The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)

Jubilee Holy Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope

June is the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus 

From your heart let praises burst.

HEART OF MARY, UNITED TO THE HEART OF JESUS,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

HEART OF JESUS, TABERNACLE OF THE MOST HIGH,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;

whoever eats this bread will live forever.

Alleluia.

Welcome to Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, a feast instituted by Pope Urban IV in 1264. I believe, help my unbelief. 

In the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time, still in the month of June dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we have the privilege of celebrating the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist on June 24th, followed by the celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 27th, followed by the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary on June 28th. My heart will rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord who has been bountiful to me (Psalm 13). How about this from 17th century Camaldolese hermit Dom Roberto: "The precise will of God is that we serve, honor, and tenderly love Mary." Heart of Mary, most humble, pray for us.

There are certainly more than a few Eucharistic processions happening throughout the world today. Among other ones, both small and large, there is the one in Orvieto, Italy.  It is a marvel to behold. Hundreds and hundreds of locals arrayed in medieval attire process through the streets with the Holy Eucharist and the Sacred Corporeal "The Miracle of Bolsena." About the Sacred Corporeal, it is said that Peter of Prague, a Bohemian priest, a doubting one at that, while on his way to Rome in 1263, stopped in Bolsena to celebrate Mass. During the celebration of the Mass, drops of blood started falling from the communion bread he was holding; the drops stained the corporeal. When Pope Urban IV heard of this, he had the sacred corporeal moved to Orvieto, where it is kept at the Cathedral of Orvieto* (awesome), in the Chapel of the Corporeal. My favorite image of Our Lady hangs there, Madonna de Raccomandati, loosely translated as Our Lady of Mercy. In it, Our Lady, surrounded by angels, spreads her protective veil over men and women of the medieval period. I have had the holy card in my monthly missal for years. Our Lady of Mercy, Our Lady of those recommended to her, cover us in your protective veil. May we receive the "grace of a deeper gratitude for what we receive in the Holy Eucharist" (Magnificat, June 22, 2025, Prayer of the Faithful). BTW, Peter of Prague no longer doubted. However, I am not sure. ☺

My nearly 100 sheets of voices include many who have something to say about the Eucharist. I include a few and conclude with a doozy from Pope Benedict XVI, some of which I had the privilege of proclaiming at Vigils last night. 

The Eucharistic sacrifice is the fount and apex of the whole Christian life.

(Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium Christ is the light of the nations, 11) 

Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth, the Blessed Sacrament. There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth.

(J.R.R. Tolkien, 1892-1973)

Very bread, good shepherd tend us,

Jesu, of your love befriend us,

You refresh us, you defend us,

Your eternal goodness send us

In the land of life to see.

(Sequence for Corpus Christi Laud, O Zion "Lauda Sion")

Every consecrated host is made to burn itself up with love in a human heart.

(Saint John Vianney, 1786-1859)

Christ gave us the sacraments in order that we might better keep the two great commandments. You will learn about Catholic belief by studying the sacramental life of the Church. The center of this is the Eucharist ... I believe what the Church teaches-that God has given us reason to use and that it can lead us toward a knowledge of Him through analogy; that He revealed Himself in history and continues to do so through the Church, and that He is present (not just symbolically) in the Eucharist on our altars. To believe all this I don't take any leap into the absurd. I find it reasonable to believe, even though these beliefs are beyond reason.

(Flannery O'Connor, 1925-1964, in The Habit of Being, ed. Sally Fitzgerald)

By the Mass and Communion, I must become more and more like Christ.

(Marcel Callo, 1921-1945)

At last God is mine and I am His! Now, let all go its round-I have received Him.

(Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1774-1821, after receiving Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time)

There is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us.

(Saint John Vianney, 1786-1859)

To be always close to Jesus, that is my life's plan.

The Eucharist is my highway to heaven.

The Rosary is the ladder to climb to Heaven.

(Blessed Carlos Acutis, 1991-2006, will be canonized September 7, 2025)

Jesus Eucharistic is a conqueror ... He wants to subject the universe to His gentle sway.

(Saint Peter Julian Eymard, 1811-1868)

Here is some of what Pope Benedict XVI preached on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, June 23, 2011.

Saint Augustine helps us to understand the dynamic of Eucharistic communion when he mentions a sort of vision that he had, in which Jesus said to him: "I am the food of strong men; grow and you shall feed on me; nor shall you change me, like the food of your flesh into yourself, but you shall be changed into my likeness" (Confessions, VII, 10, 18).

Therefore, whereas food for the body is assimilated by our organism and contributes to nourishing it, in the case of the Eucharist it is a different Bread; it is not we who assimilate it, but it assimilates us in itself, so that we become conformed to Jesus Christ, a member of His Body, one with Him. This passage is crucial. In fact, precisely because it is Christ who, in Eucharistic communion changes us into Him, our individuality, in this encounter, is opened, liberated from its egocentrism and inserted into the Person of Jesus who in His turn is immersed in Trinitarian communion. The Eucharist, therefore, while it unites us to Christ also opens us to others, makes us members of one another: we are no longer divided but one in Him. Eucharistic communion not only unites me to the person beside me and with whom I may not even be on good terms, but also to our distant brethren in every part of the world.

As I said, it's a doozy.☺ Until next time, keep the faith and keep going. And day by day, the list of saints of to intercede for us grows ...

SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST,

SAINT PAULINUS OF NOLA,

SAINT THOMAS MORE,

BLESSED BASIL HOPKO,

SAINT JOSEPH CAFASSO,

SAINT ETHELDREDA,

SAINT LUAN,

SAINT WILLIAM OF VERCELLI,

BLESSED MARY JOSEPHINE CATANEA,

SAINT JOSE MARIA ESCRIVA DE BALAGUER,

SAINT PELAGIUS,

SAINT CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA,

SAINT JOHN SOUTHWORTH.

OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL SUCCOUR,

BLESSED NYKYTA BUDKA,

BLESSED VASYL VELYCHKOVSKY,

SAINT LADISLAS,

SAINT ELIZABETH OF SCHONAU,

SAINT IRENAEUS, BISHOP, DOCTOR, MARTYR, 

SAINT VINCENTIA GEROSA,

SAINTS PETER AND PAUL,

THE FIRST MARTYRS OF THE SEE OF ROME,

SAINT JUNIPERO SERRA,

SAINT OLIVER PLUNKETT, 

BLESSED NAZJU FALZON,

SAINT OTTO OF BAMBERG,

SAINT THOMAS THE APOSTLE, 

BLESSED JOHN CORNELIUS,

BLESSED MARIA CROCIFISSA CURCIO,

BLESSED PIER GIORGIO FRASSATTI,

SAINT ELIZABETH OF PORTUGAL,

SAINT ANTHONY MARY ZACCARIA,

OUR LADY OF BUDSLAU,

BLESSED GEORGE NICHOLS, RICHARD YAXLEY, THOMAS BELSON, HUMPRHEY PRITCHARD,

SAINT MODWEN,

SAINT MARIA GORETTI,

SAINT MONNINE,

BLESSED PETER TO ROT,

SAINT MAELRUAIN,

BLESSED MARIA ROMERO MENESES,

SAINT KILIAN,

SAINT WITHBURGA,

SAINTS AQUILA AND PRISCILLA,

THE MARTYRS OF GORCAM,

SAINT AUGUSTINE ZHAO RONG AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS,

SAINT VILLEHAD, MARTYR,

SAINT LEO IGNATIUS, PRIEST, MARY ZHU WU AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS,

BLESSED JANE SCOPELLI,

BLESSED EUGENE III, CISTERCIAN POPE,

VENERABLE AUGUSTUS TOLTON,

SAINT CANUT, KING AND MARTYR, PATRON OF DENMARK,

MARTYRS OF DAMASCUS,

PRAY FOR US.

*See www.duomodiorvieto.it. 

Today's photo: From d and John's garden of delights. Blessed be God Most High.

© Gertrude Feick 2025

Thursday of Holy Week (Holy Thursday) Chrism Mass/Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Maundy Thursday

In other years: Blessed Lucien Botovasoa (1908-1947); Blessed Peter Gonzalez OP (-1246)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 60 The Admission of Priests to the Monastery

Mass: Chrism Mass: Is 61:1-3a, 6a, 8b-9; Resp Ps 89; Rev 1:5-8; Lk 4:16-21/Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper: Ex 12:1-8, 11-14; Resp Ps 116; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Jn 13:1-15

I will call upon the name of the Lord.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

PRAY FOR US.

The sacrament of charity, the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of Himself, thus revealing to us God's infinite love for every man and woman.

(Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum caritatis, 1)

One way to begin this day is with the words of Saint Melito of Sardis, bishop (100-180), from an Easter homily: "There was much proclaimed by the prophets about the mystery of the Passover; that mystery is Christ, and to Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen" (in Office of Readings, Holy Week, Thursday).

The following poem, from Ranier Maria Rilke (1875-1926), was read at Lauds this morning.

OF THE MARRIAGE AT CANA

Could she do otherwise than be proud

of him who made the simplest beautiful to her?

Was not even the lofty, large-accustomed

night as if beside itself when he appeared?

Did not also his once having lost himself

incredibly redound to his glory?

Had not the wisest exchanged ears

for mouths? And was not the house

as new at his voice? Ah,

surely she had hundreds of times restrained

herself from radiating her delight

in him. She followed him amazed.

But there at that wedding feast,

when unexpectedly there was no wine,-

she looked across and begged him for a gesture

and did not understand that he protested.

And then he did it. She realized later

how she had pressed him into his way:

for now he was really performing miracles,

and the whole sacrifice was decreed,

irresistibly. Yes, it was written.

But was it already prepared?

She: she had brought it on

in the blindness of her vanity.

At the table full of fruits and vegetables

she rejoiced with the rest and did not understand

that the water of her tear glands

had turned to blood with this wine.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

(1 Cor 11:26)

BLESSED LUCIEN BOTOVASOA,

BLESSED PETER GONAZALEZ,

PRAY FOR US.

NB. We pray especially for priests today, as they celebrate the Chrism Mass. How fitting too that our reading from the Holy Rule of Saint Benedict is from Ch 60 on the admission of priests to the monastery. One thing Saint Benedict teaches is this, for any priest who asks to be received into the monastery: "He must recognize that he is subject to the discipline of the rule, and not make exceptions for himself, but rather give everyone an example of humility" (RB 60:5). Our holy father's exhortation seems relevant for all times. May Saint John Vianney intercede for all priests. Thank you, all priests, religious and diocesan, for your service to God and the Church.

Friendly reminder that the Paschal Triduum of the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord begins today, with the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper. United in faith and prayer, we march on to Jerusalem.

Today's photo: This one can speak for itself.

© Gertrude Feick 2022