A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 68

In today’s episode, on the Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christi, I address the following: 

1. The Octave of Corpus Christi
2. External Solemnities Explained
3. Special US Specific Rubrics for External Solemnities for Ss. Peter and Paul
4. Common Questions Answered on the Holy Eucharist

This episode is sponsored by PrayLatin.com. PrayLatin.com offers Latin prayer cards to learn and share prayers in the sacred language. Learn your basic prayers in Latin conveniently on the go. Practice your pronunciation with easy-to-follow English phonetic renderings of Latin words. PrayLatin.com offers prayer cards in various formats, including Latin-English rosary pamphlets with the traditional 15 mysteries. Shop for additional Latin resources like missal booklets, server response cards, and more. Visit PrayLatin.com today.

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Respice, Domine Prayer

A truly fitting prayer for Corpus Christi – and for any Thursday of the year – is the Respice, Domine which was composed by St. Cajetan. The Raccolta listed the following indulgences for this prayer:

i. A plenary indulgence to all the faithful who, being contrite, and having confessed and gone to Communion on the first Thursday in the month, shall on that day visit the Blessed Sacrament, either at Exposition time or when enclosed in the Tabernacle, and say there the following prayer, Respice, Domine.

ii. An indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines every Thursday in the year, to all who, after Confession and Communion, shall say the above prayer, on their knees, before the Blessed Sacrament.

iii. An indulgence of 100 days for saying it, with contrite heart, before the Blessed Sacrament, on any day whatever.

The Prayer:

Look down, O Lord, from Thy sanctuary, and from Heaven Thy dwelling-place on high, and behold this sacred Victim which our great High-Priest, Thy holy Child, our Lord Jesus, offers up to Thee for the sins of This brethren; and be appeased for the multitude of our transgressions. Behold the voice of the Blood of Jesus, our Brother, cries to Thee from the Cross. Give ear, O Lord! be appeased, O Lord! hearken, and do not tarry for Thine own sake, O my God, for Thy Name is invoked upon this city and upon Thy people; and deal with us according to Thy mercy. Amen.

Respice, Domino, de sanctuario tuo et de excelso coelorum habitaculo, et vide hanc sacrosanctam Hostiam, quam Tibi offert magnus Pontifex noster Sanctus Puer tuus Dominus Jesus pro peccatis fratrum suorum; et esto placabilis super multitudinem malitiae nostrae. Ecce vox Sanguinis fratris nostri Jesu clamat ad Te de Cruce. Exaudi, Domine; placare, Domine; attende, et fac, ne moreris propter temetipsum, Deus meus, quia nomen tuum invocatum est super civitatem istam, et super populum tuum; et fac nobiscum secundum misericordiam tuam. Amen.

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Vigil of Corpus Christi Fasting

Corpus Domini Basilica, Turin, Italy

The Church has enriched the celebration of Corpus Christi – as well as devotions to the Blessed Sacrament at other times – with a number of indulgences. For instance, the Raccolta, listing the traditional indulgences in place before the changes after Vatican II, stated for the Feast of Corpus Christi and its Octave:

Pope Urban IV… being desirous that all the faithful should give God due thanks for this inestimable benefit and be excited to meet their Lord's love in this most holy Sacrament with grateful hearts, granted in the said Constitution several Indulgences to the faithful, which were again augmented by Pope Martin V in his Constitution Ineffabile, of May 26, 1429. Afterwards Pope Eugenius IV, in his Constitution Excellentissimum, of May 20, 1433, confirmed the Indulgences of Martin V, and added others, as follows:

i. An indulgence of 200 days, on the vigil of the Feast of Corpus Christi to all who, being truly contrite and having confessed, shall fast, or do some other good work enjoined them by their confessor.

ii. An indulgence of 400 days, on the feast itself, to all who, being contrite and having Confessed, shall devoutly assist at or be present at any of the following functions: First or Second Vespers, Matins, and Mass. An indulgence of 160 days for each of the Little hours, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, and Compline.

iii. An indulgence of 200 days, during the octave, for each Vespers, Matins, and Mass. An indulgence of 80 days for each of the Little Hours.

iv. An indulgence of 200 days for accompanying the procession of the Blessed Sacrament, which takes place on the Feast or during the Octave, to every priest who has said Mass, and to every layman who has gone to Communion on any one of these days, and who shall pray for the Holy Church.

v. An indulgence of 200 days for accompanying the procession made by the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament on the third Sunday of the month, and on Holy Thursday.

Practices such as a voluntary fast on the day before Corpus Christi is virtually forgotten by all. This practice is however still kept by some traditional Carmelites. We would do well to engage in some voluntary fasting and abstinence on the day before Corpus Christi in the spirit of and for the intention of making reparation to the Blessed Sacrament.

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Within the Octave of Corpus Christi

We are currently in the Octave of Corpus Christi, another casualty in 1955 that few people know of or spiritually celebrate anymore. Yet, in an interesting development, the Vatican has given quasi approval for priests to begin to celebrate this Octave again. Dr. Peter Kwasniewski explains in a Facebook Post published yesterday: "The 2020 Ordo for the Usus Antiquior, published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, says quite plainly that the Octave of Corpus Christi may be observed. (Incidentally, it also says that the Preface of the Nativity may be used.) It doesn't explain HOW it is it to be observed, but probably assumes that anyone who is competent to read these rubrics in Latin can figure out from an old missal what to do."

Brief History of Octaves:

By the 8th century, Rome had developed liturgical octaves not only for Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas but also for the Epiphany and the feast of the dedication of a church.

After 1568, when Pope Pius V reduced the number of octaves (since by then they had grown considerably), the number of Octaves was still plentiful.  Octaves were classified into several types. Easter and Pentecost had "specially privileged" octaves, during which no other feast whatsoever could be celebrated. Christmas, Epiphany, and Corpus Christi had "privileged" octaves, during which certain highly ranked feasts might be celebrated. The octaves of other feasts allowed even more feasts to be celebrated.

To reduce the repetition of the same liturgy for several days, Pope Leo XIII and Pope St. Pius X made further distinctions, classifying octaves into three primary types: privileged octaves, common octaves, and simple octaves. Privileged octaves were arranged in a hierarchy of first, second, and third orders. For the first half of the 20th century, octaves were ranked in the following manner, which affected holding other celebrations within their timeframes:

• Privileged Octaves
  
  • Privileged Octaves of the First Order
    
    • Octave of Easter
    • Octave of Pentecost
  • Privileged Octaves of the Second Order
    
    • Octave of Epiphany
    • Octave of Corpus Christi
  • Privileged Octaves of the Third Order
    
    • Octave of Christmas
    • Octave of the Ascension
    • Octave of the Sacred Heart

• Common Octaves
  
  • Octave of the Immaculate Conception of the BVM
  • Octave of the Solemnity of St. Joseph
  • Octave of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist
  • Octave of Saints Peter and Paul
  • Octave of All Saints
  • Octave of the Assumption of the BVM

• Simple Octaves
  
  • Octave of St. Stephen
  • Octave of St. John the Apostle
• Octave of the Holy Innocents 

The Octave of Corpus Christi is a privileged octave of the second order. This means that no other feast may be celebrated during the Octave except for Doubles of the First Class. All other feasts are either transferred to after the octave or reduced to commemorations.

Traditional Catholics still attached to the pre-1955 Missal will be familiar with the above list of Octaves. We can live out this forgotten Octave by adding to our daily prayers the Collect from Corpus Christi:

Collect:

O God, we possess a lasting memorial of Your Passion in this wondrous Sacrament. Grant that we may so venerate the mysteries of Your Body and Blood that we may always feel within ourselves the effects of Your redemption; who lives and rules with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.

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Octave Day of Corpus Christi

Today up until 1955 was the Octave of Corpus Christi.  As this blog seeks to preserve our Catholic heritage, we will celebrate the Octave Day of Corpus today by sharing the prayers of the Mass for this Octave Day. Priests who regularly offer the 1962 Missal may generally choose to offer a Votive Mass of the Blessed Sacrament today. And laypeople of all walks of life may choose to pray these prayers today in thanksgiving for the great gift of the Blessed Sacrament.

The following text for the Octave Day of Corpus Christi in the Roman Rite is the same as the Feastday itself. As the New Liturgical Movement notes, "Some of the oldest Roman octaves, such as those of Ss Peter and Paul and St Lawrence, have a Mass on the octave day itself which is different or partly different from that of the main feast; Peter and Paul also have another Mass for the days within the octave. However, by the time the feast of Corpus Christi was promulgated in the mid-13th century, this custom was no longer being developed for new celebrations, and the Mass of the feast was simply repeated through the octave."

INTROIT  Ps. 80:17

He fed them with the finest wheat, alleluia! and filled them with honey from the rock, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! Ps. 80:2. Sing joyfully to God, our helper, sing aloud to the God of Jacob. V. Glory be . . .

COLLECT 

Grant, O Lord, that we may always fear and love Your holy Name, for You never fail to guide those whom You firmly establish in Your love. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

EPISTLE I Cor. 11:23-29 

Breathren: For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, And giving thanks, broke and said: "Take ye and eat: This is my body, which shall be delivered for you. This do for the commemoration of me." In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: "This chalice is the new testament in my blood. This do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me. For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he come." Therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh judgment to himself.

GRADUAL Ps. 144:15-16 

The eyes of all look hopefully to You, O Lord, and You give them food in due season.
V. You open Your hand and fill every living creature with blessing.

Alleluia, alleluia! V. John 6:56-57 My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, abides in me and I in him, alleluia!

SEQUENCE

Sion, lift thy voice and sing:
Praise thy Savior and thy King;
Praise with hymns thy Shepherd true:
Dare thy most to praise Him well;
For He doth all praise excel;
None can ever reach His due.

Special theme of praise is thine,
That true living Bread divine,
That life-giving flesh adored,
Which the brethren twelve received,
As most faithfully believed,
At the Supper of the Lord.

Let the chant be loud and high;
Sweet and tranquil be the joy
Felt to-day in every breast;
On this festival divine
Which recounts the origin
Of the glorious Eucharist.

At this table of the King,
Our new Paschal offering
Brings to end the olden rite;
Here, for empty shadows fled,
Is reality instead;
Here, instead of darkness, light.

His own act, at supper seated,
Christ ordained to be repeated,
In His memory divine;
Wherefore now, with adoration,
We the Host of our salvation
Consecrate from bread and wine.

Hear what holy Church maintaineth,
That the bread its substance changeth
Into Flesh, the wine to Blood.
Doth it pass thy comprehending?
Faith, the law of sight transcending,
Leaps to things not understood.

Here in outward signs are hidden
Priceless things, to sense forbidden;
Signs, not things, are all we see:-
Flesh from bread, and Blood from wine;
Yet is Christ, in either sign,
All entire confessed to be.

They too who of Him partake
Sever not, nor rend, nor break,
But entire their Lord receive.
Whether one or thousands eat,
All receive the selfsame meat,
Nor the less for others leave.

Both the wicked and the good
Eat of this celestial Food;
But with ends how opposite!
Here 'tis life; and there 'tis death;
The same, yet issuing to each
In a difference infinite.

Nor a single doubt retain,
When they break the Host in twain,
But that in each part remains
What was in the whole before;
Since the simple sign alone
Suffers change in state or form,
The Signified remaining One
And the Same forevermore

Lo! upon the Altar lies,
Hidden deep from human eyes,
Angels' Bread from Paradise
Made the food of mortal man:
Children's meat to dogs denied;
In old types foresignified;
In the manna from the skies,
In Isaac, and the Paschal Lamb.

Jesu! Shepherd of the sheep!
Thy true flock in safety keep.
Living Bread! Thy life supply;
Strengthen us, or else we die;
Fill us with celestial grace:
Thou, who feedest us below!
Source of all we have or know!
Grant that with Thy Saints above,
Sitting at the Feast of Love,
We may see Thee face to face.
Amen. Alleluia.

GOSPEL  John 6:56-59

At that time, Jesus said to the crowds of the Jews: "For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me: and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this bread shall live for ever."

Creed is said.

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Lev. 21:6

The priests of the Lord offer incense and loaves to God; therefore they shall be sacred to their God and shall not profane His name, alleluia!

SECRET  

May the sacrifice we are about to offer unto Your holy Name, O Lord, make us pure, and day by day help us to live a more heavenly life. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Preface

The Preface of the Nativity, as was used in the pre-1955 Rubrics for the Feast of Corpus Christi.

COMMUNION ANTIPHON I Cor. 11:26-27 

As often as you shall eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, alleluia!

POSTCOMMUNION  

We beseech You, O Lord, that having received Your gifts, each partaking of this sacrament may increase within us its saving effects. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Sources: Saint Andrew Daily Missal and the Marian Missal, 1945

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Corpus Christi at St. Thomas Aquinas SSPX Seminary

Thanks go out to Jim Bond for sending in these images from the seminary this morning.

Hail to thee, true body born
From Virgin Mary's womb!
The same that on the cross was nailed
And bore for man the bitter doom.

Thou, whose side was pierced and flowed
Both with water and with blood;
Suffer us to taste of thee,
In our life's last agony.

O kind, O loving one!
O sweet Jesus, Mary's Son!

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Receive Holy Communion as an Act of Reparation

An Act of Reparation From the Angel of of Peace at Fatima as taught to the three young children one year before Mary appeared in Fatima.  Let us pray this prayer during this Feast of Corpus Christi:

Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore You profoundly and I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He Himself is offended. And by the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of poor sinners.

As we celebrate today the Most Glorious Eucharist, let us consider this article and perservere in our acts of reparation this day against sin.  Recall that Our Lord is already much offended as our Lady said at Fatima:

Reparation to the Sacred Heart
Fr. Raoul Plus, S. J.
Section III: The Practice of Reparation

THE spirit of reparation, if it is sincere and profound, will seek to manifest itself by a number of tangible proofs, by certain practices, which may be ranged under the following three heads: Affective reparation, effective reparation, and aiffictive reparation, according as the virtue especially exercised is love, self-sacrifice, or penance.

AFFECTIVE REPARATION

Sin and indifference deprive our Lord of love; therefore to make up for this we must give Him love. Hearts are turned away from God; then we must give Him ours. It is in prayer especially that the heart is given; and hence we have the practice of offering reparation by means of the Holy Hour. Our Lord is forgotten in His most Holy Sacrament. The object of this devotion is to give to our Lord not only one's own homage, but also the homage of those who deny His Real Presence, and so, according as one's duties permit, a certain time is spent in reparation before the Blessed Sacrament. These turns of prayer and watching before the Blessed Sacrament are organized and facilitated by certain Associations founded for the purpose.

Others may prefer to make a Novena of Reparation from the 1st to the 9th of each month. The purpose of this devotion is to console and compensate our Saviour for the insults He receives in the Blessed Sacrament. No exercises or set prayers are prescribed; you are advised to assist at Mass as often as possible, to receive Communion in reparation at least once, and to have a Mass said for the same intention at least once a year.

By reason of the fewness of vocations, in France alone 12,000 priests are lacking. This means that every day 12,000 Masses are not offered; there are 12,000 altars upon which the Precious Blood is not shed for the remission of sins, upon which Christ does not appear daily to restore the balance between Divine justice and man's iniquity. Why should there not be some souls who would take the place of these priests, souls devoted to the Passion and the Eucharistic sacrifice, filled with the spirit of redemption and love, who would try to make up, by the complete sacrifice of their hearts, for all these Masses that are lacking? The following method might be suggested: In the case of one who attends Mass daily, to offer the Mass for the said intention. If one is unable to attend Mass every day, to offer a particular half-hour of the day for that purpose, reciting the following or a similar prayer: "O Jesus, eternal Priest, deign to raise up numerous priests in whom Thou may fully livest Thy priestly life . . . Deign also to raise up many souls which by their detachment from the earth and their zeal for the salvation of souls will be coadjutors of the priesthood, and in a manner take the place of the priests that are lacking."

A practice taught by our Lord Himself is the devotion, in the spirit of reparation, of the First Friday. It is too well known to need much emphasis. Suffice it to quote two extracts from St. Margaret Mary's letters: "My Divine Saviour had bidden me to go to Communion on the first Friday of every month, to make reparation, so far as in me lies, for the insults that are offered to Him each month in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar." . . . "Let those who wish to honour the Sacred Heart of Jesus in a special way choose for this purpose the first Friday of each month, to offer Him homage according as their piety inspires them." (Ed. Paray, t. II, p. 72.)

Everyone knows the promises -----at first sight rather surprising-----which our Lord has attached to the faithful fulfilment of these practices. No wonder he speaks of the "exceeding mercy of His Divine Heart." Those who receive Holy Communion on the first Friday of nine consecutive months "will not die in My disfavour, nor without receiving the Sacraments, and my Heart will be their refuge at their last hour." And it must be admitted that it is partly in view of these wonderful promises that the devotion of the faithful to the Nine Fridays has increased so rapidly.

But it must be understood that these promises of our Lord are not to be set on the same footing as the words of the Gospels. Their value -----though it must not be minimized-----is simply such as attaches to a private revelation approved by the Church.

Moreover, it may be asked whether these words are to be taken absolutely, or are we to add the implicit condition: "Provided that he who has made the nine Fridays does not wilfully expose himself to the peril of damnation"? Authors are disagreed as to the answer. It seems to us that in this, as in the case of the sabbatine promise connected with the scapular of Mount Carmel, the second explanation is the better one.

Another practice popular among devotees of reparation, and recommended by our Lord, is that of Holy Communion offered in reparation. Really if everyone properly understood the doctrine of the Eucharist and the intention with which Christ instituted this Sacrament, no Communion would ever be received except in a sacrificial spirit. Our Lord instituted the Eucharist not so much to give us the benefit of His Presence as to associate us closely with His sacrifice. On the altar, as we have said above, He still has the intention of offering Himself absolutely to His Father for His glory and for the salvation of the world; and as by our Baptism we have become an integral part of His Person, He asks us as members of Christ to unite our sacrificial oblation to that of the Head. Thus, while the minimum disposition for the reception of the Eucharist is the state of grace, the disposition which is necessary in order to receive the fullest benefit from the Sacrament is the spirit of sacrifice.

Since, however, many of those who go to Communion are far from having this comprehensive, and yet only truly exact, idea of the Eucharist, also because it is permissible to each individual to emphasize more or less the reparative aspect of  Holy Communion, we can understand why our Lord should have recommended in a particular way the offering of Masses and the reception of Holy Communion in reparation for the insults offered to the Blessed Sacrament.

In accordance with this desire of our Lord an Association was founded in I854 -----and erected canonically at Paray in I865-----with the special object of "consoling our Lord by the frequent reception of Holy Communion, of turning away from us the scourge of His anger and His chastisements, and of making reparation and expiation in a certain measure for the continual blasphemies committed against the Divine Majesty and the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar." These are Pius Xl's own words.

This offering of oneself in reparation is specially recommended at Mass and Communion. But it may profitably be renewed at other moments during the day. Our Lord had suggested to St. Margaret Mary that she should offer a prayer or an act of reparation thirty-three times during the day in honour of the thirty-three years of His life on earth. The practice is a praiseworthy one, as long as too much stress is not laid on the mathematical aspect of the devotion. Others will prefer to make an offering to God for the sake of reparation at the thought that at this very minute our Lord is offering Himself to the Father in a Mass which is now being celebrated. Given the number of priests in the world it may be calculated that about four consecrations take place every second; hence it is certain that at whatever moment we may make the oblation of ourselves, our Lord is offering Himself too. In any case is not our Lord in the constant act of offering Himself, since in our tabernacles He remains always in the state of perpetual victimhood?

It is significant that in the Memoirs of St. Margaret Mary we find this request of our Lord: "Every time that I tell you of the ill-treatment which I receive from this soul, I want you, after receiving Me in Holy Communion, to prostrate yourself at My feet, to make amends to My love, offering to My eternal Father the bloody sacrifice of the Cross for this intention, and offering your whole being to give homage to Mine, and to make reparation for the indignities that are put upon Me by this soul. Setting Me on the throne of your heart, you will adore Me prostrate at My feet. You will offer yourself to My eternal Father to appease His just anger, and to urge His mercy to forgive them." (Ed. Paray, t. II, p. 147.)

More efficacious for reparation, because free from any defect whatever, are the acts of homage and reparation of our Lord Himself. It is true that we are called upon to fill up what is wanting of the sufferings of Christ, but however generous we may be, our offering will never be more than a mere drop in the wine of the chalice. Our Lord, fortunately, supplies all our deficiencies. Let us, then, offer our drop of water, but still more let us offer the Precious Blood of the Divine Head. The offering of that Blood is the great act of reparation, and by reason of my Baptismal vocation whereby I am one with Christ, I can take my humble part in it.

To give God a moment of the day in reparation is an excellent thing. But what if one could give Him the entire day? "I don't like sleeping," said a little girl once to her mother; "I don't like going to bed; so much time given to sleeping is so much time lost to loving." And what she said of sleep may be said too of external occupations. As a matter of fact, as we have explained elsewhere, both our sleep and our external occupations, although they are not explicit acts of prayer, may be transformed by us into a state of prayer through our intention. So that the child is not quite right, when it is a matter of the love of God.


Nevertheless, supposing that we were able to make every moment of our day an explicit act of prayer, what a harvest there would be! But what is not possible for one individual may become possible where there is a group; and this is the principle of the "Guard of Honour." In a celebrated vision to St. Margaret Mary the Angels offered to make an alliance with her, undertaking to adore the Blessed Sacrament in her place while she was busy with her domestic occupations (Ed. Paray, t. II, p. 108), and to make reparation "for all the daily acts of irreverence committed before the face of God."

The Saint thereupon desired that this idea should become widely known. In the year 1863 the practical formula was invented at the Visitation Convent at Bourg. Each member of the Guard of Honour chooses an hour of the day, undertaking during that time to think more than usual of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and to offer to him at least one sacrifice and an act of love. No special practice of piety is prescribed; nothing more than the duty of the moment.

But sin abounds during the night as well as during the day. So some have adopted the pious custom of devoting an hour to prayer during the night from Thursday to Friday to commemorate the terrible night which Christ passed during His Agony. How can we think of the horrors of Gethsemane without wishing to offer to our Lord the homage of our adoration and reparation? Every devout soul must feel inclined to say with the young girl who was later to be Sister Claire of Jesus: "When you have meditated on the Passion of Christ how is it possible to lie down in bed, when you think that it is the hour in which our Lord suffered His Agony in the Garden! Can I think of Christ bowed under that weight of suffering and yet not seek with my tears, my prayers, my sacrifices and my love, to console my Divine Master and give Him a word of comfort?"

"The darkness of night seemed to open," so writes Huysmans of the Agony in the Garden, "and as in a frame of sombre shadows there appeared pictures lit up by a mysterious light. On a background that glowed with menacing radiance the centuries passed in procession, pushing before them sins of idolatry and incest, sacrileges and murders, all the ancient crimes that had been committed since the fall of Adam; and the cheers of wicked Angels greeted them as they passed. Jesus, overcome with grief, lowered His eyes. When He raised them again, these phantoms of past generations had disappeared; but there before Him now were the crimes of the Jews to whom He was preaching the Gospel, drawn up in menacing array. He saw Judas, He saw Caiphas, He saw Pilate . . . He saw Peter. He saw the brutes who would strike Him on the face, who would encircle His brow with the crown of thorns. Gaunt against the sinister sky rose the Cross, and groans were heard from the nether regions. He rose to His feet, and dizzy and tottering, reached out for a supporting arm. He was alone.

"He dragged Himself as far as the spot where He had left His disciples; and there they were asleep in the peaceful night. He aroused them. They looked at Him agape, filled with fright, wondering whether this man with the distraught gestures and strained eyes was indeed the same Jesus Whom they had seen transfigured before them on Mount Thabor, with radiant face and garment of snow. Our Lord could not but give them a pitying smile. He only reproached them with not having kept awake, and twice more He went back to suffer in his corner of the Garden.

"He knelt to pray, and this time it was no longer the past and the present, but still more terrible, the future that unfolded itself before His eyes; the centuries to come followed one after another, showing changing countries and changing towns; even the seas and the continents changed their form before His eyes; only men remained the same, though their costumes altered from age to age; they continued to steal and to kill, they persisted in crucifying their Saviour, to sate their greed for luxury and gain. Amidst the changing civilization of the ages, the Golden Calf stood there immovable, ruler of mankind. Then it was that, overcome with sorrow, Jesus sweated Blood and cried: 'Father, if it be possible let this chalice pass from Me.  . . . But Thy will be done.' "

Jesus Himself has asked for souls generous enough to share and thus console Him in His Agony: "Every Thursday night," He said to St. Margaret Mary, "I will make you share in the mortal sorrow that I suffered in the Garden of Olives, a sorrow which will give you an agony harder to bear even than death. And to keep Me company in the humble prayer which I then offered to the Father, you will prostrate yourself on your face, to appease the Divine justice, asking mercy for sinners." (Ed. Paray, t. II, p. 126.)

Compare this request with those sad words related in the Gospels: "Could you not watch one hour with Me?" (Mark xiv:38), and ask yourself whether you would not do well to adopt this beautiful devotion of the Holy Hour. Since it is not always possible or desirable for all to get up in the middle of the night, the Church permits that the Holy Hour should begin at any time after four, or even from two o'clock onwards during the shorter days of the year. Evidently, where it is possible, eleven o'clock at night is the hour indicated, because this is approximately the hour at which our Lord was in the Garden; this was the hour chosen by St. Margaret Mary; and moreover prayer at that time has an additional merit from the sacrifice of one's sleep. Plenty of pretexts may be found for refusing this act of devotion. A little generosity is needed. Why is it that a person who does not hesitate to sacrifice his or her night for some social function or to listen to the wireless, finds that it would be injurious to health to pray for an hour during the night once a week or once a month? Let us confess that we are weak; but let us not add hypocrisy to our weakness.

A very practical form of the Holy Hour is that invented by P ère Mateo; it is called "Night Watching in the Home." Seven persons, either in the same house or in different houses, undertake once a month to make an hour's adoration before the picture of the Sacred Heart, between ten o'clock in the evening and five in the morning. By December, 1928-----that is, within eighteen months from its inception-----this devotion had rallied 21,766 adherents, thus ensuring 2723 nights of adoration, or an average of 900 adorers every night, or 110 a minute. This movement has received the august approval of the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, all the archbishops and bishops of Portugal, eleven bishops of France, and several other prelates of Spain, Belgium, Uruguay and Venezuela. 

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Traditional Mass Propers: Corpus Christi

INTROIT Ps. 80:17
He fed them with the finest wheat, alleluia! and filled them with honey from the rock, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! Ps. 80:2. Sing joyfully to God, our helper, sing aloud to the God of Jacob. V. Glory be . . .

COLLECT - O God, we possess a lasting memorial of Your Passion in this wondrous Sacrament. Grant that we may so venerate the mysteries of Your Body and Blood that we may always feel within ourselves the effects of Your redemption; who lives and rules with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.

EPISTLE
I Cor. 11:23-29
Breathren: For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, And giving thanks, broke and said: "Take ye and eat: This is my body, which shall be delivered for you. This do for the commemoration of me." In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: "This chalice is the new testament in my blood. This do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me. For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he come." Therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh judgment to himself.

GRADUAL
The eyes of all look hopefully to You, O Lord, and You give them food in due season. V. You open Your hand and fill every living creature with blessing.

Alleluia, alleluia! V. John 6:56-57 My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, abides in me and I in him, alleluia!

GOSPEL
John 6:56-59

At that time, Jesus said to the crowds of the Jews: "For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me: and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this bread shall live for ever."

OFFERTORY
Lev. 21:6
The priests of the Lord offer incense and loaves to God; therefore they shall be sacred to their God and shall not profane His name, alleluia!

SECRET  O Lord, graciously bestow upon Your Church the gifts of unity and peace, which are symbolized in this Sacrifice we offer You. Through our Lord . . .

PREFACE

Pre-1955: Rubrics: Preface of the Nativity
1962 Rubrics: Common Preface

COMMUNION
I Cor. 11:26-27
As often as you shall eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, alleluia!

POST COMMUNION -  O Lord, grant that we may enjoy the eternal presence of Your divinity, which is foreshadowed by our earthly reception of Your Precious Body and Blood; who lives and rules with God the Father . . .

Sources: Saint Andrew Daily Missal and the Marian Missal, 1945

Note: For more information on the Theology of Corpus Christ, please click here.  And for information on this day's processions, please click here.  And click here to see videos of processions.

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Corpus Christi Serving Notes

The Corpus Christi procession in the south-eastern town of Przemysl. Photo: PAP/Darek Delmanowicz
With the External Solemnity of Corpus Christi tomorrow, I'm pleased that our friends over at Romanitas Press have put together serving notes for those saying the Traditional Latin Mass for Corpus Christi.  Pass these documents along to any sacristans, servers, or priests that you think may benefit from this. Click here to read their ceremonial notes.

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Corpus Christi Procession: France 1960

In honor of the great Solemnity of Corpus Christi, I present the following video of Corpus Christi (in color) from France in 1960.

Sacris solemniis juncta sint gaudia,
Et ex praecordiis sonent praeconia;
Recedant vetera, nova sint omnia,
Corda, voces et opera.

Great is the festive day, joyful and jubilant,
Let us with loving hearts offer the song of praise;
Freed from the sinful past, may we renew in grace
 All our thoughts and words and deeds.

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Traditional Mass Propers: Second Sunday after Pentecost (Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christi)

Vestments: Green

INTROIT
Psalms 17: 19, 20
The Lord became my protector, and He brought me forth into a large place: He saved me, because He was well pleased with me. -- (Ps. 17. 2, 3). I will love Thee, O Lord my strength: the Lord is my firmament, and my refuge, and my deliverer. V.: Glory be to the Father . . . The Lord became my protector . . .

COLLECT

Make us, O Lord, to have both a perpetual fear and a love of Thy holy Name: for Thou dost never deprive of Thy guidance those whom Thou dost establish steadfastly in Thy love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth . . .

COMMEMORATION OF OCTAVE OF CORPUS CHRISTI

O God, who in a wonderful Sacrament hast left unto us the memorial of Thy Passion; grant, we beseech Thee, that we may so venerate the sacred mysteries of Thy Body and Blood as to experience continually within ourselves the fruit of Thy Redemption. Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

(unless the Feast of Corpus Christi is transferred to the 2nd Sunday After Pentecost, in which case only the propers for the Feast are said today) 

EPISTLE
I John 3. 13-18
Dearly beloved, Wonder not if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not, abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in himself. In this we have known the charity of God, because He hath laid down His live for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. He that hath the substance of this world, and shall see his brethren in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him, how doth the charity of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

GRADUAL
Ps. 119: 1, 2

In my trouble I cried to the Lord, and He heard me. V.: O Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips and a deceitful tongue. Alleluia, alleluia. V.(Ps. 17. 2). O Lord, my God, in Thee have I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me. Alleluia.

GOSPEL
Luke 14: 16-24
At that time, Jesus spoke to the Pharisees this parable: A certain man made a great supper, and invited many. And he sent his servant, at the hour of supper, to say to them that were invited, that they should come, for now all things were ready. And they began all at once to make excuse. The first said to him: I have bought a farm, and must needs go out, and see it; I pray thee hold me excused. And another said: I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to try them; I pray thee hold me excused. And another said: I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. And the servant returning, told these things to his lord. Then the master of the house being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the feeble, and the blind, and the lame. And the servant said: Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. But I say unto you, that none of these men that were invited shall taste of my supper.

OFFERTORY
Psalms 6:5
Turn to me, O Lord, and deliver my soul, O save me for Thy mercy's sake.

SECRET

May the offering, to be dedicated to Thy Name, O Lord, purify us, and day by day, carry us on the observances of a heavenly life. Through our Lord

COMMEMORATION OF OCTAVE OF CORPUS CHRISTI

Graciously bestow on Thy Church, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the gifts of unity and peace, which are mystically shown forth in the gifts now offered. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost . . .

PREFACE (Preface of the Most Holy Trinity)

It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God; Who, together with Thine only-begotten Son, and the Holy Ghost, art one God, one Lord: not in the oneness of a single Person, but in the Trinity of one substance. For what we believe by Thy revelation of Thy glory, the same do we believe of Thy Son, the same of the Holy Ghost, without difference or separation. So that in confessing the true and everlasting Godhead, distinction in persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty may be adored. Which the Angels and Archangels, the Cherubim also and Seraphim do praise: who cease not daily to cry out, with one voice saying:

COMMUNION
Ps 12:6 I will sing to the Lord, who giveth me good things: and I will sing to the Name of the Lord Most High.

POST COMMUNION 

We who have receive the sacred Gifts, beseech Thee, O Lord, that by the frequenting of the Mystery, the fruit of our salvation may increase. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost . . .

COMMEMORATION OF OCTAVE OF CORPUS CHRISTI

Make us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, to be filled with the eternal enjoyment of Thy Divinity, which is prefigured by the reception in this life of Thy precious Body and Blood. Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost . . .

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Corpus Christi at St. Vincent's Chapel (SSPX)

These beautiful images from yesterday's High Mass in honor of our Eucharistic King are courtesy of the SSPX's website.

Today's feast has 3 purposes:

1) To honor Our Lord, who is truly present in the Holy Eucharist
2) To instruct others on the faith, mystery, and devotion concerning the Holy Eucharist
3) To show our appreciation for the great gift of the Holy Eucharist

The Feast of Corpus Christi was instituted in the 13th Century to commemorate the Institution of the Eucharist. While we remember this on Holy Thursday, we also remember Christ's coming passion and death as well as the institution of the priesthood. For the sublime gift of the Holy Eucharist, we need another just set aside just to praise God for His unlimited humility and love. Imagine that bread and wine become the God of Heaven and Earth!

Around the early 1200s, Saint Juliana of Mont Cornillon received a vision concerning this feast at a young age. St. Juliana always had a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. In her vision, she saw the Church under the appearance of the full moon. One large, dark spot was in the moon - symbolic of the absence of a solemnity to honor the Holy Eucharist. St. Juliana became an Augustinian nun in Liége, France, in 1206. Corpus Christi became a feast for the Diocese of Liege in 1246, and later in 1312 Corpus Christi became a mandatory feast in the Roman Catholic Church

Many parishes will have Eucharistic processions. These processions are endowed with indulgences by Popes Martin V and Eugene IV.

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Video: Mass on Corpus Christi

On days when I am not able to attend Holy Mass, I find it comforting to listen to the holy chants of Mass. This video was taken this year of Mass said on Corpus Christi.

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Corpus Christi & Vigil of Natvity of St. John the Baptist

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you have no life in you; he who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."-- John 6:53, 54

Today the Holy Church celebrates the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, a First Class Feast.  Today is also coincidentally the Vigil of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist.  While we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi, the Vigil of the Nativity of St. John will be commemorated in the prayers of the day.

Today's feast has 3 purposes:

1) To honor Our Lord, who is truly present in the Holy Eucharist
2) To instruct others on the faith, mystery, and devotion concerning the Holy Eucharist
3) To show our appreciation for the great gift of the Holy Eucharist

Posts Recommended for Corpus Christi:

• Corpus Christi Procession: Birmingham Oratory, England
• Corpus Christi Procession: Mary Immaculate Queen, Rathdrum Idaho 
• Pope Benedict XVI Celebrates Corpus Christi (2009)
• Corpus Christi Processions: Videos
• Corpus Christi Procession at Ss. Philomena & Cecilia in Brookville, IN 
• Pope Urges The Practice Of Eucharistic Adoration 
• Oxford's Corpus Christi Procession 
• Corpus Christi in Rome in 2006
• Corpus Christi
• Eucharistic Processions
• The Eucharist
• Why did Jesus institute the Holy Eucharist?
• What is Eucharistic Adoration?

Posts Recommended for the Vigil of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

• Preparing for the Nativity of St. John the Baptist - Customs Explained

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Corpus Christi Procession: Birmingham Oratory, England

Mrs. Jackie Parkes MJ of the blog Catholic Mom of 10 was kind enough to send A Catholic Life the following images of today's Corpus Christi Procession through streets of Birmingham England. In these images is Fr. Paul Chavasse, Provost of the Birmingham Oratory.

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Corpus Christi Procession: Mary Immaculate Queen, Rathdrum Idaho

I am very thankful to have been sent these beautiful images of a procession that took place earlier today.

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Pope Benedict XVI Celebrates Corpus Christi

Image Sources: REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito

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Corpus Christi Procession Videos

Video from San Secondo d'Asti Catholic Church in Guasti, CA (2008).

Video from Saint Francis de Sales Oratory, in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA (2007).

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Corpus Christi Procession at Ss. Philomena & Cecilia in Brookville, IN

These and other photos are from Una Voce Carmel.

Ss. Philomena & Cecilia’s is an apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Fr. Gerard Saguto is the administrator of the apostolate, if you would like more information on Mass times or joining the Parish please call the rectory 765-647-0310.

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Pope Benedict XVI Urges The Practice Of Eucharistic Adoration

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 10, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI recommends the practice of Eucharistic adoration, saying that the capacity for interior silence and recollection is ever more important in life that is often "noisy and scattered."

The Pope said this today after praying the Angelus with crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square. His address centered on the Eucharist, as many nations celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi today.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Today’s solemnity of Corpus Domini, which in the Vatican and other nations was already celebrated this past Thursday, invites us to contemplate the great mystery of our faith: the most holy Eucharist, the real presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in the sacrament of the altar.

Every time that the priest renews the Eucharistic sacrifice, in the prayer of consecration he repeats: "This is my body … this is my blood." He does this giving his voice, his hands, and his heart to Christ, who wanted to remain with us as the beating heart of the Church. But even after the celebration of the divine mysteries, the Lord Jesus remains living in the tabernacle; because of this he is praised, especially by Eucharistic adoration, as I wished to recall in the recent postsynodal apostolic exhortation, "Sacramentum Caritatis" (cf. Nos. 66-69).

Indeed, there is an intrinsic connection between celebration and adoration. The holy Mass, in fact, is in itself the Church's greatest act of adoration: "No one eats this food," St. Augustine writes, "if he has not first worshipped it" (Commentary on Psalm 98:9; CCL XXXIX, 1385). Adoration outside holy Mass prolongs and intensifies what happened in the liturgical celebration and renders a true and profound reception of Christ possible.

Today, then, in all Christian communities, there is the Eucharistic procession, a singular form of public adoration of the Eucharist, enriched by beautiful and traditional manifestations of popular devotion. I would like to take the opportunity that today's solemnity offers me to strongly recommend to pastors and all the faithful the practice of Eucharistic adoration. I express my appreciation to the institutes of consecrated life, as also to the associations and confraternities that dedicate themselves to this practice in a special way. They offer to all a reminder of the centrality of Christ in our personal and ecclesial life.

I am happy to testify that many young people are discovering the beauty of adoration, whether personal or in community. I invite priests to encourage youth groups in this, but also to accompany them to ensure that the forms of adoration are appropriate and dignified, with sufficient times for silence and listening to the word of God. In life today, which is often noisy and scattered, it is more important than ever to recover the capacity for interior silence and recollection: Eucharistic adoration permits one to do this not only within one's "I" but rather in the company of that "You" full of love who is Jesus Christ, "the God who is near us."

May the Virgin Mary, Eucharistic Woman, lead us into the secret of true adoration. Her heart, humble and silent, was always recollected around the mystery of Jesus, in whom she worshipped the presence of God and his redemptive love. By her intercession may there grow faith in the Eucharistic mystery, the joy of participating at holy Mass, especially on Sunday, and the desire to bear witness to the immense charity of Christ.

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