Solemnity of Corpus Christi

Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist

O most sacred, most loving Heart of Jesus,

Thou art concealed in the Holy Eucharist,

and Thou beatest for us still.

Now as then Thou sayest, 

Desiderio desideravi -

"With desire I have desired."

I worship Thee then with all my best love and

awe, with my fervent affection,

with my most subdued, most resolved will.

O my God, when Thou dost condescend to allow me to receive Thee,

to eat and drink Thee, 

and Thou for a while dost take up Thy abode within me,

O make my heart beat with Thy Heart.

Purify it of all that is earthly,

all that is proud and sensual,

all that is hard and cruel,

of all perversity,

of all disorder, 

of all deadness.

So fill it with Thee that neither

the events of the day nor the circumstances of the time may 

have power to ruffle it,

but that in Thy love and Thy fear it

may have peace.

- Cardinal Newman

Eucharistic Process through the streets of Honolulu, 2013

Note:

A special plenary indulgence is available for Corpus Christi:

Grant #7.1.3

Eucharistic Adoration and Procession

Plenary indulgence

The faithful who piously participate in solemn Eucharistic procession, either inside or outside of a Church, especially on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, may receive a plenary indulgence.

This Eucharistic Reflection is archived.

CLICK HERE: http://truthhimself.blogspot.com

Scenes of Corpus Christi Celebration in Honolulu

In the early morning, 5:00 a.m. to be exact, churches in Hawaii, including Sacred Heart Church, joined the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, and the entire world, in Eucharistic Adoration.

Later that afternoon, the faithful walked behind our Lord, processed from St. Theresa the Co-Cathedral to downtown to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.  The procession was led by our own Bishop Larry Silva, and followed by other priests, deacons, the Knights of Columbus.  There were three stops with prayers and benediction at each one.

Finally, we arrived at the Cathedral where we continue with adoration, the praying of the Divine Mercy Chaplet and Benediction.

What a glorious way to celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

Feast of Corpus Christi - Jesus in Prison

Note:  I am updating this post to include something I didn't have available when I first posted this.

The Catholic Church celebrates and commemorates the Feast of Corpus Christi.  Many churches will be exposing Jesus for Eucharistic Adoration in accordance with Pope Francis' request to join him in adoring our God.

At Adoration this morning I reflected on Father Mateo Crawley-Boevey's meditation that Jesus is imprisoned in the tabernacle.  With the guidance of the Holy Spirit I further reflected on just how Catholics and especially the priests were able to celebrate Mass or adore our Lord while they themselves were imprisoned.

Father Crawley-Boevey wrote:

A dungeon enclosed Jesus after He had been seized in the Garden of Olives, the evening of Holy Thursday.

The Tabernacle is the New Prison in which Jesus has shut Himself for love of us and where He will dwell until the end of time.

Twenty centuries have elapsed; but today as then, in one prison as in the other, He is still the same Jesus, treated with contempt, scoffed at, buried in opprobrium.

This Holy Hour should be an act of solemn reparation for the grievous sin committed by the ever-increasing number of Christians who practically pretend they love Jesus and the world with equal love...Let it be at the same time a merciful and stern lesson to the many Catholics who in their exterior religious life protest their loyalty to Our Lord, but in their social life ignore and gravely violate the Law of the supreme King of love...

Holy Hour by The Rev. Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey, SS.CC. Book Four

Father Jean Bernard wrote about his imprisonment in the infamous Dachau concentration camp.  He and other priests were kept separated by the other prisoners in what they called "Priestblock"  Father's number was 25487.  He wrote about a priest that had newly arrived at Dachau.

One morning Father de Coninck pulls out a cellophane bag labeled "vitamin C" from a fold in his shirt.  In the good old days it was possible to buy such vitamin pills at the camp store.

Through the cellophane the shimmer of a piece of consecrated Host was visible, barely half an inch long.  We all had difficulty hiding our excitement.

"Don't give us away", said de Coninck.  "A German priest from barrack 26 has sent the Lord to us."

We decide to keep this most precious treasure among us for the time being and then to divide it among ourselves for the day when each of us is put on a transport.

Those were days of celebration.  Now when we spoke the prayers of the Mass together, Father de Coninck held the Host inconspicuously in his hand.  How much consolation that brought to the hearts of the tormented priests, how much courage and readiness to sacrifice, cannot be expressed in words.

Priestbock 25487: A memoir of Dachau by Jean Bernard, Zaccheus Press

Father Walter J. Ciszek was an American priest who was convicted of being a "Vatican Spy" by the Soviet communists.  H spent 23 agonizing years in their prisons and in Siberia.  He has written books about his experiences.  His well-known book He Leadeth Me tells on how much the celebration of Mass meant to him and the other priests, who sacrificed beyond belief the privilege of celebrating or participating in the Holy  Mass.  Father wrote:

Sometimes I think that those who have never been deprived of an opportunity to say or hear Mass do not really appreciate what a treasure the Mass is. I know, in any event, what it came to mean to me and the priests I met in the Soviet Union;  I know the sacrifices we made and the risks we ran in order just to have a change to say or hear Mass.  When we were constantly hungry in the camps, when the food we got each day was just barely enough to keep us going, I have seen priests pass up breakfast and work at hard labor on an empty stomach until noon in order to keep the Eucharistic fast, because the noon break at the work site was the time we could best get together for a hidden Mass.  I did that often myself.  And sometimes, when the guards were observing us too closely and we couldn't risk saying Mass at the work site, the crusts of bread I had put in my pocket at breakfast remained there uneaten until I could get back to camp and say Mass at night. Or again, during the long arctic summer, when the work days were the longest and our hours of sleep were at a minimum, I have seen priests and prisoners deprive their bodies of needed sleep in order to get up before the rising bell for a secret Mass in a quiet barracks, while everyone else clung to those precious extra moments of sleep.  In some ways, we led a catacomb existence with our Masses.  We would be severely punished if we were discovered saying Mass, and there were always informers. But the Mass to us was always worth the danger and the sacrifice; we treasured it, we looked forward to it, we would do almost anything in order to say or attend a Mass...."

He Leadeth Me:  An Extraordinary Testament of Faith by Walter J. Ciszek, S.J. with Daniel Flaherty, S.J., a Doubleday, Image Book


Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan of Vietnam was also imprisoned by the communists in his own country.  He spent thirteen years as a political prisoner and most of that time, he spent in solitary confinement.  Yet he was able to celebrate Mass!  The Cardinal wrote in Road of Hope:

"I will never be able to express my immense joy: Every day with three drops of wine and one drop of water in the palm of my hand, I celebrated my Mass.

Road of Hope: The Spiritual Journey of Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan

Another heroic Cardinal was Cardinal Kung of China.  The following is from the Cardinal Kung Foundation:

On September 8, 1955, the press around the world reported in shock the overnight arrest of Bishop Kung along with more than 200 priests and Church leaders in Shanghai. Months after his arrest, he was taken out to a mob "struggle session" in the old Dog Racing stadium in Shanghai. Thousands were ordered to attend and to hear the Bishop's public confession of his "crimes." With his hands tied behind his back, wearing a Chinese pajama suit, the 5-foot tall bishop was pushed forward to the microphone to confess. To the shock of the security police, they heard a righteous loud cry of "Long live Christ the King, Long live the Pope" from the Bishop. The crowd responded immediately, "Long live Christ the King, Long live Bishop Kung". Bishop Kung was quickly dragged away to the police car and disappeared from the world until he was brought to trial in 1960. Bishop Kung was sentenced to life imprisonment.

How many more heroic priests falsely imprisoned for the Faith, continue to adore our Lord and the celebrate the Holy Mass.   One such priest is Father Gordon MacRae.  Most of my readers know the story of his long imprisonment.  He has written extensively about life behind bars. I wanted to share with you about his spiritual life in particular.

Toward the end of that first five years in prison, a new chaplain arrived, a Catholic deacon. A few weeks after his arrival, I was summoned to his office. He wanted me to read a presentation on Eucharistic Adoration that he had written for the diocesan diaconate program. I sat in his office dutifully reading his essay. When I looked up at one point, I noticed a small wooden tabernacle on a shelf in the corner of the office. The tabernacle was hand carved by a Catholic prisoner, and was incredibly beautiful.

Sitting there with the deacon’s essay in my hand, I noticed a small Sanctuary Lamp that was lit. I realized with a great jolt that the Blessed Sacrament was in the tabernacle in the deacon’s office. I felt overwhelmed, and tears came to my eyes. For the first time in over five years, I was in the Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. The chaplain smiled, apparently thinking that I was reacting to his essay.

Father Gordon MacRae's blog: These Stone Walls: The Sacrifice of the Mass: Part I

 So my friends, let us remember to never take for granted this immense privilege we have so readily available to us.

Feast of Corpus Christi

Picture source

 "O my beloved Jesus, since Thou wilt feed me this morning with Thine own blood in the Holy Communion, it is but reasonable that I should willingly renounce all the delights and pleasures which the world might give me.Yes, I give them all up; I protest that I choose rather to suffer all evils united to Thee, than to enjoy all the goods of the world away from Thee.  It is sufficient happiness enough for me, to please Thee, who art worthy of all we can do to please Thee.  I will say then with St. Ignatius of Loyola, ' give me I pray Thee , but Thy love and Thy grace; that is sufficient for me and I am contented....'"

St. Alphonsus de Liguori - The Holy Eucharist

Feast of Corpus Christi

Photos by Easter A.

Ecce Panis Angelorum,
Factus cibus viatorum
Vere panis filiorum,
Non mittendus canibus.

In figuris praesignatur,
Cum Isaac immolatur,
Agnus Paschae deputatur,
Datur manna patribus.

Bone pastor, panis vere,
Jesu, nostri miserere:
Tu nos pasce, nos tuere,
Tu nos bona fac videre
In terra viventium.

Tu qui cuncta scis et vales,
Qui nos pascis hic mortales:
Tuos ibi commensales,
Coheredes et sodales
Fac sanctorum civium.
Amen.

The source and English translation can be found here.

Solemnity of Corpus Christi

The Papal Procession on the Feast of Corpus Christi, engraved by Francois Alexandre Villain 1798-1884

Picture source

O my beloved Jesus, O God, who hast loved men with so exceeding love! what more canst Thou do to make Thyself loved by these ungrateful men?

Oh, if men loved Thee, all the churches would be continually filled with people prostrate on the ground adoring and thanking Thee, and burning with love for Thee at seeing Thee with the eyes of faith hidden in a tabernacle. But no; men, forgetful of Thee and of Thy love, are ready enough to court a man from whom they hope for some miserable advantage, while they leave Thee, O my Lord, abandoned and alone.

Oh that I could by my devotion make reparation for such ingratitude!

I am sorry that I also have hitherto been, like them, careless and ungrateful. But for the future I will not be so any longer, and I will devote myself to Thy service as much as I possibly can.

Do Thou inflame me with Thy holy love, so that from this day forth I may live only to love and to please Thee.

Thou deservest the love of all hearts. If at one time I have despised Thee, I now desire nothing bu to love Thee.

O my Jesus, Thou art my love and my only good, "my God and my all."

Most holy Virgin Mary, obtain for me I pray thee, a great love for the Most Holy Sacrament.

The Holy Eucharist by St. Alphonsus de Liguori

Solemnity of Corpus Christi - Eucharistic Miracles

In honor of this solemnity Eucharistic miracles are offered for your reading pleasure.

1. Lanciano (The first miracle) 8th Century

The altar at Lanciano

There have been numerous Eucharistic miracles occurring all over the world since the 8th century. The Real Presence has a list from Austria to Switzerland.

Photos of the Eucharistic Procession - Part III

The Blessed Sacrament during Adoration. That is a portrait of Blessed Marianne Cope in the background.

This is the first Eucharistic Procession that my family and I were privileged to attend. It was so heartwarming seeing so many people there loving and adoring our Lord, together with our Bishop, priests, sisters, the Knights of Columbus.

The purpose of this day was in part was to pray for vocations. I believe I recognized a couple of seminarians in the pews. Please pray for them and for our bishop, Larry Silva, and for all our priests and religious.

Mahalo Nui Loa Bishop Silva.

Photos of the Eucharistic Procession - Part II

The final blessing and prayers before re-entering the Cathedral.

A better shot of Bishop Silva carrying the Monstrance and making a blessing.

Photos from the Eucharistic Procession Part I

The first time the Bishop (Silva) stops during the Procession to bless the people.

We are processing out of the Cathedral and following the Blessed Sacrament.

Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ

Formally known as Corpus Christi.

To commemorate this feast day, I would like to share a story someone shared with me. Thanks Sanju for this inspirational story of the Eucharist.

Source: MICHAEL

On July 18, 1946, Father Gino C. Violini stood before a small wooden church in a little town nestled in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies in Southern Alberta. St. Joseph's was a forlorn, nearly-abandoned little mission church.

A small group of people gathered around this man dressed in mourning. They said they didn't need a priest; Cowley didn't need a priest, and if it ever came to pass that they needed one, they would inform Bishop Carroll of the fact. Furthermore, they didn't want to see him reading his breviary, and he could get rid of that cassock.

He celebrated his first Mass at St. Joseph's the following Sunday. There were nine people in the pews. Well, he had to start somewhere, and he delivered the best sermon ever, in his opinion, to those nine people. The following Sunday, there were only four who had come to adore their God.
The next two years were not crowned with success. The collection was laughable. He could afford a loaf of bread which he'd cut into seven parts, one part for each day of the week, and feasted on dandelion salad. Winter is an especially cruel season in Cowley, and he'd find his blankets snow covered when he awoke in the morning, as the rectory walls were split open from the many seasons that had dried and shrunk the logs apart. His first Christmas collection was a dollar and thirteen cents. The church was no warmer than the rectory, so the water would freeze in the cruets, even though he placed them on a little coal stove.

Father had had it. One day he sat down and wrote a sixteen-page letter, addressed to Bishop Francis P. Carroll, the gist of which was — this town is a write-off, and I want to stamp the dust of it off my feet. The Bishop rejected each and all of his requests for a transfer, and told him to stay put. He had full confidence in Father Violini, and he expected him to bring about a full Catholic revival in this parish, which had been so long neglected. After the latest of these rebuffs, Father was ready to pray for a noble death. But he was in for a great revelation.

On the feast of Corpus Christi, he awoke early and headed for the church for morning prayers. As he walked to the church, he noticed the front door hanging off its hinges. He hurried in and gazed at a scene of great destruction. The walls were in shambles, the statues destroyed and then he noticed the tabernacle had been split open and the consecrated Hosts were scattered down the main aisle. One by one, he gathered them up, counting each one. They were all there except the large Benediction Host which he could find nowhere.

It was raining, The gray sky reflected his anguish. He notified Father Harrington of the Crowsnest deanery who quickly organized a search party of some two-thousand people. They searched Bellevue and Hillcrest, Blairemore and Coleman; some came from as far as Michel and Natal in British Columbia, yet none of the people of Cowley would help. The search party combed miles of Highway 3. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police picked up two suspects at Cowley, and questioned them at Blairemore. They had stolen a pickup truck, and abandoned it down the highway when the police had discovered them.

Father Gino recognized them as transients from Lethbridge who had been seated next to him at a baseball game a couple days before, and who were looking to find work in the coal mines at Crowsnest Pass. He listened to the questioning by Sergeant Parsons: “Remember, it may not mean much to you or to me, but you fellows stole his Jesus.” Father explained the meaning of the Blessed Sacrament to them, and how precious it is to Catholics. He then offered to drop all the charges if they would tell him where they had discarded the Host.

Touched by his explanation, they began to show remorse and offered to help find It. One admitted to having discarded it through the truck window just before the police took them into custody. He didn't know what it was, but he knew it was incriminating evidence. The rain had hardly stopped when they all piled into the police cruiser, the two suspects still handcuffed. Father calculated that if the Host had been dropped as these two men had said, the search parties would surely have found it if the rain had not dissolved it. It was about six o'clock that evening when they arrived at the spot. The sky was clearing; there was a bit of blue in the West.
As they rounded a corner east of Bellevue, they all saw the Host suspended in midair beside the highway. Beautiful rays of coloured light shone from it. Even before the car had stopped, Father leaped from the car and ran towards this astonishing sight. Sergeant Parsons was right behind him. Father fell to his knees in adoration, overcome with joy and wonder. Sergeant Parsons did likewise, and landed in a pool of mud.

Father stood up and reached for the Host. It looked as white and fresh as the day he had consecrated it. As he touched it, they heard: “Father Gino, please take me back to Cowley.”

Here was Christ on the road, asking to be returned to a desecrated church; to a parish that Father had long wanted to leave. As they returned to Cowley, Sergeant Parson's eyes constantly left the road to gaze at the wonder Father held there, beside him. The Bishop arrived the next day. He told Father Gino that he would be the one to rededicate the church. The Bishop prayed with him in the devastated sanctuary. As he finished, he turned to Father Gino to say: “Great changes will soon take place in this parish.”

Sergeant Parsons came to ask for instruction a few days later. His wife and children soon joined him, and later two of his constables from Pincher Creek. As time went on, more and more Catholics began to return to their church. The parish mission was so popular that the beer hall shut down when it was in progress. The patrons, many of whom were not Catholic, would carry the bar stools to the church to listen to Father's sermons. They even had to take out the pot-bellied stove to make room for everyone.

The little church, so long abandoned, was now full to overflowing every Sunday.

Paul Fournier