From the About.com article, Corpus Christi, by Scott Richert:
For centuries after the celebration was extended to the universal Church, the feast was also celebrated with a Eucharistic procession, in which the Sacred Host was carried throughout the town, accompanied by hymns and litanies. The faithful would venerate the Body of Christ as the procession passed by. In recent years, this practice has almost disappeared, though some parishes still hold a brief procession around the outside of the parish church.
I never went on a procession until we started attending the traditional Mass. Before then, my only experience had been through a story in an old Catholic book for children. In it, a procession awakens a vocation to the priesthood in a young boy. That story had a profound effect on me--so much that I asked our pastor if we could not have a procession. I was surprised completely by his reply, "No, we can't do that. Not everyone in this town is Catholic!"
All I could think was, "Well, they might be, if we had regular processions."
I don't know if any of the onlookers in our parish have been converted, but as we wend our way through the old rundown neighborhood behind our church, I see them stop what they are doing to watch us go by. They hear us singing the ancient, other worldly music, and I know that we have given them a beautiful gift.
Photo Credit: St. Marys Academy and College Online Yearbook
5 comments:
Hello Wendy,
I just wanted to leave a note and tell you how much I love your blog! I read most of your posts on modesty and femininity while waiting for a few files to download last night and enjoyed it all so much. This post on the procession is beautiful. We have only been Catholic (officially) since last year at Pentecost and last year's Corpus Christi procession was the highlight of my summer! :) We will be having our procession on Sunday. It is a 3.5 mile walk and draws lots of attention in our small town. God bless you!
Kristyn Hall
Dear Kristyn,
Thanks for writing. It really does help to get feedback on what visitors like to read.
Your procession sounds wonderful!
May God bless you, too.
Wow! Impressive procession!
We had our Corpus Christi procession on Sunday. The weather worked out beautifully; it was raining that morning, and we feared the procession might have to be cancelled, but the rain stopped about when Mass began, and by the time Mass was over and the procession started, the sun was shining! Not only that, but the rain had cooled everything down immensely, so that it was no longer hot and muggy as it had been the previous week, but cool and refreshing. The elements were paying homage to their Creator too!
Our procession was laid out almost the same way. We also had our Eucharistic Crusade Chapter, the Morning Star Chapter, right after the Cross, organized as a group and wearing their scapulars and carrying their banner, all for the first time! And the schola, which is finally developing again after our previous schola disbanded a few years ago, wore cassock and surplice. Our choir, also finally becoming a choir again, sang well. Our servers of the St. Stephen's Guild were efficient as usual. Your procession looks larger and a bit better organized, not to mention you have a deacon and subdeacon assisting Father, but all in all, it was a glorious day, marching in procession through downtown Cincinnati, and stopping for outdoor Benediction at an altar set up in one of the city parks! And as the whole ceremony was finishing, tears came to my eyes as we sang the final hymn, and I thought, what would we do without the Catholic Church?
Praised be Christ in the Blessed Sacrament!
Dear Nick,
Your procession sounded wonderful too. I wish I could say that the pictures are from Queen of Angels, but they are not. It's St. Mary's.
Dear Mrs. Haught,
Oh, that's too bad. No wonder this procession is so large and well-organized and impressive!
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