The Most Holy Body & Blood of the Lord

Corpus Christi

Pope Urban IV declared Corpus Christi as a universal feast in 1264, making it the first obligatory feast imposed by a pope. He assigned the renowned theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas to compose new liturgical texts for the feast. During a time when scholars debated the nature of Christ's presence in the Eucharist, Saint Thomas defended the doctrine of transubstantiation, providing a philosophical foundation for the Church's understanding of the Eucharist.

Many of the texts composed by Saint Thomas Aquinas for Corpus Christi, such as "Adoro te Devote" and "Pange Lingua," remain integral to the Church's sacred hymnography. "Pange Lingua" is often sung during the Eucharistic procession following the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, with the final two stanzas, known separately as "Tantum ergo," sung during Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

A significant aspect of Corpus Christi is the Eucharistic procession, which holds biblical, liturgical, and pietistic importance. Processions involving sacred elements have a long history, such as the processions with the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament and Christ's triumphal entry into

Jerusalem on Palm Sunday in the New Testament. Eucharistic processions, which emerged shortly after the establishment of Corpus Christi, serve to reaffirm the Church's belief in the real presence of the Blessed Sacrament.

In medieval times, these processions were grand events involving entire towns and cities. They were particularly splendid in European Catholic monarchies, with sovereigns, nobility, civic officials, and military guards participating. The faithful would kneel in adoration as the procession passed by, a tradition still observed in certain Catholic monarchies like the Principality of Monaco.