Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of
Christ, also known as Corpus Christi (“The Body of Christ”).
You will notice an insert in today’s bulletin which outlines
some advice on how to reverently receive Holy Communion. Our reception of Holy
Communion is really the expression of our faith in the Lord’s Real Presence in
the Holy Eucharist and the outpouring of our love for Him. Please read the
insert carefully and I hope you find the advice helpful.
When I lived in Italy I visited the site of a Eucharistic
miracle that contributed to the establishment of the celebration of Corpus
Christi. In 1236 a priest was on pilgrimage to Rome to ask for strength in his
vocation and to remove his doubts about the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
On his way he stopped at Bolsena, a small town north of Rome. During Mass in
Bolsena, at the moment of the consecration, the sacred host began to bleed. The
priest took the corporal (the cloth underneath the paten and chalice) and
wrapped up the bleeding Host. He immediately took it to Pope Urban IV who was
in nearby town of Orvieto.
It was this same Pope Urban IV who created a new feast, the
Feast of Corpus Christi, and he commissioned St. Thomas Aquinas to write hymns
for the feast day. St. Thomas wrote two hymns which we still sing today, “O
Salutaris” and “Tantum Ergo.”
In Christ,
Msgr. Baker
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