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
On Corpus Christi, we remember and again celebrate this true and lasting miracle. Think about it, we can receive the flesh and blood of Our God! We can truly receive our Creator in a way so that we might have life within us! The Institution of the Eucharist changed the world. We must contemplate this miracle before receiving Our Lord at every single Mass. How can we not share the sentiments of Archbishop Sheen who said, "The greatest love story of all time is contained in a tiny, white Host."
Dom Gueranger writes, "A great solemnity has this day risen upon our earth: a feast both to God and to men: for it is the feast of Christ the Mediator, who is present in the sacred Host, that God may be given to man, and man to God. Divine union—such is the dignity to which man is permitted to aspire; and to this aspiration God has responded, even here below, by an invention which is all of heaven. It is to-day that man celebrates this marvel of God’s goodness."
History of the Feast of Corpus Christi
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 day 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 1264, after having seen the Eucharistic Miracle in Orvieto, Pope Urban IV issued “Transiturus de hoc mundo” establishing it as a feast for the Universal Church. Pope Urban IV's order was confirmed by Pope Clement V in the Clementines Laws and promulgated by his successor, Pope John XXII in 1317.
In 1970 the name was changed from Corpus Christi to the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ when Corpus Christi and the Feast of the Precious Blood (July 1) were joined. The feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord was suppressed in the Novus Ordo when the new calendar was promulgated in 1969, and not twenty-plus years later when Corpus Christi was renamed in the USA. The reason for its suppression was the alleged promotion of the understanding of Corpus Christi in terms of both Sacred Species. However, this is highly unfortunate because the feast of the Precious Blood (still observed at all Masses said according to the Liturgical Books of 1962 or previously) was not, strictly speaking, eucharistic in nature, but theological/devotional, and referred more to the Sacred Wounds of Our Lord and the hypostatic union of Our Lord's divine and human natures. The Feast of Corpus Christi has always honored the fullness of Christ - Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity - in the Eucharist. This is just another reminder of why we should stay clear of the Novus Ordo and remain attached to the Church's Traditional Calendar.
Additionally, up until changes to the Roman Calendar in 1955 by Pope Pius XII, today's feast had an Octave associated with it.
Corpus Christi as a Holy Day of Obligation
The first catalog of Holy Days comes from the Decretals of Gregory IX in 1234, which listed 45 Holy Days. In 1642, His Holiness Pope Urban VIII issued the papal bull "Universa Per Orbem" which altered the required Holy Days of Obligation for the Universal Church to consist of 35 such days as well as the principal patrons of one's locality. Corpus Christi was included in that list from 1642. It had not previously been in the list from 1234 since it was not established until after that time. By the 15th century, Corpus Christi became one of the Church's principal feasts and was likely added as a Holy Day of Obligation around that time.
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
Eucharistic Processions
Many parishes will have Eucharistic processions. These processions are endowed with indulgences by Pope Martin V and Pope Eugene IV.
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
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.
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.
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.
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 . . .
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.
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.
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.
Please keep this children in your prayers as they have received the Sacred Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in Holy Communion. May they always remain close to the Sacred Heart of our Lord.
Anima
Christi
Soul of Christ,
sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within Thy wounds, hide me.
Separated from Thee let me never be.
From the malignant enemy, defend me.
At the hour of death, call me.
To come to Thee, bid me,
That I may praise Thee in the company
Of Thy Saints, for all eternity. Amen.
Anima Christi,
sanctifica me.
Corpus Christi, salva me.
Sanguis Christi, inebria me.
Aqua lateris Christi, lava me.
Passio Christi, conforta me.
O bone Iesu, exaudi me.
Intra tua vulnera absconde me.
Ne permittas me separari a te.
Ab hoste maligno defende me.
In hora mortis meae voca me.
Et iube me venire ad te,
Ut cum Sanctis tuis laudem te
in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
“For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, My name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to My name a clean oblation.” (Mal. 1:11)
This article continues and expands the meditation begun in my previous post, The Mass as God’s Wonderful Promise and Gift. There, I focused on the Mass as a hidden treasure and the Eucharist as the greatest Gift God could give—God Himself. Here, I turn to a closely related theme: the Real Presence as a doctrine that demands living faith, visible reverence, and (at times) extraordinary signs by which our Lord has strengthened His Church when belief was attacked or mocked.
These reflections are drawn from and inspired by the nineteenth-century Redemptorist priest Father Michael Mueller (1825–1899), whose devotional and doctrinal works aimed to press Catholic truths into the imagination and conscience until a man is forced to ask: Do I actually believe what I say I believe? Mueller’s book on the Mass—first published in 1874 and recently re-typeset and edited—was warmly commended in its own day and deserves renewed attention in ours.
In adapting these meditations for publication here, I will rely far less on extended quotations and more on explanation and application. Still, Mueller’s voice will appear at key moments. I will format any direct quotation as a block quote so it can be footnoted easily.
I. Real Presence: The Doctrine That Reorders Everything
It is one thing to confess with the lips that Our Lord is present in the Blessed Sacrament. It is another to live as though it were true.
Catholics often speak—rightly—of the Mass as the unbloody renewal of Calvary. We know (at least in theory) that the Sacrifice of the Cross is made present sacramentally; that the Mass is true worship, true oblation, true sacrifice; and that the Eucharist is not merely a symbol or representation, but Jesus Christ Himself—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—under the sacramental veils.
And yet the modern world grows louder, more frantic, and more distracted by the day. Even for practicing Catholics, it becomes easy to treat the Mass as one more event on a weekly schedule: attended, fulfilled, and quickly forgotten. That shift does not happen all at once. It begins quietly: a loss of awe, a habit of distraction, a reduced sense of sin, and a practical assumption that the Eucharist is “holy,” yes—but not the kind of holiness that demands trembling reverence.
But if the Real Presence is true, then everything changes. The tabernacle is not a decorative box. It is not an ornament for the sanctuary. It is a throne. It is Bethlehem and Calvary and the Upper Room gathered into one hidden location where the God-Man truly dwells. If Christ is there, then a church is not merely a room for religious gathering; it is a sacred place because the King is present. And if the King is present, then every Catholic is bound not merely to “believe,” but to adore.
It is precisely because this doctrine reorders everything that the devil hates it and the world resists it. The Real Presence is not merely a comforting devotion; it is a declaration of divine authority. It says: God is here. God speaks. God reigns. God judges. God sanctifies. God demands worship. And for fallen man, that is intolerable unless he repents.
II. Christ Permits Evil to Draw From It a Greater Good
If the Eucharist is the heart of the Church, we might ask why God has permitted it to be attacked, denied, mocked, profaned, or treated casually—even among those who claim the name of Christian. Why allow heresy at all? Why allow irreverence to spread?
The Catholic answer is not that God wills evil. He does not. But He permits evil—and He permits it in such a way that, without compromising His holiness, He draws from it a greater good: the strengthening of the faithful, the purification of devotion, the exposure of error, the humiliation of pride, and the more brilliant vindication of truth.
This is the logic of the Cross. Our Lord allowed Judas to betray Him and Peter to fall. He allowed Himself to be scourged, mocked, and crucified. The malice was real; the injustice was real; yet the providence of God was greater still. From the darkest hour, God drew the world’s redemption.
So too in Eucharistic history: when belief grew cold, when heresy grew bold, and when the sacred mysteries were assaulted, God permitted trials. And at times of His choosing, He answered those trials with confirmations—sometimes quiet and interior, sometimes public and extraordinary—so that the faithful might be strengthened, the wavering corrected, and the proud rebuked.
This must be said clearly: miracles do not replace doctrine, and signs do not create faith. The Church’s authority is sufficient. Still, it has pleased God at certain times to grant remarkable confirmations—not because the Church needs spectacle, but because man’s heart is slow, forgetful, and often stubborn.
III. Corpus Christi and the Mercy of Public Adoration
One of the clearest examples of God drawing a greater good from an age of danger is the Feast of Corpus Christi. The feast is not a medieval embellishment. It is a providential response to the needs of the Church—especially when Eucharistic faith was challenged and devotion threatened.
The heart of Corpus Christi is remarkably simple: the Church publicly does what she always does interiorly—she confesses what she believes. The Eucharistic procession is a sermon preached without words: Christ is here. The same Lord Who once walked the roads of Judea now passes through our streets, not because He needs honor, but because we need to honor Him. Public worship becomes a form of reparation and a remedy for a forgetful world.
Mueller points to the purpose of Corpus Christi with characteristic directness:
“This means was the institution of the Feast of Corpus Christi.”
And he emphasizes why it mattered at the time it arose:
“It was instituted by divine inspiration in order that the Catholic doctrine might be strengthened by the institution of this festival, at a time when the faith of the world was growing cold and heresies were rife.”
Whether we consider the historical development of the feast or its enduring spiritual fruit, the lesson is the same: when faith is threatened, the Church does not retreat into ambiguity. She proclaims Christ more openly. The Host is lifted up not as a symbol, but as the living Lord. And the faithful are invited to order their interior life according to what the Church dares to confess in public: that Jesus Christ is truly present.
In our own day, Corpus Christi remains an essential anchor for authentic Eucharistic renewal. It teaches Catholics to worship outwardly what they claim to believe inwardly. It teaches that reverence is not optional; it is the natural language of faith.
IV. The Evils of Protestantism and the Assault on the Eucharist
To understand why the Church has clung so tightly to Eucharistic devotion—and why she has insisted upon clarity—we must speak honestly about what happens when the Real Presence is denied.
The Protestant revolt was not merely a dispute about external ceremonies or church governance. At its heart was a revolt against the sacrificial priesthood and the Eucharistic mystery. Once the Mass is denied as a true sacrifice, and once transubstantiation is rejected, the Eucharist is reduced—first to a symbol, then to an occasional memorial, and eventually to a matter of subjective meaning rather than objective reality.
And historically, the denial did not remain theoretical. Where the Eucharist was rejected, the fruits often followed: contempt for Catholic worship, ransacking of churches, ridicule of altars, destruction of sacred vessels, mockery of adoration, and the stripping away of the very instincts of reverence. When a culture abandons the truth that God is truly present among us—hidden under the sacramental veil—reverence collapses. And when reverence collapses, blasphemy and cruelty are never far behind.
This is why the Church has always treated Eucharistic doctrine as a matter of life and death, not as an item for polite ecumenical vagueness. If Christ is not truly present, then Catholic worship is superstition. But if Christ is truly present, then Protestantism is not merely “a different emphasis.” It is a denial of the Lord’s own words: “This is My Body.”
And because God is merciful even to the weak and wavering, He has sometimes granted extraordinary signs precisely in such ages—so that the faithful might be strengthened and the arrogant humbled.
V. Nicola Aubry and the Terrifying Clarity of Spiritual Warfare
Among the most arresting narratives Mueller presents is that of Nicola Aubry. Modern sensibilities do not like such stories. Yet the case teaches an unforgettable lesson: the devil knows the truth about the Eucharist even when heretics deny it; and Christ, in His sovereignty, can force even His enemies to confess what unbelief refuses to adore.
What is especially striking about this episode is that it is not presented as mere curiosity. It is doctrinal and moral. It reveals the hatred hell bears toward the Eucharist, and it highlights the authority Christ has placed in His Church.
Mueller frames the matter with a question that cuts to the heart of providence:
“Why this struggle between Our Lord and satan, since our divine Savior is his Lord and Master?”
His answer, in substance, is that God permitted the trial in order to sanctify, to instruct, to confirm Catholic doctrine, and to draw a greater good from what the devil intended for ruin. In this case, our Lord’s victory becomes a kind of living catechism: it teaches that Christ is present, that the Eucharist has power, and that even infernal hatred must yield before the King Who hides Himself under humble appearances.
One cannot read such accounts and still pretend that the Eucharist is a harmless symbol. The devil does not rage against symbols. He rages against reality. He rages against Christ’s sacramental Presence because the Eucharist is Christ’s nearness to man—Christ’s condescension, Christ’s mercy, Christ’s kingship, Christ’s claim upon souls.
This is why the Church has always insisted that reception of Holy Communion must be worthy: free from mortal sin, approached with reverence, prepared by repentance. The Eucharist is not a common thing. It is the Holy of Holies.
VI. The Power of Our Lord’s Body
Mueller repeatedly returns to a central point: the Host appears small, silent, unimpressive—but omnipotence is hidden there. The God-Man is not divided. Wherever He is present, His power and majesty are present, even if veiled.
He expresses the paradox plainly:
“So, when we look upon the Sacred Host it is true, we see there no mark of His Majesty… Yet, for all that, Jesus does not lack the power and means to manifest Himself in the Sacred Host as the Lord of Heaven and earth…”
This is precisely why Eucharistic devotion tests the sincerity of faith. God hides Himself so that man will be humbled, so that the soul will learn to prefer divine testimony over sensory evidence, and so that love may become pure—seeking God for God’s sake, not merely for the thrill of visible marvels.
Yet in mercy, God has at times allowed that veil to be partially lifted. Not because the ordinary Eucharist is “less real,” but because man’s heart is often forgetful. And when God grants such signs, they function like the miracles of Christ in the Gospel: they confirm doctrine, strengthen the faithful, and rebuke unbelief.
VII. The Miracle of Augsburg and Three Extraordinary Favors
Among the most sobering accounts is the miracle associated with Augsburg. While the details are striking, the spiritual meaning is even more striking: irreverence toward the Eucharist is never a small sin; and when Christ permits extraordinary confirmation, it is both mercy and warning.
The narrative involves sacrilege—a soul receiving Holy Communion and then committing a grave profanation by keeping the Host. Such a sin does not bring freedom; it brings misery. In the story, conscience becomes a torment until repentance returns. That alone is an important lesson: one cannot “possess” Christ as a talisman. The Eucharist is not a charm, and it does not tolerate being treated as an object.
When the Host is finally returned and the priest examines what had been hidden, the account describes a visible change—one meant to confirm, terrify, and instruct:
“On taking the two pieces of wax apart, he beheld, instead of the species of bread, human flesh, and even the muscular fibers.”
And again, the narrative emphasizes a further manifestation:
“the Sacred Host split at once in two… united by muscular fibers.”
Mueller presents this episode not as spectacle but as instruction. Such a miracle becomes, in effect, a catechism written in flesh rather than ink. It forces the question: if Christ’s Body is truly present, how dare we approach without reverence? How dare we receive in mortal sin? How dare we treat the altar casually? How dare we reduce the Eucharist to a symbol?
When Mueller speaks of “extraordinary favors” associated with such miracles, the point is not that we should chase marvels. The point is that God sometimes grants concrete confirmations to restore fear of God, to awaken repentance, and to strengthen faith where it has grown weak.
VIII. Eucharistic Miracles Still Today
There is a temptation to assume that Eucharistic miracles belong only to distant centuries. But the Church’s history repeatedly shows that God has sometimes granted such confirmations even in relatively recent times. The point is not to build a spirituality that depends on marvels; the point is to recognize that God is not absent from our age, even when unbelief is loud.
When such miracles occur, they function like the miracles of Christ in the Gospel: they confirm doctrine, strengthen the faithful, and expose the poverty of skepticism. They are signs of mercy—given not because the Church lacks evidence, but because hearts lack attention.
But perhaps the greatest “miracle” needed today is not that accidents visibly change, but that Catholics would recover Catholic instincts: silence, recollection, confession, reparation, and adoration. The Real Presence demands a real response. It calls us not merely to “attend Mass,” but to worship God with our whole heart, to repent of sin, and to receive Holy Communion worthily.
IX. Practical Application: What Eucharistic Faith Requires
If we want Eucharistic renewal in a serious sense, it will not be achieved merely by banners, slogans, or programs. It requires the restoration of Catholic life at its roots:
Frequent confession, because the Eucharist is not a right but a Gift, and because mortal sin and Holy Communion cannot coexist.
Reverent liturgy, because what we do at the altar teaches what we believe.
Eucharistic adoration, because worship trains the soul to receive rightly and strengthens faith more than argument alone.
Reparation, because the Eucharist has been denied, mocked, and abused, and love demands that we make amends.
Doctrinal clarity, because confusion is not charity, and ambiguity does not save souls.
Corpus Christi teaches that public confession of faith matters. The history of Protestant denial teaches that the Eucharist is always contested. Nicola Aubry teaches that hell itself testifies to the Eucharist’s power. Augsburg teaches that irreverence wounds the soul and that Christ’s Body is truly present. And the broader witness of
Solemnity (1969 Calendar): June 29 Double of the I Class (1955 Calendar): June 29
The Catholic Church honors many, many saints and today is one of principal importance since ancient times. Today, June 29, we celebrate the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, who both loved God so fervently they died for the One True Faith. Can we imitate the humility of St. Peter, who was crucified upside down since he claimed that he was unworthy to die in the same manner as Our Lord?
It would be difficult to insist more than does today’s liturgy on the
episode of Peter’s captivity in Jerusalem. Sever antiphons and all the capitula
of this Office are drawn from thence; the Introit has just sung the
same; and the Epistle gives in full the history of the event in which
the Church is particularly interested on this feast. The secret of her
preference can easily be divined. This festival celebrates the fact that
Peter’s death confirms the queen of the Gentile world in her august
prerogatives of sovereign lady, mother and bride; but the starting-point
of all this greatness was the solemn moment in which the vicar of the
Man-God, shaking the dust from his feet over Jerusalem, turned his face
westwards, and transferred to Rome those rights which the Synagogue had
repudiated. It was on quitting Herod’s prison that all this happened.
“And going out of the city,” says the Acts, “he went into another
place.” This other place, according to the testimony of history and
tradition, is no other than Rome, then about to become the new Sion,
where Simon Peter arrived some weeks afterwards. Thus, catching up the
angel’s word, the Gentile Church sings this night in one of her
responsories at Matins: “Peter, arise, and put on thy garments: gird
thee with strength to save the nations; for the chains have fallen from
off thy hands.”
Just as in bygone days Jesus slept in the bark
that was on the point of sinking, so Peter was sleeping quietly on the
eve of the day fixed for his death. Tempests and dangers of all kinds
are not spared, in the course of ages, to Peter’s successors. But never
is there seen in the bark of holy Church the dire dismay which held
aghast the companions of our Lord in that vessel, tossed as it was by
the wild hurricane. Faith was then lacking in the breasts of the
disciples, and its absence caused their terror. Since the descent of the
Holy Ghost, however, this precious faith, whence all other gifts flow,
can never be lost in the Church. It is faith that imparts to superiors
the calmness of their divine Master; faith maintains in the hearts of
the Christian people that uninterrupted prayer, and humble confidence
which silently triumphs over the world and the elements, even over God
himself. Should the bark of Peter near the abyss, should the Pilot
himself seem to sleep, never will holy Church imitate the disciples in
the storm of Lake Genesareth. Never will she set herself up as judge of
the due means and moments for divine Providence, nor deem it lawful for
her to find fault with him who is watching over all: remembering that
she possesses within her a better and surer means than any other of
bringing to a solution, without display or commotion, the most extreme
crises; never ignoring that if intercessory prayer does not falter, the
angel of the Lord will surely come at the given hour to awaken Peter and
break his chains asunder.
Oh, how far more powerful are a few
souls that in their unobtrusive simplicity know how to pray, than all
the policy and all the soldiers of a thousand Herods put together! The
small community assembled in the house of Mary, mother of Mark, were few
indeed in number; but thence, day by day and night by night, arose one
continual prayer; fortunately, that fatal naturalism was unknown there,
which, under the specious pretext of not tempting God, refrains from
asking of him the impossible, whenever there is question of the Church’s
interests. This pest of naturalism is a domestic enemy harder far to
grapple with, at a critical moment, than the crisis itself! To be sure,
the precautions taken by Herod Agrippa not to suffer his prisoner to
escape his hands do credit to his prudence, and certainly it was an
impossible thing asked for by holy Church, when she begged the
deliverance of Peter at such a moment: so much so, indeed, that even
those who were praying, when their prayers were heard, did not at first
believe their own eyes! But the prevailing force of their strength was
just in that—namely, to hope against all hope—for what they themselves
knew to be holy foolishness; that is to say, to submit in prayer the
judgment of reason to the sole view of faith!
Bishop Bonaventure Giffard
Ss. Peter and Paul As A Holy Day of Obligation
The first catalog of Holy Days comes from the Decretals of Gregory IX in 1234, which listed 45 Holy Days. In 1642, His Holiness Pope Urban VIII issued the papal bull "Universa Per Orbem" which altered the required Holy Days of Obligation for the Universal Church to consist of 35 such days as well as the principal patrons of one's one locality. In that listing, Ss. Peter and Paul was listed as a Holy Day of Obligation.
In fact, all of the feasts of the Apostles were Holy Days of Obligation on the Universal Calendar from 932 AD - as cited by Father Weiser on page 279 in his "Christian Feasts and Customs" - to 1911. However, most localities did not observe all of these feastdays as Holy Days. The Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul was the most commonly observed Holy Day among the feasts of the apostles. Even after the changes to Holy Days of Obligation in Ireland in the mid-1700s, Ss. Peter and Paul remained a day of double precept.
At the time of America's formation, the holy days of obligation, in addition to every Sunday, were as follows for the new country: the feasts of Christmas, Circumcision, Epiphany, Annunciation, Easter Monday, Ascension, Whitsun Monday, Corpus Christi, Ss. Peter and Paul, Assumption, and All Saints. But even though these were the "official" holy days, practices varied across the dioceses in the United States as there was no uniformity until 1885.
In 1722, Bishop Giffard, the Vicar Apostolic of London, approved a dispensation "on behalf of the mission of Maryland for the ease and quiet of poor Catholics of that Mission" to sanction a dispensation of holy days. He granted the Maryland Superior the faculties to dispense Catholics from holy days and fasting obligations. As American Catholic Quarterly Review notes, "Bishop Giffard permitted the Jesuits to dispense Catholics in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania from the obligations of all holy days for just cause, e.g. getting in crops at harvest, between May 1 and September 30, respect for the feasts of Ascension, Easter Monday, Corpus Christi, and Assumption."
On March 9, 1777, Pope Pius VI "dispensed all Catholics in the kingdom of Great Britain from the precept of hearing Mass and abstaining from servile works on all holydays except the Sundays of the year, the feasts of Christmas, Circumcision, Epiphany, Annunciation, Easter Monday, Ascension, Whitsun Monday, Corpus Christi, St Peter and St Paul, Assumption, and All Saints." As the Catholic Dictionary of 1861 further states: "The Vigils of the Feasts thus abrogated his Holiness transferred to the Wednesdays and Fridays of Advent, on which he ordered that fast should be kept as in Lent or Embertide, 'although it is an English custom to keep fasts and vigils on Friday.' The pope adds a power to the Vicars Apostolic to dispense from the precept of abstaining from servile works on SS. Peter and Paul falling in the hay-harvest, and the Assumption in the wheat-harvest, provided Mass has been previously heard, if possible."
And Ss. Peter and Paul seemed to have been dispensed for those Catholics in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, America's first Archdiocese. An 1818 Ordo for the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore does not list Ss. Peter and Paul as a required day of precept.
Before 1885, holy days varied within various jurisdictions in the United States. Those formerly French colonies (which followed the Holy Days as set by Quebec) differed from the English. This disunity continued for the young United States since new territories (e.g. Florida, Texas, and Oregon) did not follow the same holy days of obligation and the same fasting days.
In fact, it was a requirement for priests in the United States to continue to solemnize the feast on the following Sunday - a requirement that continued even through the 1962 Missal. Matters Liturgical from 1959 notes:
"The external solemnity of the feast of Corpus Christi must be transferred in the United States and celebrated on the Sunday following; this is also prescribed for the feast of SS. Peter & Paul (June 29), when this feast falls on a week day (Indult of Nov. 25, 1885). Hence, where on Sundays the principal Mass is usually a sung Mass, on the Sundays following these feasts this sung Mass in churches and public oratories must, and in semi-public oratories may, be of the transferred external solemntiy (S.R.C. 2974, IV; 4269, IX). This Mass shall be celebrated as on the feast, with only those occurring Offices to be commemorated as are noted in n. 209 f, even if the Mass is one of two or more different sung Masses, the rubrics in M.R.: ADD., v, 4 being now abrogated."
Its observance as an external solemnity in other nations (e.g. France) is optional. As such, liturgists like Father J.B. O'Connell do not mention this requirement in his rubrics for Votive Masses as he did not write from an American perspective.
Despite these changes over the centuries, the fact that so many observed Ss. Peter and Paul as a Holy Day for so long underscore our own need to keep this day holy, to attend the External Solemnity of Ss. Peter and Paul on the upcoming Sunday, and our need to keep the Vigil of Ss. Peter and Paul as a day of fasting and abstinence.
Holy Mass in 2008:
Prayer:
O God, Who hast made this day holy by the martyrdom of Thine Apostles Peter and Paul: grant that Thy Church may in all things follow the precepts of those through whom she received the beginnings of the Faith. Through our Lord.
To those Catholics looking for the Traditional (pre-Vatican II) Sunday propers, look no further than the below list. Do note: these are from the 1945 Missal and represent the Mass as it was said up until the changes made in 1955 by Pope Pius XII. The changes in the cycle of Sunday readings, outside of Holy Week, only really affected Sundays that previously had commemorations of Octaves. So you will notice commemorations of the Octave of the Sacred Heart, Corpus Christi, and the Ascension which are not retained in the 1962 Missal. We can in a greater way help preserve Catholic Tradition by keeping and praying these traditional Octaves and keeping the older readings that were part of the Faith for centuries.
The most significant changes to the Missal in 1955 concern Holy Week but most of the readings remained the same except for the Easter Vigil, although the rubrics changed significantly. Notes on the differences between the Pre-1955 Readings and the Post-1955 readings are noted on each post.
Temporal vs. Sanctoral Cycle
The Proper of Seasons, called the Temporal Cycle, traces the earthly life of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It consists mainly of Sundays related to the various liturgical seasons. This maps onto the 7 liturgical seasons contained in the two cycles we previously discussed: the Christmas Cycle and the Easter Cycle. It starts with Advent then goes through Christmas, Epiphany, Septuagesima, Lent, Easter, and Time after Pentecost.
There is also the Proper of Saints, called the Sanctoral Cycle, which is the annual cycle of feasts not necessarily connected with the seasons. We commemorate and ask the intercession of those holy men and women who set a marvelous example that we should all strive to imitate. We also commemorate various events and mysteries of the faith in the Sanctoral Cycle.
The following are the traditional proper for the temporal cycle of readings in the Traditional Latin Mass for Sundays and select other holy days.
"The fasting days were all days in Lent; the Ember days; the of eves of Christmas, Candlemas, Annunciation, Assumption, All Saints, the feasts of the Apostles except St Philip and St James and St John, nativity of St John the Baptist; all Fridays except within twelve days of Christmas and between Easter and Ascension, and the eve of Ascension" (ACQ).
Hearing Holy Mass on Candlemas
Candlemas, known formally as the Purification of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, always falls on February 2nd and it was kept in some places as a Holy Day of Obligation, though that practice has long since ended. For instance, the papal bull Altitudo Divini Concilii of Pope Paul III in 1537 reduced the days of penance and those of hearing Mass for the Indians out of pastoral concern due to the physically demanding lifestyle that they lived and also largely due to the fact that they fasted so much already. The natives were required to only hear Mass on a much smaller number of days: Sundays, Christmas, Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, Annunciation, Sts Peter and Paul, Ascension, Corpus Christi, the Assumption, and the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin.
We see this reflected in Canada as well under the Diocese of Quebec which, at the time, included some of the modern-day states in the Midwest. The American Catholic Quarterly Review lists the Holy Days in place as 1694:
"The holy days of obligation as recognized officially in 1694 were Christmas, St Stephen, St John, the Evangelist, Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, St Matthew, St Joseph 'patron of the country', Annunciation, St Philip and St James, St John the Baptist, St Peter and St Paul, St James, St Anne, St Lawrence, Assumption, St Bartholomew, St Louis 'titular of the Cathedral of Quebec', Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, St Matthew, St Michael, St Simon and St Jude, All Saints, St Andrew, St Francis Xavier, the Conception of the Blessed Virgin 'titular the Cathedral', St Thomas, Easter Monday and Tuesday, Ascension, Whitsun Monday and Tuesday, Corpus Christi, and the patronal feast of each parish."
In 1750, Pope Benedict XIV extended to the Spanish American colonies the indult previously granted to Catholic Spain reducing the days of obligation to all Sundays of the year, Christmas, St. Stephen, the Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, Easter Monday, Annunciation, Monday after Pentecost Sunday, Corpus Christi, Ascension, St. John the Baptist, Sts. Peter and Paul, the Assumption, St. James, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, All Saints, the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the patron of each locality. Notice that Candlemas remained.
And the Catholics of the British Isles and colonies would have observed the following days as per The American Catholic Quarterly Review:
"The Catholics of the British Isles, after the reform of Pope Urban VIII kept as obligatory: Christmas, the feasts of St Stephen, St John, Holy Innocents, and St Sylvester, Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, the feasts of St Mathias and St Joseph, Annunciation, Sts Philip and James, Finding of the Holy Cross, St John the Baptist, Sts Peter and Paul, St James, St Anne, St Lawrence, the Assumption, St Bartholomew, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, St Matthew, St Michael, Sts Simon and Jude, All Saints, St Andrew and St Thomas, and one of the principal patrons of the city, province, or kingdom. These were the holydays of obligation observed by the Catholics in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania."
Candlemas remained a Holy Day of Obligation in the British Isles and her colonies until the dispensation issued by Pope Pius VI on March 9, 1777, which eliminated Candlemas and a number of other days.
However, looking at our ancestors in the faith, we see both the importance of preparing for Candlemas and its importance. We may wish to observe February 1st as a day of fasting and abstinence and attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on February 2nd.
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links on this blog are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate, for instance, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made by those who click on the Amazon affiliate links included on this website. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Support A Catholic Life. Your Patronage Helps Keep Us Updated and Online!
Matthew is a Third Order Dominican from Chicago and an expert on Catholicism, with an emphasis on Traditional Fasting. He has written for "A Catholic Life" since 2005. Matthew is a Certified Catechist and is a speaker available to address your next parish or Catholic conference gathering. Matthew spends his leisure time traveling, teaching, writing, and enjoying Catholic culture. He is also a writer for "Catholic Family News" and "The Fatima Center." Please contact Matthew directly regarding advertising requests for A Catholic Life or in regard to speaking engagements.
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
.jpeg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
