Quick Takes: Corpus Christi
In honor of the Feast of Corpus Christi, which was observed yesterday, this week's quick takes all relate to the feast day. Most of them are links to Dominican sites, which is fitting, since Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and noted Dominican, was closely associated with Eucharistic devotion.
note: I kept finding cool Corpus Christi links, so there are more than 7 quick takes this week.
The image above, of Saint Thomas Aquinas contemplating the Eucharist is a banner from St. Rose parish in Springfield, KY. The photo was taken by Father Lawrence Lew OP, who notes:
The texts for the Office and Mass of this feast were composed and assembled by St Thomas Aquinas, who is sometimes called the 'Eucharistic Doctor' because of his sublime teaching on the mystery of the Eucharist. To hear St Thomas' Sequence hymn, Lauda Sion Salvatorem being sung (be me!), visit this page. - source
Brother Alan Piper, OP, offers a primer on Corpus Christi, "This Really is His Body," on the Dominicana blog:
The Eucharist contains “the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1324). This great gift is offered to us as a sacrament, that is, as a sacred, saving sign. But unlike some other signs (for instance, a photo of a loved one), in the case of the Eucharist, the sign literally involves the real presence of Christ in his humanity and divinity. This is why Catholics genuflect and kneel in the presence of the Eucharist. And this is the reason for the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament which is characteristic of celebrations of Corpus Christi. After the consecration, there is no longer any bread or wine on the altar. Jesus is there under the appearances of bread and wine, offering himself for the life of the world. - source
Dominicana is a blog of the Dominican Studium of the St. Joseph Province of the Order of Preachers. Check out the other posts, it's well worth your time.
Sunday was the feast day the Dominican Contemplative nuns at Corpus Christi Monastery in Menlo Park, California. Here is the invite to their celebration as posted on their blog.
- The monastery of Corpus Christi is a strikingly beautiful place, which I featured here on the blog last spring.
- In addition to reading about the nuns on their blog, you can also follow them on facebook.
On the English Dominican Studentate blog, Godzdogz, Luke Doherty OP posted a short piece on Corpus Christi, focusing particularly on the Eucharistic procession that is traditionally associated with the feast day:
Many Christians find themselves in horrific situations, and are often unable to express their faith, their solidarity with the Lord. Let us give thanks that God has given us the liberty to praise him in our streets. We pray for those who are persecuted for the Faith, particularly the Dominicans and other Christians who remain in Iraq, who are unable to process through the streets for fear of violence or intimidation. For what is inside that monstrance in today's processions is a pledge and sign of our unity, a hope of the future when we shall all be one. - source
- why is the blog called "Godzdogz"? click here to find out!
And for a final Dominican link: on the blog of the Western Dominican Province, there is a Corpus Christi post by Father Michael Hurley OP about Eucharistic miracles and Corpus Christi:
As we celebrate this feast, let us rejoice in the gift of the Eucharist. We know that as incredible as Eucharistic miracles can be, it is not because of such miracles that we believe. Miracles are not the cause of our faith. To those who believe no miracle is necessary. Rather, such wonders confirm or witness to our belief. They rouse us and encourage us in living our faith. They quell doubts. So, like that monk of Lanciano, if the Eucharist is a difficult or doubtful part of your faith, you are not alone. Remember that most of Jesus’ disciples left Him precisely because He said, “If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). Yet, Jesus does not call his friends to “take and understand, but “take and eat.” When we come to Mass free from serious impediment and sin, let us be prepared to be nourished by His life-giving body and blood. In the Eucharist, Jesus feeds us, so that we can feed others. We receive what we believe so we can be what we receive. - source
Three years ago, my husband and I celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Here's my post about that day.
On the Word on Fire site Father Robert Barron has posted two videos about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist,
The site New Liturgical Movement has several posts for Corpus Christi, including one that collects historical images of Corpus Christi processions.
The featured images were gathered from an Italian blog called Scuola Ecclesia Mater which posted historical images of the Papal Corpus Christi procession, and also Corpus Christi processions in general.
Pope Francis delivered the homily at the Thursday Corpus Christi Mass in Rome:
“Besides physical hunger, people have another hunger, one that cannot be satisfied with ordinary food,” the Pope said yesterday. “It is the hunger for life, hunger for love (and) hunger for eternity.” - source
To see a video of the Rome Eucharistic procession and Mass, click over to Salt and Light TV's site.
Over at the blog Supremacy and Survival, Stephanie Mann wrote a post that ties together Corpus Christ and the English Martyrs Thomas More and John Fisher whose feast day fell on Sunday:
Henry VIII, even though he separated himself and his country from the universal Catholic Church, continued to defend the Church's teaching about the Holy Eucharist. Even as he sentenced Sts. John Fisher and St. Thomas More to death, commuting their sentences from being hung, drawn, and quartered to being beheaded, he had those who denied the Real Presence sentenced to being burned alive at the stake. What the holy martyrs knew, however, was that without the unity of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church the reality of the Holy Eucharist cannot hold. While Henry VIII held on to Christ's teaching about the Eucharist as His body and blood, necessary for communion with Him in His Church, Henry's Anglican Church would soon deny it (during the reign of Edward VI in Archbishop Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer). - source
For more Quick Takes, visit the linkup, hosted this week by Kathryn at Team Whitaker.