The Feast of Corpus Christi, also known as the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, honors the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. It occurs on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday.
This year, it was Thursday, June 4. For greater Mass and procession attendance, however, the Church in the United States and several other episcopal conferences designate the following Sunday for observance of Corpus Christi Sunday; this year, June 7.
Many parishes through the Archdiocese of New York will observe the Solemnity of Corpus Christi with Eucharistic processions taking place around the area.
St. Clare Church on Staten Island, located at 110 Nelson Avenue in the Great Kills area, invites the faithful to its annual Feast of Corpus Christi procession following the 10 a.m. Mass on Sunday, June 7. All groups are invited. According to the announcement on the parish website, there will be no 11:30 a.m. Mass that day.
Check your church bulletin, website
St. Clare is just one of the many Corpus Christi procession invitations from parishes to parishioners and visitors via church bulletins and websites.
While Holy Thursday recalls the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper amidst the somber shadow of Christ’s impending Passion, Corpus Christi provides a joyful, triumphant focus solely on the Eucharist. It affirms the Church’s teaching on transubstantiation – that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus.
The feast was instituted in the 13th century, largely inspired by the Eucharistic visions of St. Juliana of Liège, a Belgian nun. In 1264, Pope Urban IV made it a universal feast of the Church and commissioned the theologian St. Thomas Aquinas to write the official liturgical texts and hymns (such as Tantum Ergo and Panis Angelicus).
This Sunday, the Gospel reading will be from John 6: 51-58, beginning with the words: “Jesus said to the Jewish crowds, ‘I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.’”
At other churches in the Archdiocese of New York, on June 7:
Church of Saint Ignatius Loyola, 980 Park Ave, Manhattan: A Corpus Christi street procession will follow the 11 a.m. Mass at Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, 980 Park Avenue (at East 84th), Manhattan. There will be a stop on Third Avenue at East 99th Street for prayer and testimonials. The procession will conclude at St. Francis de Sales Church, 135 East 96th Street. “Please join us in this special Corpus Christi Procession as we Catholics who represent the body of Jesus Christ will stand in solidarity for the dignity of all humanity,” Jean Santopatre, pastoral associate at St. Ignatius Loyola, wrote in a promotional essay for the event.
Saints John and Paul Church, 280 Weaver St., Larchmont: A Corpus Christi street procession will start after the 11 a.m. Mass, proceed through much of Larchmont, and conclude at St. Augustine Church (18 Cherry Avenue), where there will be a benediction and a barbecue picnic.
St. Patrick’s Church in Yorktown Heights, 137 Moseman Road (Westchester County): A Corpus Christi procession will follow the 12:30 p.m. Mass, within the church parking lot. Afterward, the clergy and the faithful will go back into the church for a benediction.