CORPUS DOMINI — People carrying statues on their shoulders awaiting their turn to take part in the Corpus Christi procession at Visperterminen, Valais (Switzerland).
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FOLKLORE. — The most important episode in the popular festival is the procession.
The splendor of the greenery and flowers with which the streets and squares of cities and towns along the route of the procession are adorned is complemented by the display of tapestries, carpets, and blankets. Orvieto remains the center where the festival preserves the highest significance and the most solemn tone. Preceded by long processions of confraternities, girls dressed as angels, pious women carrying tapestries depicting scenes of the miracle, and young men dressed in the costumes of various trades (wool workers, blacksmiths, etc.), the Reliquary of the Most Holy Corporal, borne by priests and followed by the bishop, is carried in procession beneath a rich canopy. In some places, flowers are also used to decorate the street through which the procession passes. Famous is the *inforata* of Genzano (Rome), in which the entire uphill street leading from the square to the church is carpeted with flowers for a length of about 300 meters, divided into various sections with different designs and harmonious color effects. In Sicily, the procession passes over actual carpets that skilled workers, with extraordinary speed, lay out on the ground as the sacred procession advances. In Bologna, the “sagra degli addobbi” (festival of decorations) instituted by Cardinal Paleotti in 1566 takes place. For two or three Sundays following the feast, certain parishes of the city, according to a ten-year rotation, adorn their districts with garlands of herbs and flowers, while rich carpets hang from the windows. In past centuries, numerous allegorical floats also participated: in the festival celebrated in 1677 by the parish of Santa Maria del Paradiso, a pyramid of 3,400 ounces of bread was erected near the church, its base formed by eight barrels of wine from which the people could freely draw. In Vicenza, the festival of the “rua” (wheel) took place, a large wooden structure in the shape of a tower or castle, 24 meters high, mounted on a cart carried on the shoulders of 80 bearers. The tower was divided into various levels; at the top stood “Justice,” and in the middle revolved the “wheel” that gave the machine its name.
The festival retains dramatic aspects in many regions: well known are the twelve “mysteries” of Campobasso (once eighteen), kinds of floats carried on the shoulders of strong young men and depicting sacred scenes through plastic tableaux (St. Anthony, St. Isidore, the Magdalene, the Immaculate Conception, the Sacrifice of Abraham, etc.). At Scanno, too, the Sacrifice of Abraham and other sacred episodes such as the Espousals of the Virgin were represented in silent scenes. There are numerous popular beliefs related to various aspects of the procession. At Ortona, it is believed that the fabrics displayed in windows, blessed as the Most Holy Sacrament passes by, do not wear out; at Lanciano, on the other hand, it is believed that the spot where the great cross, a work of the famous goldsmith Nicola da Guardiagrele (which is carried in procession only for Corpus Christi), comes to a halt indicates the impending death of the head of one of the nearest households.
The feast of Corpus Christi has spread widely outside Italy as well, giving rise to processions with floats, dances, and other expressions of popular joy. — See pl. XXIX.