Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Ave verum corpus, natum de Maria Virgine, vere passum, immolatum in cruce pro homine, cuius latus perforatum unda fluxit et sanguine: esto nobis praegustatum in mortis examine.

Hail, true Body, born of the Virgin Mary, truly suffered, sacrificed on the cross for man, from whose pierced side flowed water and blood: Let it be for us a foretaste in the trial of death.

Make me believe Thee ever more and more,
In Thee my hope, in Thee my love to store.

-Saint Thomas Aquinas

And here is the Great Secret, the greatest reason of all to be Catholic, to be Christian, to be human, to be alive: Jesus present to us in His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. And not only present to us, but united to us personally.

This is the promise of eternal life. This is Life in abundance, a life not content to wait until heaven, but bursting open within our hearts today.


Since the thirteenth century Catholics around the world have observed a solemn feast day in honor of "Corups Christi" -the Body (and Blood) of Christ, truly present in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist.

After Mass today at Saint Mary of the Angels Church in Chicago, we observed this solemnity with our annual Corups Christi procession honoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Hundreds of people accompanied Jesus as He was carried in turn by His priests and a deacon down the street, and around the block. A gold canopy, incense, and a squad of altar boys marked His way. Young girls who had just recently received Jesus in their first Holy Communion carpeted His path with thousands of scarlet and yellow rose petals. Boys in black suits marched alongside. And the faithful followed close behind, singing Tantum Ergo Sacramentum and other hymns, praising the One Who turned bread and wine into Himself, so that He could remain with us in invisible glory until He visibly returns in glory. At the happy spectacle neighbors opened their doors, stood on their porches, or watched from their windows as the King of the Universe passed by cloaked in the humble appearance of bread.

On each side of the block the priests paused at a temporary altar, prayed aloud with the faithful, and elevated the Lord to receive the love and adoration of the crowd.


Finally returning to the church building, we ascended the steps, and the Lord stopped briefly to bless us at the altar before returning to His repose in the tabernacle.

Lord, how good it is to be here! How lovely is Thy dwelling place, O Lord!