Corpus Christi, which in Latin means Body of Christis a holiday of the Catholic Church that celebrates the presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
The purpose of this festival is to commemorate the institution of the Eucharist, which took place on Holy Thursday. During the Last Supper, Jesus Christ turned the bread and wine into his body and blood, and invited the apostles to commune with him.
Corpus Christi is celebrated sixty days after Easter Sunday, that is, the Thursday following the solemnity of the Holy Trinity, which takes place on the Sunday after Pentecost.
This year, 2023the feast of Corpus Christi is on Thursday 8 of June
Corpus Christi celebrations include processions in the streets and public places in which the body of Christ is accompanied by crowds of faithful.
The festival has great relevance in countries such as Panama, Spain, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. In some, it is even considered a holiday.
Origin and history of Corpus Christi
During the Middle Ages, the nun Juliana de Cornillon began to promote the idea of celebrating a holiday that paid tribute to the body and blood of Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist.
Thus, the first celebration of Corpus Christi took place in 1246 in the city of Liège, in present-day Belgium.
It is also said that, in 1263, while a priest was celebrating mass in the church in the town of Bolsena, in Italy, the host began to flow blood.
This event, known among the Catholic community as “the miracle of Bolsena”, was perceived as a holy event, and ended up strengthening the celebration of Corpus Christi.
In the year 1264, Pope Urban IV finally instituted the feast of Corpus Christi in the bull Transiturus hoc world on August 11.
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