status of a
Festival.
[25] The feast is also celebrated by
Anglo-Catholic parishes, even in provinces of the Anglican Communion that do not officially include it in their calendars.
McCausland's Order of Divine Service, the most commonly used
ordo in the
Anglican Church of Canada, provides lections for the day.
Lutheranism
Martin Luther spoke out against
transubstantiation as well as the
elevation (ritual raising) of the
consecrated elements. He was further mortified by Corpus Christi as he believed the festival was idolizing the
sacramental bread. In one of his
postils (homilies), he wrote
I am to no festival more hostile ... than this one. Because it is the
most shameful festival. At no festival are God and his Christ more
blasphemed, than on this day, and particularly by the procession. For
then people are treating the Blessed Sacrament with such ignominy that
it becomes only play-acting and is just vain idolatry. With its
cosmetics and false holiness it conflicts with Christ's order and
establishment. Because He never commanded us to carry on like this.
Therefore beware of such worship![26]
The feast was retained in the calendars of the
Lutheran Church until about 1600.
[27]
Calvinism
Like
Lutherans, followers of the
Reformed tradition do not observe the feast.
[28]
Other churches
Corpus Christi is also celebrated by the
Old Catholic Church, the
Liberal Catholic Church and by some
Western Rite Orthodox Christians. It is commemorated in the liturgical calendars of the more
Latinized Eastern Catholic Churches.
Folk celebrations
In medieval times in many parts of Europe, Corpus Christi was a time for the performance of
mystery plays. The
plays in York, England
were performed on Corpus Christi Day for some 200 years until
suppressed in the sixteenth century during the Protestant Reformation.
In
Catalonia, Corpus Cristi is celebrated with the tradition of the
dancing egg. There is evidence this tradition dates from the 16th century.
In the village of Castrillo de Murcia near
Burgos, the celebration includes the practice of
El Colacho (baby jumping).
In the southern highlands of the
Cusco Region of
Peru, the festival of
Quyllurit'i
is held near Corpus Cristi in the Sinaqara Valley. As many as 10,000
pilgrims come from neighboring areas. Culminating on Trinity Sunday,
this festival marks the return in the sky of the
Pleiades constellation, known in the
Quechua language as
Qullqa, or "storehouse", as it is associated with the upcoming harvest and New Year.
Date
Corpus Christi is a
moveable feast, celebrated on the Thursday after
Trinity Sunday[4] or, in countries where it is not a
holy day of obligation, on the following Sunday.
The earliest possible Thursday celebration falls on May 21 (as in
1818 and 2285), the latest on June 24 (as in 1943 and 2038). The Sunday
celebrations occur three days later.
Corpus Christi is a public holiday in some
countries with a predominantly Catholic population including, amongst others,
Austria,
Argentina,
Brazil,
Bolivia, parts of
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Chile,
Colombia,
Croatia,
Dominican Republic,
East Timor,
Haiti, (Jerusalem)
Israel,
parts of Germany,
Grenada,
Liechtenstein,
Monaco,
Paraguay,
Peru,
Poland,
Portugal, parts of
Puerto Rico,
San Marino,
Spain, parts of
Switzerland,
Saint Lucia,
Trinidad and Tobago, parts of the
United States, and
Venezuela.
[citation needed]
See also
References
"Sanctissimi Corpus et Sanguis Christi." Roman Missal, 2011 Latin to English translation
"Corpus Christi, Feast of". Encyclopædia Britanica. 1974.
"Benedict
XVI. "St. Juliana: the Nun Who Gave Us the Feast of Corpus Christi",
general audience address of Nov. 17, 2010, which he dedicated to St.
Juliana". Zenit.org. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
"Mershman,
Francis. "Feast of Corpus Christi." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4.
New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 17 Jun. 2013". Newadvent.org. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
"Vie
de Sainte Julienne de Cornillon" by J.P. Delville, Published by the
Institute of Medieval Studies at the Catholic University at Louvain pp.
120-123
Phyllis Jestice, Holy people of the world Published by ABC-CLIO, 2004 ISBN 1-57607-355-6 page 457
Barbara R. Walters, The Feast of Corpus Christi (Penn State Press 2006 ISBN 978-0-271-04831-4), p. 9
The decree is preserved in Anton Joseph Binterim, Vorzüglichsten Denkwürdigkeiten der Christkatholischen Kirche (Mainz, 1825-41), together with parts of the first liturgy written for the occasion.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Corpus Christi, Feast of". Encyclopædia Britannica. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 193.
Walters (2006), p. 12
Walters (2006), page 12
Oxford History of Christian Worship By Geoffrey Wainwright, Oxford University Press 2006 ISBN 0-19-513886-4, page 248
Miri Rubin, Corpus Christi: The Eucharist in Late Medieval Culture (Cambridge University Press 1991 ISBN 978-0-52143805-6), pp. 181–182
Walters (2006), p. 13
Mathiesen,
Thomas J. (Winter 1983). "The Office of the New Feast of Corpus
Christi" in the Regimen Animarum at Brigham Young University". The Journal of Musicology. 2 (1): 13–44. JSTOR 763576.
General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 375
Roman Missal, Mass of the Lord's Supper, 38
Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1969), p. 66
Manlio Sodi, Achille Maria Triacca (editors), Missale Romanum: Editio Princeps (1570) (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1998 ISBN 978-88-209-2547-5), pp. 399–401
Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1969), p. 128]
Code of Canon Law, canon 395 §3
"Katinas, Paula. "Brooklyn's Catholic churches celebrate Feast of Corpus Christi", ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle'',3 June 2013". Brooklyneagle.com. 2013-06-03. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
King, John N., ed. (2004). Voices of the English Reformation: A Sourcebook. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 181.
Rogerson, Margaret (2011). The York Mystery Plays: Performance in the City. York Medieval Press.
CC as Church of England Festival
Luther Martin: Auslegung von Joh 6. 1530, Kirchenpostille 1521, Tischreden
Frank Senn: Christian Liturgy: Catholic and Evangelical, Fortress Press, 1997. p. 344. ISBN 0-8006-2726-1
External links
