Catholic Voice

 Is the Feast of Corpus Christi Relevant Today?

 

We live in an ever increasingly secularized culture. Tolerance is now considered sacred; the sacred no longer tolerated. Ours is a culture of death because God Himself has been pronounced dead. In this cultural context, one may wonder if the faithful public celebration of the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, or more simply Corpus Christi, is relevant to the men and women of this age.

Does Eucharistic piety really make a difference? Are not such public spectacles outdated popular piety—yet another manifestation of a silly, unsophisticated, Catholic, medieval mind set which, like a bad and lingering hangover, just will not go away?

 

True enough, the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ was born of medieval piety. Blessed Juliana of Cornillon (1192-1258), orphaned at age five and raised by the Augustinian nuns she later joined, experienced mystical revelations from Our Lord. In 1223, she told her spiritual director of a vision she had received twenty-five years earlier in 1208. It was of a full moon darkened in one spot. She was told that a great celebration in honour of the Body of Christ is missing from the liturgical calendar. Then, by Divine Providence, Blessed Juliana’s elderly spiritual director, Archdeacon Jacques Pantaleon, was unexpectedly elected pope – Pope Urban IV. In his short pontificate, Pope Urban IV established the Feast of Corpus Christi and employed Saint Thomas Aquinas, O.P. to compose the liturgy for the feast. Today, Saint Thomas’ composition is considered to be the masterpiece of Catholic liturgy. Pope Urban’s successor, Pope Clement V, further mandated that the Feast be celebrated throughout the whole Church. The Franciscans helped promote Corpus Christi by being the first Order to stipulate its observance in their legislation.

 

 

Two Aspects of Growing Eucharistic Piety

 

Two essential aspects of Eucharistic piety grew in the centuries following the institution of the Feast of the precious Body and Blood of Jesus.

 

First is the devotion to Jesus truly and substantially present in the Most Blessed Sacrament as a personal friend. Christians would kneel before our Eucharistic Lord pouring their hearts out in silent adoration and supplication. They found intimacy with Our Lord and so consolation and peace.

 

The second is the “royal progress,” more commonly called a Eucharistic Procession. Christians modeled this form of celebration on the ceremonial of earthly kings and rulers who would visit the various localities of their dominions amid great pomp and circumstance. Accordingly, the Corpus Christi procession is a royal celebration of Jesus Christ, King of king and Lord of lords. Christ’s faithful, who often were at odds with their worldly rulers, would thus show their faith and allegiance to Christ the King enthroned under an ornate canopy in a beautifully gilded and jeweled monstrance. As Jesus was proudly processed down streets duly decorated, the faithful publicly witnessed to their hope in an eternal, celestial kingdom far greater than any earthly province or power—which brings us back to the question of relevance we began with. What does this mean for us today?

Eucharistic Devotion Grew During Troubled Times

 

To answer our question, we must first understand the relevance of Eucharistic devotion in the lives of our ancestors whose pious example comes to us across the ages. We must first appreciate that Eucharistic piety grew as the Church experienced centuries of troubled times. Consider the severe tensions between the state and the Church that resulted from the Pope’s refusal to allow secular kings to name and invest new bishops. One must also acknowledge the not infrequent cases of clergy scandal. At the same time, Christianity was under attack from Islamic invaders which led to the crusades. Certain heretical groups such as the Cathari and the Waldensians denied that the Eucharist is really Jesus. Amidst such struggles in the 14th and 15th Centuries, Eucharistic devotion was an expression of the Church’s constant faith and confidence in Jesus’ Real Presence—that He indeed “remains with us” until the end of time.

 

The innovations of 16th Century Protestantism denied certain points of authentic Christian teaching as revealed by Jesus. This caused the Church to reiterate the sublime truths about the Blessed Sacrament and led to the practice of Eucharistic “Forty Hours” devotions. In fact, the great Saints of the counter-reformation all practiced and promoted such devotions. All Christ’s faithful found in the Eucharist the eternal font of grace and spiritual strength in those trying times.

 

The 17th and 18th Centuries were a time that great churches and shrines were built where the faithful could honour and adore our Eucharistic Lord. But the 19th Century was a time of severe persecution for Catholics in Spain and in France during the French Revolution. Eucharistic piety then took on a dimension of reparation. The most striking example of this was the erection of the majestic Sacred Heart Basilica high above Paris on Montmartre where there has been perpetual adoration since the 1870’s. Even the allied bombing of Paris did not interrupt the devout prayers of the faithful at the basilica! Who would dare question the relevance of Eucharistic devotion for those prayer warriors?

 

 

Growing Devotion in Present Troubles

 

 We arrive at our present time with its own unique set of problems rooted, as we said, in secularism. Our starting point was the question of whether or not Eucharistic piety, especially in its most solemn form, the Feast of Corpus Christi, is relevant for us here and now. The answer is a resounding YES! This “yes” is echoed in Pope Paul VI’s encyclical, Mysterium Fidei, canon 944 of the 1983 Code of Canon law; John Paul the Great’s final encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia and its follow-up document, Redemptionis Sacramentum, which was written in collaboration with the future Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger). All of these strongly promote expressions of Eucharistic piety, especially the solemn celebration of Corpus Christi, as an extension of the graces of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Perhaps even more persuasive is the number of conversions and vocations emerging out of Eucharistic movements such as Youth 2000 (essentially a “Forty Hours” devotion adapted for teens and young adults) and the transformation and renewal experienced in those parishes that have started perpetual adoration. Eucharistic Congresses have also been a source of renewal in the Church. The proof is in the pudding. These grassroots Eucharistic movements reverberate a clear and convincing “yes” that Eucharistic piety is not only relevant, but more necessary and, therefore, more powerful than ever.

History teaches us why Eucharistic piety remains an essential and vital force in the clash between Christ and contemporary culture. Jesus says, “I Am the Bread of Life.” Jesus was crucified 2000 years ago, and for 2000 years His Mystical Body, the Church, has been sharing in His passion and death. Yet, the Bread of Life is our sharing in the Resurrection of Jesus, “the Living Bread come down from heaven.” There can be no better weapon to destroy the culture of death than the Bread of Life where He Who trampled down death by death is alive, truly present and all-powerful. Indeed, Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and at the same time, He no longer calls us servants but friends. Like the Christians of old, we can find peace and strength with our Friend, Jesus, in quiet, prayerful adoration. Like the Christians of old, we cannot wait to be “tolerated” before we declare the universal kingship of Jesus publicly, for instance, through Eucharistic processions of the Feast of Corpus Christi.

 

 

Our Goal is Conversion Not Tolerance

 

Jesus was never tolerated, neither will His Church be, nor us as His members. Besides, if we are aiming for mere tolerance, then we are shooting at the wrong target. Our goal is much loftier and more sublime, the conversion of sinners, the salvation of souls. This can only be accomplished through prayer and Christian witness, both privately and in public. There is no other way, and the Way is a person, Jesus Christ, forever present and powerful in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, the Bread of Life. God is alive. The godless culture of death is already destroyed. Let us not be afraid to stand victorious with Jesus in a Eucharistic culture, a culture of life-giving, sacrificial and ultimately Christian love.

 

This feature is categorised under Life Matters