MADISON — The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, or Corpus Christi, celebrates the Eucharist in more focused way than Holy Thursday. It is traditionally celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, although in many places it is transferred to Sunday.
In 1246, Robert of Thourotte, Bishop of Liège in Belgium, had instituted a feast for the Eucharist at the request of an Augustinian nun and mystic, St. Juliana of Cornillon. Corpus Christi was established for the whole Church by Pope Urban IV in 1264. Its Mass and Office were composed by St. Thomas Aquinas (+1274).
The Feast of Corpus Christi was inspired by a great miracle. In 1263 a German priest, Father Peter of Prague, stopped at Bolsena in Italy on his way to Rome. He had doubts about the Real Presence of Christ in the host.
At the tomb of the virgin martyr St. Christina, Father Peter celebrated Mass. At the consecration, blood began to drip from the host. It bled over his hands onto the linen corporal spread upon the altar.
Father Peter stopped the Mass and asked to be taken to nearby Orvieto, where Pope Urban IV was in residence with his court. The great theologians and Doctors of the Church, St. Bonaventure and St. Thomas, were also there. The pope listened to the priest’s account and began a complete investigation.
Pope Urban ordered the bishop of Orvieto to bring to him both the host and the stained linen corporal. The pope made a great procession with the entire papal court out of Orvieto to meet the other procession as it approached with the host and corporal.
Today, the relics of the miracle at Bolsena are venerated in the great cathedral or “Duomo” of Orvieto which was built for their display, the cornerstone having been laid in 1290. The cathedral and the gold reliquary are wonders of medieval period. Do not miss them if you travel to Italy.
Here’s another thing not to miss, and it is far closer to home.
In Madison, on Thursday, June 4, Bishop Robert C. Morlino will celebrate a Pontifical Mass at the Throne according to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite at the Bishop O’Connor Center at 7 p.m. There will be, weather permitting, a procession with our Eucharistic Lord, on the grounds of the center, with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
So important are processions for the life of the Church that even the Code of Canon Law mentions them: “When it can be done in the judgment of the diocesan bishop, as a public witness of the veneration toward the Most Holy Eucharist, a procession is to be conducted through the public streets, especially on the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ” (can. 944).
Everyone is welcome.
The celebration is organized by the Tridentine Mass Society of Madison (latinmassmadison.org).