Feast of Corpus Christi Fast Facts

Intermountain Catholic

+ Enlarge

This year, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is June 15, but in the Diocese of Salt Lake City it will be celebrated June 18.

 The Feast of Corpus Christi is also known as the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

 The feast is traditionally celebrated the third Thursday after Easter, but it may be moved to the following Sunday.

 The focus of the feast is the celebration of the Blessed Sacrament and the presence of God in the Church and the world.

 St. Juliana of Mont-Cornillion suggested the idea of a feast in honor of the Blessed Sacrament, and since the 13th century the solemnity has been included in the Church’s liturgical calendar.

A public procession on the day of the feast is encouraged, with the celebrant carrying the Eucharist in a monstrance through the streets before it is set on the altar for adoration.

The feast also includes the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  This time is a time spent in the presence of Jesus and, as Pope John Paul II said in his Ecclesia de Eucharista homily on April 17, 2003, “It is pleasant to spend time with him, to lie close to his breast like the Beloved Disciple and to feel the infinite love present in his heart ...”