Corpus Christi

‘The Body of Christ.’ We hear those words each time we receive Holy Communion. Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ.

Like so many gifts regularly given we can take it for granted, forget the great Mystery of Faith. And so we need some reminders, something to make us think. A feast will do just the job.

The feast of Corpus Christi emerged in the thirteenth century when St Thomas Aquinas made the proposal to Pope Urban IV to create a festival which celebrated the Holy Eucharist as the Body and Blood of Christ.

A distinctive feature of the Feast of Corpus Christi is the procession of the Blessed Sacrament. We are a people on the move and the Eucharist is our food for the journey, our manna in the wilderness.

During the procession, those who take part or stand by and watch on will see the Body of Christ moving through the streets. We hold what we are, carry what we become, the body of Christ in the world, united to him who is our Head.

Whilst the feast takes place on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, many churches have begun to celebrate it on the following Sunday which is what happens in South Cardiff Ministry Area.

At the end of Mass at St Mary’s there’s a procession into the gardens ending with Benediction, a blessing, with the Blessed Sacrament.

But in the evening, our celebrations continue, and many of us travel to St Theodore’s Church in Port Talbot for their Corpus Christi celebrations with Vespers (Evening Prayer), Procession and Benediction. This year, the guest preacher is Fr Richard Green.

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Corpus Christi Sunday is on June 2 with Mass across the churches in the Ministry Area at the usual times in the morning, and a celebration in Port Talbot in the evening.