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(Feast of the Body of Christ)
Thisfeast is celebrated in theLatin Church on the Thursday afterTrinity Sunday tosolemnly commemorate the institution of theHoly Eucharist.
OfMaundy Thursday, which commemorates this great event, mention is made asNatalis Calicis (Birth of the Chalice) in the Calendar of Polemius (448) for the 24th of March, the 25th of March being in some places considered as the day of the death ofChrist. This day, however, was inHoly Week, a season of sadness, during which theminds of thefaithful are expected to be occupied with thoughts of theLord's Passion. Moreover, so many other functions took place on this day that the principal event was almost lost sight of. This is mentioned as the chief reason for the introduction of the newfeast, in theBull "Transiturus."
The instrument in the hand ofDivine Providence wasSt. Juliana ofMont Cornillon, inBelgium. She was born in 1193 at Retines nearLiège.Orphaned at an early age, she waseducated by theAugustinian nuns ofMont Cornillon. Here she in time made herreligious profession and later became superioress. Intrigues of various kinds several times drove her from herconvent. She died 5 April, 1258, at the House of theCistercian nuns at Fosses, and wasburied atVilliers.
Juliana, from her early youth, had a greatveneration for theBlessed Sacrament, and always longed for a specialfeast in itshonour. This desire is said to have been increased by avision of theChurch under the appearance of the full moon having one dark spot, which signified the absence of such asolemnity. She made known herideas to Robert de Thorete, thenBishop ofLiège, to the learnedDominicanHugh, latercardinallegate in theNetherlands, and toJacques Pantaléon, at that timeArchdeacon ofLiège, afterwardsBishop ofVerdun,Patriarch ofJerusalem, and finallyPope Urban IV. Bishop Robert was favourably impressed, and, sincebishops as yet had theright of orderingfeasts for theirdioceses, he called asynod in 1246 and ordered the celebration to be held in the following year, also, that amonk named John should write the Office for the occasion. Thedecree is preserved inBinterim (Denkwürdigkeiten, V, 1, 276), together with parts of the Office.
Bishop Robert did not live to see the execution of his order, for he died 16 October, 1246; but thefeast was celebrated for the first time by the canons of St. Martin atLiège.Jacques Pantaléon becamepope 29 August, 1261. Therecluse Eve, with whomJuliana had spent some time, and who was also a fervent adorer of theHoly Eucharist, now urged Henry of Guelders,Bishop ofLiège, to request thepope to extend the celebration to the entire world.Urban IV, always an admirer of thefeast, published theBull "Transiturus" (8 September, 1264), in which, after having extolled thelove ofOur Saviour as expressed in theHoly Eucharist, he ordered the annual celebration of Corpus Christi in the Thursday next afterTrinity Sunday, at the same time granting manyindulgences to thefaithful for the attendance at Mass and at the Office. This Office, composed at the request of thepope by theAngelic Doctor St. Thomas Aquinas, is one of the most beautiful in theRoman Breviary and has been admired even byProtestants.
The death ofPope Urban IV (2 October, 1264), shortly after the publication of thedecree, somewhat impeded the spread of thefestival.Clement V again took the matter in hand and, at theGeneral Council of Vienne (1311), once more ordered the adoption of thefeast. He published a newdecree which embodied that ofUrban IV.John XXII, successor ofClement V, urged its observance.
Neitherdecree speaks of the theophoricprocession as a feature of the celebration. Thisprocession, already held in some places, was endowed withindulgences byPopesMartin V andEugene IV.
Thefeast had been accepted in 1306 atCologne; Worms adopted it in 1315;Strasburg in 1316. InEngland it was introduced fromBelgium between 1320 and 1325. In theUnited States and some other countries thesolemnity is held on theSunday afterTrinity.
In theGreek Church thefeast of Corpus Christi is known in thecalendars of theSyrians,Armenians,Copts,Melchites, and theRuthenians of Galicia, Calabria, andSicily.
GUÉRANGER, The Liturgical Year (tr. Worcester, s.d.); BUTLER, Feast and Fasts; KELLNER, Heortologie (2nd ed., Freiburg, 1906); Der Katholic (Aug., 1898), — BÄUMER Gesch. des Breviers (Freiburg, 1895).
APA citation.Mershman, F.(1908).Feast of Corpus Christi. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04390b.htm
MLA citation.Mershman, Francis."Feast of Corpus Christi."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 4.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1908.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04390b.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by Stephen M. LaChance.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, Censor.Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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