Tag Archives: Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi Observed in Solemn High Mass, and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament

The Feast of the Most Sacred Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, or Corpus Christi, will be celebrated in a Solemn High Mass in the traditional Latin form at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street in New Haven, on Sunday, June 19, at 2:00 pm. The Mass will be followed by a Procession and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. The celebrant for the service will be The Reverend Peter Lenox, Episcopal Vicar for Liturgy and Worship, the Diocese of Bridgeport, and the deacon will be The Rev. Robert Turner, Pastor of St. Ambrose Parish, North Branford.

The origins of the Feast of Corpus Christi date from the early 13th century when St. Juliana of Mont-Cornillon urged the French hierarchy to establish a feast celebrating the Real presence of the Body and Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the elements of Eucharist. In 1268 Pope Urban IV instituted the feast of Corpus Christi universally in the Western Church. The pope requested that St. Thomas Aquinas compose the texts for the liturgy of feast, which include the propers sung at Mass, notably the sequence Lauda Sion, as well as the chants sung in the procession and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

The Benediction that concludes the service is the supreme devotional ceremony of adoration of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, in which prayers and hymns are addressed to Our Lord in the Host exposed in a monstrance placed on the altar. The concludes with the reposition of the Sacrament in the tabernacle.

Music for the service, performed by members of the Schola Cantorum of The Saint Gregory Society, will include the Gregorian Mass Ordinary XI, “Orbis factor,” motets by Ludovico da Viadana and Jean-Baptiste François Lallouette, the proper Gregorian chants, and organ music by Girolamo Frescobaldi and Claudio Merulo.

 

 

Corpus Christi Sunday 2021

The Feast of the Most Sacred Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, or Corpus Christi, will be celebrated in a High Mass in the traditional Latin form at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street in New Haven, on Sunday, June 6, at 2:00 pm. The Mass will be followed by Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. The celebrant for the service will be Father Robert Turner, Pastor of St. Ambrose Parish, North Branford.

While the origins of the Feast of Corpus Christi date from the early 13th century when St. Juliana of Mont-Cornillon urged the French hierarchy establish a feast celebrating the Real presence of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the elements of Eucharist in northern France, in was in 1268 that Pope Urban IV instituted the feast of Corpus Christi universally in the Western Church. The pope requested that St. Thomas Aquinas compose the texts for the liturgy of feast, which include the propers sung at Mass, notably the sequence Lauda Sion and the chants sung in the procession and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

The Benediction that follows the service is the supreme devotional ceremony of adoration of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, in which prayers and hymns are addressed to Our Lord in the Host exposed in a monstrance placed on the altar. The concludes with the reposition of the Sacrament in the tabernacle.

Music for the service, performed by members of the Schola Cantorum of The Saint Gregory Society, will include the Gregorian Mass Ordinary IV, “Cunctipotens Genitor,” motets by Charles Gounod and César Franck, the proper Gregorian chants, and organ music by Alexandre Guilmant and César Franck.

Corpus Christi Sunday 2019

Accademia – Procession in piazza San Marco by Gentile Bellini

The Feast of the Most Sacred Body and Blood of our Lord, or Corpus Christi, will be celebrated in a High Mass in the traditional Latin form at St. Stanislaus Church in New Haven on Sunday, June 9, at 2:00 pm. The celebrant will be The Reverend Peter Langevin, Chancellor of the Diocese of Norwich, the Reverend Dr. Richard Cipolla will be the deacon and preach and William Riccio will serve as the subdeacon.

In 1208 St. Juliana of Mont-Cornillon had a vision in which Christ instructed her to work for the institution of a feast in honor of His Body and Blood in the Eucharist. Responding to local establishment of such a feast in French dioceses on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, Pope Urban IV instituted the feast of Corpus Christi universally in the Western Church in 1268. The pope requested that St. Thomas Aquinas compose the texts for the liturgy of feast, which include the propers sung at Mass notably the the sequence Lauda Sion and the chants sung in the procession.

The procession following the Mass reminds us of how the Israelites revered the Ark of the Covenant as the Presence of God among them. The Ark was carried before them by the Levites in a cloud of incense and the singing of the multitude. We Christians have a treasure far more precious, for in the Eucharist we possess God Himself.  Let us feel a holy pride in forming His escort and extolling his triumphs while He is in our midst.

Music for the service, sung by the Schola Cantorum of The Saint Gregory Society, will include the Gregorian Mass Ordinary IV, “Cunctipotens Genitor,” the Eucharistic hymns Pange lingua, Verbum supernum, Adoro te devote, and Sacris solemniis, the proper Gregorian chants, and organ music by Jean Titelouze and Guillaume de Nivers.

Attend to the Lord

For My flesh is meat indeed: and My blood is drink indeed.
(Jn 6:56)

There is no question for the moment to expatiate on lengthy explanations, nor on sermons, but rather to praise and give thanks. Focus your attention on the Lord Who has visited you. You have in you at the present time the Master of all masters. Listen to Him. Listen carefully to what He is going to tell you in the innermost depths of your being, in a mysterious, yet very effective way. He will not talk to your soul through outer words, but He will stamp directly onto your heart the teaching that you need. Only, be very careful to keep inner silence, whet the hearing of your heart, incline your ear towards His mouth, and listen. (Theophan the Recluse, hermit of Vycha in the 19th century)

 Abbot Jean Pateau
Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault
from a Sermon for Corpus Christi 2016

Corpus Christi Mass and Procession 2016

Corpus ChristiThe Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the celebration of the Lord’s institution of the Holy Eucharist, will be commemorated on Sunday, May 29, 2016 with High Mass at 2:00 p.m. followed by an outdoor procession with the Holy Eucharist.

The hymns written for the feast written by Saint Thomas Aquinas, and others, will be sung by the St. Gregory Schola.