CORPUS CHRISTI EUCHARISTIC MIRACLE
Pope Urban IV established the annual celebration of the FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI in 1264, over 700 years ago. Did you know that it was a EUCHARISTIC MIRACLE (Bolsena, Italy) that led to that decision? I never paid much attention to that historical event until this year...as it reminded me of our "little" Eucharistic miracle at OLHOC.
Pope Urban IV was the right Pope at the right time. He was born Jacques Pantaleon in Troyes, Northern France, in 1221. He served as Archdeacon of Liege (today's Belgium) at the time St Juliana of Liege had visions of the Eucharist which led to the establishment of a local celebration of CORPUS CHRISTI. Later on, as Pope, he resided in Orvieto, only 10 miles away from BOLSENA where in 1263 occurred an amazing Eucharistic miracle that he declared authentic, leading him to establish a worldwide, annual celebration of CORPUS CHRISTI.
As I get "older" I am more and more interested in Church History. If we do not know where we come from, we do not know where we are nor where we are going. The 13th century was marked by a Catholic renewal, with the establishment of the Dominican Order by St Dominic (Toulouse, Southern France) and of the Franciscans by St Francis of Assisi, Italy.
St Thomas Aquinas, one among the first ones to join the Dominican Order, wrote extensively about the Eucharist and was the first to give a presentation of TRANSUBSTANTIATION: what happens as the bread and wine offered at every Mass are being changed into the BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST. St Thomas taught at the St Dominic Convent in Orvieto during the papacy of Urban IV. It is not surprising that Pope Urban IV asked St Thomas to write the liturgy for this new Solemnity of Corpus Christi in 1264. To this day, we use some of the hymns written by St Thomas for the ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT: PANGE LINGUA, O SALUTARIS HOSTIA, TANTUM ERGO. Also, every Corpus Christi, we sing the SEQUENCE LAUDA SION SALVATOREM (SION, Praise Your Savior) ending with PANIS ANGELICUS (Brad of Angels). We can be grateful to St Thomas for an inspirational language to worship the Eucharist, including ADORATION.
The great tradition of Corpus Christi is to have an outdoor procession of the Blessed Sacrament. We will have ours at OLHOC right after the 11:30 am Mass this Sunday, June 6. This is an opportunity to bring Jesus out of our church and to encourage Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. At the end of the procession, we will expose the Blessed Sacrament on an altar at the foot of the large outdoor Cross, and pray and ADORE Jesus, truly present Body, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist. This is what the Solemnity of Corpus Christi is all about.
I am grateful to Father Ben to have assisted us in having longer hours of Adoration at OLHOC. His Love of the Eucharist is central to his priesthood. As I announced at the end of all Masses last weekend, Cardinal Gregory has appointed Fr. Ben to become parochial vicar at St John the Evangelist effective July 7, as part of the annual transfers of diocesan priests. Fr. Ben will be much missed by all of us. We are grateful to God that He allowed Fr. Ben to serve our parish for two years. We will have plenty of opportunities to thank Fr. Ben in the next four weeks, especially on Sunday, July 4th which will be his last Sunday with us. Later on, we will welcome Fr. Jan (pronounce Ian, which is John in Polish) who will join us on July 8. He is still a " baby" priest, 32-year-old, ordained only two years ago.
Let us remember on CORPUS CHRISTI our "little" EUCHARISTIC MIRACLE at OLHOC. It was not as dramatic as the bleeding of the host during Mass at Bolsena, Italy. However, both events have in common a consecrated host with blood. In addition, the image of the bloodstain on the marble of the altar at Bolsena's St Christina church (still preserved there as a relic) is very similar to the shape and color of blood that appeared on our consecrated host after five days of immersion in water...Just check the picture on the Internet: Bolsena Eucharistic Miracle of 1263. While the Eucharistic miracle occurs at every Mass, it is important once a year to celebrate that daily miracle of the EUCHARIST as a special SOLEMNITY, and to reinforce our belief in the REAL PRESENCE of the BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST at Consecration.
Let us pray together the beautiful ending of the CORPUS CHRISTI SEQUENCE written by St Thomas Aquinas in 1264:
"For the ANGEL's FOOD is given
To the pilgrim who has striven;
See the children's BREAD FROM HEAVEN,
Which in dogs may not be spent.
Truth the ancient types fulfilling,
Isaac bound, a VICTIM willing,
PASCHAL LAMB, its LIFEBLOOD SPILLING,
Manna to the fathers sent.
VERY BREAD, good shepherd, tend us,
Jesu, of your LOVE befriend us,
You refresh us, you defend us,
Your eternal goodness send us
In the land of life to see.
You who all things can and know
Who on earth such food bestow
Grant us with your saints, though lowest,
Where the HEAV'NLY FEAST you show,
Follow heirs and guests to be. AMEN. ALLELUIA.”
May CORPUS CHRISTI celebration help all of us believe JESUS' words: "I AM THE LIVING BREAD that came down from HEAVEN, whoever eats this bread WILL LIVE FOREVER." (John 6: 51).
One in Christ,
Fr. Alain