Feast of Corpus Christi

CORPUS DOMINI - Procession of Corpus Christi in Paris in the 15th century.
Drawing from a miniature of the Missal of the Jouvenel des Ursins
(15th century), destroyed in the fire of the Hôtel de Ville in Paris in
1871.

CORPUS DOMINI, FEAST of

It is the solemnity of the
Most Holy Body of Christ, celebrated on the Thursday after the 1st
Sunday of Pentecost, to commemorate in a wholly
special way the Most Holy Eucharist: sacrifice and Sacrament.

The remote cause of the institution of this feast
must be sought in the new and intense orientation
of theologians and of popular piety toward the Eucharist in the
course of the 12th century, in reaction principally to the errors
of Berengar of Tours (v.) concerning transubstantiation.
In fact, for Robert of Thourotte and for Card. Hugh
of St. Cher the institution of the feast is above all
directed « ad confutandam haereticorum insaniam ».

The feast is connected with the visions of Bl.
Juliana of Mont-Cornillon, who from the Lord
himself received the mission of introducing it into the Church.

Fiercely opposed at the beginning, finally approved by Bishop Robert of Thourotte (or To-rote) in 1246, the following year the feast was celebrated
by the Canons of St. Martin at Liège. In 1247, by
virtue of a synodal constitution of the preceding
year, the feast was instituted in the diocese of Liège. In
1252 Card. Hugh of St. Cher, then pontifical legate
in Germany, introduced it throughout his circumscription, and two years later his successor, Peter
Capocci, confirmed it (J. Chapeville, Gesta Pontif.
Leodien., II, Liège 1613, p. 646 ff.). Urban IV,
formerly archdeacon of Liège, urged by Bishop
Henry of Guelders, and moved also by the miracle
of Bolsena (whose corporal was carried in procession
to Orvieto on 19 June 1264), extended the feast
to the whole Church with the bull Transiturus of 8 Sept.
1264, fixing it on the Thursday after the octave of Pentecost. Clement V confirmed it in 1314.

A first Office of the Most Holy Sacrament was composed by Brother John of the monastery of Mont-Cornillon, under the direction of Bl. Juliana herself. The one
which in Sept. of 1264 Pope Urban IV sent to the recluse

Eva, a masterpiece of theological doctrine, was composed by
St. Thomas Aquinas, who made use of antiphons, lessons and
responsories already in use in certain particular churches.

Here and there the procession with the Most Holy
Sacrament was introduced, which became of common
use especially after the popes Martin V (1417-31) and Eugenius
IV (1431-47; const. Excellentissimus, 1433) had
enriched it with indulgences. The origin of this ceremony derives from the custom of going in procession
in the open air before the sung Mass on major
feasts. The English Benedictines celebrated a eucharistic
procession already in the 11th century on Palm
Sunday (PL 150, 456 ff.); in the 12th century it was the custom to
carry around inside the church the Most Holy Sacrament in
a pyx or in a chalice, and ordinarily the eucharistic
procession was part of the rites of Holy Week
(PL 147, 123: for the Church of Rome). Thus
also on the day of Corpus Christi the custom arose of carrying the
Most Holy Sacrament in procession; for example, at Cologne it was
carried already before 1277. Following a lively desire expressed
by Urban IV, in this procession
eucharistic hymns were sung, especially those of
St. Thomas; the blessing was given only at the end.
The Most Holy Sacrament was often carried on "caskets" or
"litters" richly adorned, supported by priests.
The necessity of procuring the greatest possible decorum for these
processions gave origin to the confraternity of the Most Holy
Sacrament. In the 15th century in Germany the custom was introduced of giving
the blessing with the Most Holy Sacrament
four times outside the church, preceded by the
singing of the beginnings of the four Gospels. In the same
15th century there also originated the spectacles or eucharistic
representations, especially of the Passion
or of the Last Supper of the Lord, which in Spain in the
17th century rose to great fame and perfection in the
Autos sacramentales (Calderón). They nevertheless slowly
fell into disuse in the 18th century.

According to the prescriptions of the Church the procession takes place in the morning after the solemn Mass; the
rite is described in the Roman Ritual, tit. IX, ch. 5.
In every center (city, village even of several
parishes) on the day of Corpus Christi only one procession is held in the principal church; all religious
families must take part in it, even exempt ones,
with the exception of those regulars who live in strict
perpetual enclosure or dwell more than three miles
from the city; all confraternities of the laity must also
take part (can. 1291 § 1); in all other
churches or parishes the procession may be held within
the octave, even outside the church. Throughout the octave
the solemn exposition of the Most Holy Sacrament is permitted
during Mass and at Vespers; at other times
it is not lawful except for a grave cause (can. 1274 § 1).

Filippo Oppenheim

FOLKLORE

The most important episode in the popular feast is the procession.

The splendor of the greenery and flowers with which the streets and squares of cities and villages are adorned along the entire route of the procession is completed by the display of tapestries, carpets and coverlets. Orvieto remains the center where the feast preserves its highest meaning and its most solemn tone. Preceded by long trains of confraternities, of girls dressed as angels, of pious women carrying tapestries with scenes of the miracle, of young men dressed in the costumes of the various crafts (wool merchants, blacksmiths, etc.), the Reliquary of the Most Holy Corporal, supported by priests and followed by the bishop, is carried in procession beneath a rich baldachin. In some villages flowers are also used for the decoration of the street along which the procession passes. Famous is the "inflorata" 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 m. and divided into various zones with different designs and clever color effects. In Sicily the procession passes over veritable carpets which skilled workmen, with extraordinary promptness, spread on the ground as the sacred cortege advances. In Bologna the "sagra degli addobbi" takes place, instituted by Cardinal Paleotti in 1566. For two or three Sundays following the feast, certain parishes of the city, according to a ten-year rotation, adorn their own district with garlands of herbs and flowers, while rich carpets hang from the windows. In past centuries numerous allegorical floats also took part in it: in the sagra celebrated in 1677 by the parish of S. Maria del Paradiso, a pyramid of 3400 ounces of bread was erected near the church, with its base formed by eight barrels of wine, from which the people could draw freely. In Vicenza there took place the feast of the "rua" (wheel), a great wooden machine in the shape of a tower or castle, 24 m. high and resting on a cart supported on the shoulders of 80 bearers. The tower was divided into various tiers; at the top "Justice" sat enthroned; in the middle turned the "wheel" that gave the machine its name. In many regions the feast retains dramatic aspects: well known are the twelve "mysteries" of Campobasso (once there were eighteen), a kind of machine carried on the shoulders of robust young men and representing sacred scenes by means of 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 Marriage of the Virgin were represented in dumb show. Numerous are the beliefs of the common people concerning the various aspects of the procession. At Ortona it is held that the fabrics displayed at the windows, blessed at the passage of the Most Holy, will not be moth-eaten; at Lanciano, on the other hand, it is believed that the spot where the great cross rests — a work of the famous goldsmith Nicola da Guardiagrele, which is carried in procession only for Corpus Domini — indicates the imminent death of the head of one of the nearest houses.

The feast of Corpus Domini has also enjoyed very great diffusion outside Italy, giving rise to displays with floats, dances, and other expressions of popular joy. - See plate XXIX.

Paolo Toschi