26 May: Feast of Corpus Christi
PANIS ANGELICUS (Lyric)
Cesar Franck
Panis angelicus
Fit panis hominum;
Dat panis coelicus
Figuris terminum;
O res mirabilis!
Manducat dominum
Pauper, pauper
Servus et humilis.
Pauper, pauper
Servus et humilis.
Panis angelicus
Fit panis hominum;
Dat panis coelicus
Figuris terminum;
O res mirabilis!
Manducat dominum
Pauper, pauper
Servus et humilis.
Pauper, pauper
Servus, servus et humilis.
________________
(translation)
HEAVENLY BREAD
Heavenly bread
That becomes the bread for all mankind;
Bread from the angelic host
That is the end of all imaginings.
Oh, miraculous thing!
This body of God will nourish
Even the poorest,
The most humble of servants.
Even the poorest,
The most humble of servants.
Heavenly bread
That becomes the bread for all mankind;
Bread from the angelic host
That is the end of all imaginings.
Oh, miraculous thing!
This body of God will nourish
Even the poorest,
The most humble of servants.
Even the poorest,
The most humble of servants.
From the Vatican…
OFFICE FOR THE LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS
OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF
Communion received on the tongue and while kneeling
The most ancient practice of distributing Holy Communion was, with all probability, to give Communion to the faithful in the palm of the hand. The history of the liturgy, however, makes clear that rather early on a process took place to change this practice.
From the time of the Fathers of the Church, a tendency was born and consolidated whereby distribution of Holy Communion in the hand became more and more restricted in favor of distributing Holy Communion on the tongue. The motivation for this practice is two-fold: a) first, to avoid, as much as possible, the dropping of Eucharistic particles; b) second, to increase among the faithful devotion to the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
Saint Thomas Aquinas also refers to the practice of receiving Holy Communion only on the tongue. He affirms that touching the Body of the Lord is proper only to the ordained priest.
Therefore, for various reasons, among which the Angelic Doctor cites respect for the Sacrament, he writes: “. . . out of reverence towards this Sacrament, nothing touches it, but what is consecrated; hence the corporal and the chalice are consecrated, and likewise the priest’s hands, for touching this Sacrament. Hence, it is not lawful for anyone else to touch it except from necessity, for instance, if it were to fall upon the ground, or else in some other case of urgency” (Summa Theologiae, III, 82, 3).
Over the centuries the Church has always characterized the moment of Holy Communion with sacredness and the greatest respect, forcing herself constantly to develop to the best of her ability external signs that would promote understanding of this great sacramental mystery. In her loving and pastoral solicitude the Church has made sure that the faithful receive Holy Communion having the right interior dispositions, among which dispositions stands out the need for the Faithful to comprehend and consider interiorly the Real Presence of Him Whom they are to receive. (See The Catechism of Pope Pius X, nn. 628 & 636). The Western Church has established kneeling as one of the signs of devotion appropriate to communicants. A celebrated saying of Saint Augustine, cited by Pope Benedict XVI in n. 66 of his Encyclical Sacramentum Caritatis, (“Sacrament of Love”), teaches: “No one eats that flesh without first adoring it; we should sin were we not to adore it” (Enarrationes in Psalmos 98, 9). Kneeling indicates and promotes the adoration necessary before receiving the Eucharistic Christ.
From this perspective, the then-Cardinal Ratzinger assured that: “Communion only reaches its true depth when it is supported and surrounded by adoration” [The Spirit of the Liturgy(Ignatius Press, 2000), p. 90]. For this reason, Cardinal Ratzinger maintained that “the practice of kneeling for Holy Communion has in its favor a centuries-old tradition, and it is a particularly expressive sign of adoration, completely appropriate in light of the true, real and substantial presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ under the consecrated species” [cited in the Letter “This Congregation” of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 1 July 1, 2002].
John Paul II, in his last Encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia (“The Church comes from the Eucharist”), wrote in n. 61: “By giving the Eucharist the prominence it deserves, and by being careful not to diminish any of its dimensions or demands, we show that we are truly conscious of the greatness of this gift. We are urged to do so by an uninterrupted tradition, which from the first centuries on has found the Christian community ever vigilant in guarding this ‘treasure.’ Inspired by love, the Church is anxious to hand on to future generations of Christians, without loss, her faith and teaching with regard to the mystery of the Eucharist. There can be no danger of excess in our care for this mystery, for ‘in this sacrament is recapitulated the whole mystery of our salvation.’”
In continuity with the teaching of his Predecessor, starting with the Solemnity of Corpus Christi in the year 2008, the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, began to distribute to the faithful the Body of the Lord, by placing it directly on the tongue of the faithful as they remain kneeling. Source – Vatican website
From the Catholic Truth Team…
Happy Feast Day!
Comment:
As always on these devotional threads, readers are invited to discuss any relevant issues, but also to post favourite prayers, hymns, stories – you name it…
Reminder: if you wish to post a video straight onto the page instead of merely the link, then you right click on the video screen (as it’s playing, if you wish) to select “copy embed code”. Then go to the comment box here, and right click to select “paste”. Submit the comment and when it goes up, you will see that the video itself has appeared, not just the link. Now, (I hear you saying) there’s a hint to post some of the lovely hymns of adoration to the Blessed Sacrament! Whatever – Happy Feast of Corpus Christi to all bloggers and visitors to this site … Enjoy!
Comments (65)
A happy Feast Day everyone. Here’s an old hymn that, as someone once said, would bring tears to a glass eye.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2W8mzJ8uvs&w=854&h=480%5D
Happy Feast to all Catholic Truth bloggers!
This is one of my favourite hymns of adoration
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL6zvsRxpMo&w=854&h=480%5D
A truly lovely version of this beautiful hymn! Who are the choir Michaela? In our area Corpus Christi is celebrated on Sunday only, which feels all wrong to me. It should be today. We have lovely peonies in bloom in the garden just now and I always think of them as Corpus Christi flowers having memories of strewing the petals before the Blessed Sacrament as a child. Will this feast have similar memories for today’s children I wonder when it is just another Sunday Mass?
Elizabeth,
I just found the video on YouTube and it doesn’t say anything about the choir but if you click on the bit where it says YouTube on the video it takes you through to the page and you can read about the person who posted it.
Michaela,
Thank you for that beautiful rendition of an old favourite! It’s really beautiful.
I want to post this article from the New Liturgical Movement because it really makes you think – a priest is writing about Communion in the hand and Vatican II on the liturgy. His opening words caught my interest:-
“In my efforts to restore a sense of the sacred in the liturgy, I have often been accused of being “pre-Vatican II.” I usually correct them by saying I am exactly Vatican II. The Second Vatican Council called for few changes in the liturgy, understanding that there had been a great many changes to the Roman liturgy over the centuries, to be sure, but they had been gradual and organic, and typically imperceptible. However, in all of church history, there was never anything like what happened in the years following this Council, in respect to the liturgy.
This weekend we had our first Masses with the new Communion rail. After one of these Masses I was talking with one of the old guard parishioners (great guy), and he loved the rails. He told me that “years ago” (I love that expression), they had a Parish Council meeting, and Fr. X wanted to remove the side altars (along with many other alterations), in this beautiful church. The old guard parishioner said, “It was a hard fought battle that night, but we wore him down and he did only minor alterations.” I said, “My … how times have changed … that priest got criticized for trying to remove sacredness … now I’m getting criticized for trying to bring it back.”
http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2014/03/truth-about-communion-in-hand-while.html#.V0Y2d5ErJhE
Michaela
Thank you for posting the link it was very informative and have reposted it to a few friends and family.
Happy feast day to everyone, when it comes on Sunday.
It’s the Feast of Corpus Christi today Eileenanne.
Vianney,
Perhaps you could confirm the time of the SSPX Edinburgh Mass today. I think I’m right in saying that it is at 12.30 pm.
Mass in the SSPX chapel in Glasgow is at 6.30 pm
Traditional Mass in the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Balornock, is at 7 pm.
Eileenanne,
If you check it out, it is very clear that the Feast of Corpus Christ has always been on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. In the diocesan calendars it is nowadays transferred to the following Sunday, like the majority of the Holy Days of Obligation. Well, we have a new Mass, a new Catechism, a new Rosary, a new Morality,a new Canon Law, a new take on false religions and man-made Christian groups, whereby we now know that they’re all perfectly fine without the Catholic Church, so why not a new calendar and system of transferring Holy Days of Obligation to the nearest Sunday – all designed to make life easier for us all. Which reminds me, we even have a new type of self-sacrifice – enjoying the theatre and creative arts for a penance: remember Lentfest, folks?
Happy Feast Day again, one and all!
PS – the June edition is now published online – see Newsletter page on our website.
Yes Editor, Mass in Edinburgh is at 12.30 pm.
Thank you for reminding us of the times for the Glasgow masses Editor.
I have decided to go to Immaculate Heart, as its later time (and closer proximity to our home) mean i will get to spend some time before mass with our baby daughter.
(the earlier mass time would mean I need to go straight from work and would still be out when baby goes to bed, and so I would not see her today at all).
Happy feast day everyone.
It is a lovely day to remember the Miracle of Lanciano.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PJ8BORx1p8
and also this link.
http://www.michaeljournal.org/eucharist3.htm
Theresa Rose,
Many thanks for those links about Lanciano. A timely reminder of a most sobering miracle. Any lay person who handles the Blessed Sacrament should visit those links and reflect seriously on what they are doing. Priests who are lax – very likely a majority, given how few seem to have any aversion to distributing Communion in the hand to all and sundry AND handing over the work of taking the Blessed Sacrament to the sick – would do well to spend time perusing those links on this Day of Days, the Feast of Corpus Christi.
Editor,
Any lay person who handles the Blessed Sacrament should visit those links and reflect seriously on what they are doing.
Just so, perhaps if the hands of the laity were better occupied holding a Paten under their chin WHILST KNEELING at newly reinstalled ALTAR RAILS, then the instances of sacrilege, outrage and indifference would be significantly reduced and a sense of the sacred returned at last.
Right on the button, Gerontius. I’ll never know why the custom of the laity receiving and passing on the paten was changed. I was far more comfortable and balanced physically whilst holding the paten under my own chin with my eyes closed. I held it closer than the server does, in case of accident, and I am distracted by his unnecessary presence at this moment of the greatest intimacy with my Lord and God. The ICKSP church that I sometimes attend has a cloth over the rail under which one awkwardly places ones hands – I can’ t for the life of me see the point of that either.
Christina,
I have never known the laity to hold the paten and pass it along – I’m afraid I would find that very distracting indeed. I would consider it an unnecessary interruption, having just received Holy Communion, to have to turn to my neighbour and pass on the paten. I can think of plenty of ways in which that might become a problem. For example, I’m thinking of a person who has an illness such as Parkinson’s which makes their hand shake – I’d have to be careful to pass on the paten and wait until that person is safely holding it, or if the person beside me is a mother with a young toddler trying to keep the child still, then having to reach out for the paten – no. I have never even heard of such a custom and I hope they don’t introduce it where I attend Mass. I much prefer the altar server to move along with the priest – it’s much more dignified by far, than the thought of the kind of scenarios I’ve described above (both of which apply to real people, known to me) and more.
So, that’s something we’ll have to disagree over, I suspect, although, like you, I cannot see the point of the way people put their hands underneath the altar rail cloth. I’ve never seen the point of that at all.
Editor, I don’t mean to sound pedantic but the paten is the small plate that sits on the chalice and holds the host prior to the consecration. It must be made of the same metal as the chalice and gold plated on top. The plate held under the chin is simply called “the communion plate.”
The passing of the communion plate along the line of communicants was certainly the practice in this diocese and can’t think of one parish where the server held the plate. I’ve also seen this practice in Aberdeen, Dunkeld, Salford and Liverpool diocese. However I can see your point about mothers with children etc.
Vianney
You sound pedantic! I refuse to stop calling it a paten, so there! Call me pedantic!
Athanasius, is that as well as all the other things I call you?
Vianney
Yes, that’s in addition to “sir”, “excellency”, “great one” and “majesty”!
Act casual and say nothing, lest colourful metaphors proceed from your geggie!
Athanasius,
Actually, Vianney was right to correct me, I wasn’t thinking when I typed that, because although there is a name for the “communion plate” I cannot for the life of me remember it, but the paten is the vessel/plate on which the Host is placed by the priest before and after the Offertory. No unconsecrated hands are supposed to touch anything that is used in the Consecration, so I should have known that. Apologies, Vianney, for my lack of attention to pedantitism!
That’s ok Editor.
Athanasius, you’re pedantic. 😉
Vianney,
I asked our priest this evening after Mass about this custom of passing the Communion Plate along the line, and he said it was only permitted where there is no altar server.
There certainly were altar servers when I’ve seen it being done. A lot may be down to local custom.
Local custom? Surely there has to be a rubric about something so important?
Vianney
It might be down to a wee tad of liberal innovation on the part of certain priests. I agree with Editor that there must be a norm for something as important as this.
Isn’t he a mere stripling as well? I think that’s a modern made-up rule!
Editor, you are just too young! In the parish in which I grew up in England and in every church and chapel I attended in the north-west of England and in churches and my college chapel in the northeast, and yes, even in the Outer Hebrides just at the beginning of the NO era, passing the plate was the sole custom I experienced. My first experience of the server holding the plate was when I started going to the SSPX chapel, but by then there was no plate anywhere, and Communion was in the hand. I always remember how, as children, we were taught very carefully and practised how to pass the plate in our preparation for first Holy Communion. To pass it, one kept hold of the right-hand ‘handle’ with one’s right hand, placed the left hand underneath to support it and keep it level and flat in case of fragments, then moved it carefully to the left, without looking, while one’s left neighbour took the left handle and one let go whereupon the neighbour smoothly pulled it across, still level, and took hold of the right handle and held it to receive.
The problems you imagine just didn’t crop up. As I have explained, the action was accomplished without looking at one’s neighbour – the instruction one received as a child emphasised and ensured that as a matter of utmost reverence, while one was constantly and faithfully alert to the importance of fragments by the emphasis on keeping the plate level. At the end of the row the priest would take it and tip it over the ciborium and then hand it to the first communicant in the next row. Trembling hands? Dearie me, I don’t ever recall any, and as for harrassed mums, well, in those days babies and toddlers were NEVER taken to the altar rails.
I was echoing Gerontius out of pure nostalgia. The NO put paid to the Communion plate along with all the old ways (we always called it a plate and not the paten, so I always assumed it was a separate item for the purpose rather than the sacred paten used in the Mass), and for some reason, maybe the trembling hands and the harrassed mums of the changed times, when the Mass returned in my part of the world, lo and behold, there popped up also a plate-bearing server.
Don’t worry about them reintroducing this old custom in your part of the world. They wouldn’t dare! 😂
Christina
All in all, though, one person moving along the line of Communicants with the Communion plate, namely, the altar server, is a better and safer way of doing things. I’m sure you’ll agree.
Nope. 😂
Christina,
“To pass it, one kept hold of the right-hand ‘handle’ with one’s right hand, placed the left hand underneath to support it and keep it level and flat in case of fragments, then moved it carefully to the left, without looking, while one’s left neighbour took the left handle and one let go whereupon the neighbour smoothly pulled it across, still level, and took hold of the right handle and held it to receive.”
I can’t imagine having to apply all of that concentration at the moment of receiving Holy Communion, when we are supposed to adore the Blessed Sacrament. Sorry, I don’t find it at all convincing – the simple reception of Holy Communion has to become an art form!
I agree with Athanasius that one person (i.e. altar server) moving along the line with the Communion plate is far better, far more dignified that the constant movement of all Communicants.
As for the disabled – we have at least three in our chapel alone; I’m surprised you didn’t notice them when you visited a couple of weeks ago and one of those has a shaking hand issue, similar to (but not) Parkinson’s.
As for the mothers with toddlers – one of them is coming to the Conference so I will introduce you and let her explain why she brings her toddler to the altar rails and other stories to show you how bright and knowledgeable that three year old is already about the Faith. Yes, we are living in changed times, but not every “change” is bad. Some things may even be better!
Editor and Athanasius, I can’t understand why this simple matter has caused such a kerfuffle. You, Ed, said you had never witnessed the practice of passing the plate, yet you drew a vivid cariciature of what it would be like from your own imagination!
Now you say ‘I can’t imagine having to apply all of that concentration at the moment of receiving Holy Communion’. Surey if you have so carefully read my post and have quoted from it, you should understand that with all that preparation fron the age of 6yrs. the action of passing the plate became entirely automatic and the idea of it reqiring ‘concentration’ is !ike saying you need concentration to change gear while driving.
I’m not attacking the disabled or mothers with toddlers, nor do I need to be told why they now bring them to the altar. I was just stating the fact that before the changes in the Church and society, the disabled managed to comply with Church discipline somehow, and young children were not brought to the altar because this was unnecessary in those days.
As I said, the surprisingly passionate arguments are coming from those who, I presume, have no memories of the customs of the days and disciplines I intended to refer to rather more lightly. The SSPX Prior asked about it is a young priest who would know the answer only if he was interested in these pre-Vat.II disciplines – a vast subject.
Anyway perhaps this will settle the matter. Someone thought that there should be a ‘rubric’ about it. There WAS a rubric in ‘Rituale Romanum’ which remained in force until the NO was promulgated. It was binding on the whole Latin Church but was almost universally the discipline long before 1929.
INSTRUCTION OF THE SACRED CONGREGATION FOR THE SACRAMENTS
(dated March 2nd, 1929)
‘AT THE MOMENT THE PRIEST GIVES THE COMMUNICANTS THE SACRAMENT, THEY HOLD THE PATEN BELOW THEIR CHIN’.
I note the use of the word ‘paten’, but as Vianney has pointed out this was not the paten used during the Holy Sacrifice, and is more properly called the Communion plate.
As you have said, Ed, times have changed. I have no doubt that if a plate were to be let loose in a modern traditionalist congregation, your imagined scenario would no doubt become reality. That is because hardly any there would have received that early instruction and acquired the habit of passing it reverently and without any apprehension or distraction.
Christina,
I’m not “passionate” about it at all – I’m just relieved that it is not in use today, that’s all. I can hardly be blamed for not having ever seen or heard of this practice and whether or not children were prepared for it early, I personally do not like the idea of it.
It’s not dogma, so we are free to disagree. It just struck me as incongruous that someone would find an altar server holding the Communion plate a distraction but not that (in my opinion) very much more complicated system.
That’s all! did not mean to cause a “kerfuffle” but, with respect, in a discussion, whether oral or written, someone probing or putting an opposite view (dogma aside) should not be considered as causing a “kerfuffle”. I take your point about early instruction, but presumably there was a reason why it was stopped. I doubt if it were because the parishes were inundated with requests from boys to serve.
And now for my gratitude… I’m now glad to know something I didn’t know before so thank you for that. I just can’t be false and pretend I’m indifferent to it or worse, lie and say I like it, when I don’t. And when I mentioned it to one of my Great-Nephews who serves, he was surprised and said it would seem very strange for the server to be left with nothing to do while the Communion plate was passed along by the Communicants.
As I said at the outset, I think we will just have to agree to disagree on this one.
KEEP THIS TO YOURSELVES!
And the really bad news is that the above Instruction of the SCS remains in force unless I’m much mistaken, in the 1962 Ritual, and this, together with the other 1962 liturgical books, are the ones we are permitted to use. Archbishop Lefebvre did, I believe, accept the last (1962) edition of the books of the traditional Mass. Therefore all the ways of using the Communion plate other than passing it amount, to ‘disobedience’ – unintentional of course.
No pre-Vat.I I priest would have wilfully disobeyed the smallest rubric without consciousness of at least venial sin. But the pick and choose mindset and the lack of rigidity of the NO have inevitably led to a certain disregard of rubrics even among traditional orders and priests. Unfortunately until we once more have the competent authorities to mandate minor changes, consistent with organic growth, that our times require, we will muddle along and have arguments based on personal preferences. It all used to be so simple!
Ed, true, rubrics aren’t dogma, but they are known as ‘positive laws’. They apply to priests, not laity, so you are in the clear! So also, I should think, are those orders and priests who respond pastorally (NB Pope Francis) to the changed times in such comparatively minor ways.
Christina,
My Parish Priest prior to Vatican II was detested by all and sundry because he was so strict. I would be astonished if he deliberately disobeyed any rubric of the Mass.
And, with respect, it’s not about “personal preference” – I dislike the idea of passing on the plate because it does NOT, contrary to what you say and what may be the intention, appear to me to be likely to safeguard the Host.
I’ve been receiving Communion calmly and without any problem at every TLM I’ve ever attended, whether as a child or an adult. I do not see how – by the wildest stretch of the imagination – passing along the Communion plate, all that additional movement, could possibly add to the protection of the Sacred Species. I would consider it would have the very opposite effect.
In any event, I came across the following extract in an article, where your extract is cited, although you don’t give the paragraph number, but I presume the quote is giving the entire context:
“The editor quoted a response of the Sacred Congregation of Rites from 20 March 1875. “Substitute for the Usual Communion Cloth,” Irish Ecclesiastical Record 8 (1887) 370-372. See also “Communion Cloth or Plate,” American Ecclesiastical Review 56 (1917) 49-57, 194-195, 293-296; “Communion Plate Tolerated,” ibid., 59 (1918) 307.
Within a few years, however, the use of the communion plate was not merely tolerated, but required. In 1929, the SCS [AAS 21 (1929) 631-639] “ordered that a small metal plate, gilt on the inner surface, must be held beneath the chin of persons receiving Holy Communion. No shape was prescribed, but for convenience it is better that there are two small handles at each side. Should it be the custom for the server to hold the plate, one long handle is more convenient. The plate should be about the size of an ordinary paten used at Mass, and without a rim, so that it can be purified easily.” Peter F. Anson, Churches, Their Plan and Furnishing (Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Company, 1948) 183. Source [emphasis added].
However, Christina, since it’s something about which you feel strongly since you have memories of it and I don’t, I am going to defer to you. I can understand that, having been raised with this custom, you are naturally attached to it (as I am to the old hymns with specific tunes! I go crazy when I hear a different tune!) so I am going to say, let’s leave it there. That PP I mentioned, who was notoriously strict, used to say: “I might not always be right, but I’m never wrong” so in that spirit, I will defer to thee – think about that one! 😀
Christina
I have never heard of passing the paten either. Like Editor, I would find that very distracting.
The white cloths under which you place your hands are there to offer some protection for the Blessed Sacrament should it fall from your mouth. You’re supposed to stretch the cloth out as the priest puts the Blessed Sacrament into your mouth.
Athanasius,
I suspected the hands under the cloth was an extra protection against the Host falling, but again I’d never seen that until returning to the old Mass over 10 years ago. Never saw it when I was growing up, although that’s not to say some people didn’t do that, I just have never witnessed it or heard any priest recommend or command it.
Editor
I don’t think it was ever a universal custom. Some parishes used the altar rail cloths and others didn’t, there was no fixed discipline in the matter. You must have grown up in a scruffy parish that couldn’t afford cloths. That’s ok, I grew up in a parish that could barely afford a chapel!
My SSPX Chapel uses the cloth. I think it’s a beautiful custom. The utmost respect and veneration must be shown to the Blessed Sacrament and that includes exhausting all measures to protect His Sacred Body from falling to the floor.
Anathema be Communion in the hand!
We had beautiful marble altar rails and I’m sure we had the cloths as well, I just didn’t notice anyone placing their hands underneath. No big deal.
I asked our Prior this evening about the communion plate being handed from person to person and he said that is only permitted when there is no altar server.
Athanasius, well, read my reply to Ed just above your post. First Communion instruction emphasised the way to pass the plate so carefully throughout the Diocese of Shrewsbury and the Archdiocese of Liverpool that I cannot imagine this was not the custom all over England. Dioceses did not ‘do their own thing’ in those days.
Anyway, you should all show more respect and stop arguing with your elders who were there for the Flood. You young folk always think you know better. And it was my birthday, and you all made it HORRIBLE……😭😞😭😞
Christina
I was not aware that you were ready for the bucket. Sorry about that. I had you down as a young thing like me and editor, and here you are telling us that you were around for the flood. Maybe you should change your user name to Methuselah or something more representative of your advanced years!
Only kidding. A belated happy birthday to you with a personal promise that no one-way ticket to a Swiss clinic will be forthcoming from me anytime soon!
Christina,
I say this in all sincerity – Because your love for the Blessed Sacrament shines out, you are a star of the purest gold!
Theresa Rose,
It is a lovely day to remember the Miracle of Lanciano.
Yes Theresa Rose it certainly is, and today brings back many happy memories of those much loved public Eucharistic Processions of my youth.
And many thanks too for the links. I wonder what the reaction would be if that particular miracle happened today? The words “mild curiosity” and “indifference” come to mind.
Unfortunately there is no SSPX Mass in the north of England, but there is a Latin Mass followed by Benediction at 12pm at St Joseph’s church in coxhoe.
John,
Thank you for that – it may help some of our readers/bloggers from the north of England, although it’s a pity there is no SSPX Mass.
John. There are SSPX Masses today in Gateshead at 11 am, Manchester at 12.30 pm and Preston at 7 pm.
Vianney
There is not a Mass at Gateshead today as Fr Wingerdon is away although your probably right about Manchester and Preston. I should have been more clearer in my original post and said the North/East.
I was going by the newsletter but found out this afternoon that the Gateshead Mass was cancelled due to Fr, Wingerden being in Bristol.
John,
There is a High Mass and procession at 7pm at St Joseph’s, High West Street, Gateshead NE8 1LX
There’s also one in St Wilfrids, York, at 6pm – though that might be too far for you.
The LMS lists all the masses in england here:
http://www.lms.org.uk/
Happy Feast Day to everyone!
N O T I C E . . .
I thought I ought to make clear that, although the Society of St Pius X offer Masses on this Feast of Corpus Christi, and remembers it as one of the traditional Holy Days of Obligation, unless it is a Holy Day in the diocese, we are not obliged to attend Mass.
I remember one of our Society priests using this fact to explain clearly to us that the SSPX is not “schismatic”. It’s the example I give myself when the subject comes up with people enquiring about the status of the SSPX. Obviously, we would wish to attend Mass on this Feast of all Feasts, but, since it is not observed as a Holy Day in Scotland, there is no obligation to attend.
As one correspondent has just pointed out to me via email, it is only fair to point this out to people who are in work, for example, and may be scrambling around to get to the Glasgow Mass which, at 6.30 pm, makes it difficult for people – especially if they don’t have their own transport – to make it in time. So, nobody should feel guilty if they cannot get to Mass this evening – it’s NOT a Holy Day of Obligation, unless it is observed as such in the Diocese.
Editor
Thank you for this clarification. Yes, the SSPX recognises the authority of the bishops to alter the obligation of Feast days, even if it does regret such alterations. As for the SSPX evening Masses being at 6.30pm, this rules me out completely since I would never get through rush hour traffic on the motorway at that time of the evening. Perhaps the priest superiors of the SSPX should be asked to reflect a little on the suitability of that particular time for Mass. An alteration to the time, say a half hour later, may prove a little inconvenient for them but I’m sure they will be the first to recognise that the sanctfication of souls is much more important. I will raise the matter with the District Superior.
Happy Feast Day to one and all! This is a particularly good day to offer those Fatima Angel prayers in reparation for so many sins committed against Our Lord in the most Blessed Sacrament.
I take it you mean these prayers, Athanasius, reproduced here for ease of reference…
THE ANGEL OF FATIMA’S PRAYERS OF REPARATION
My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You. I ask pardon of You for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You.
Most holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly. I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference by which He is offended.
And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of poor sinners. Amen.
Editor
Yes, I did mean those prayers. I should have put them up but just assumed everyone knows them. Thanks for posting them.
https://damselofthefaith.wordpress.com/2016/05/26/corpus-christi-2016-the-feast-of-the-most-blessed-sacrament/
A good compilation of meditations and chants for the Feast of Corpus Christi, from my blog. Feel free to add anything meditation worthy in the comments for this most glorious of Feasts.
A Blessed Feast of Corpus Christi to all!
Update on Masses this evening…
Notice from the Immaculate Heart of Mary parish, Balornock, Glasgow…
Corpus Christi sung traditional Latin Mass and procession this evening at 7 pm. It will be followed by tea in the hall. Men are needed for carrying the canopy and ladies with flowers for the procession. End of Notice…
I was very sad not to be able to get to Mass today as I was born on Corpus Christi, and so was my grandmother, though on different dates. We kept our joint birthday on the feast, rather than on the dates, and of course I made my first Holy Communion on Corpus Christi as well.
How tragic it is to see, from Eileen Anne’s post above, that after some 900 years of fittingly celebrating this great feast on a Thursday, in memory of the institution of the Holy Eucharist, this vital connection is lost to the modern Catholic in the modern Church.
Anyway, here, if it works, is my offering to end the day.
https://youtu.be/HXjn6srhAlY
Thanks, Christina for such an inspiring end to the feast of Corpus Christi. I, too, feel a great sadness at the demise of such a wonderful feast. I also felt sad at Eileenanne’s remark; it was unnecessary.
I found this article today a day late but I thought I would share it anyway
http://www.barnhardt.biz/2016/05/26/feast-of-corpus-christi/
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this Feast Day thread – we left it open to allow any diocesan Catholics who may have marked the Feast today instead of Thursday, to comment.
This thread is now closed – again, with thanks to everyone who commented, posted videos etc.
Comments are closed.