Understanding the Day
Season
Time After Pentecost
Week
Week 1 of Time After Pentecost
Rank
First-class feast
Corpus Christi (Sanctissimi Corporis Christi) is celebrated in the Time After Pentecost as a principal feast honoring the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The celebration falls in the first week of this season and is a standalone feast rather than part of an octave or vigil in this context.
Introit (Daily Prayer)
Ps. 80:17.
He fed them with the best of wheat, alleluia; and filled them with honey from the rock, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Ps 80:2
Sing joyfully to God our strength; acclaim the God of Jacob.
Glory Be to the Father…
He fed them with the best of wheat, alleluia; and filled them with honey from the rock, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Ps 80:2
Sing joyfully to God our strength; acclaim the God of Jacob.
Glory Be to the Father…
O God, You Who in this wondrous sacrament have left us a memorial of Your passion, grant us, we beseech You, so to venerate the sacred mysteries of Your Body and Blood that we may ever experience within us the effect of Your redemption.
Who livest…
Who livest…
Weekly Prayer
Act of Spiritual Communion
My Jesus,
I believe that Thou art present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love Thee above all things,
and I desire to receive Thee into my soul.
Since I cannot now receive Thee sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace Thee as if Thou wert already there,
and unite myself wholly to Thee.
Never permit me to be separated from Thee. Amen.
I believe that Thou art present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love Thee above all things,
and I desire to receive Thee into my soul.
Since I cannot now receive Thee sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace Thee as if Thou wert already there,
and unite myself wholly to Thee.
Never permit me to be separated from Thee. Amen.
Weekly Formation
Commandment 6
The Ten Commandments
Be faithful in marriage and respect God’s gift of the body.
The Sixth Commandment guards fidelity in marriage and the holiness of God’s gift of the body. It requires purity appropriate to each state of life, respect for personal boundaries, and faithful conduct in thought, word, and action.
Saint & Feast
Principal celebrationCalendar title
Corpus Christi
A biography or feast reflection has not yet been prepared.
Today in Church History
Destruction of St Paul's Cathedral Steeple (1561)
1561EventThe fire that destroyed the steeple of St Paul's Cathedral in 1561 marked a significant moment in the history of London. Although the cathedral was originally a Catholic church, by 1561 it was part of the Church of England following the English Reformation. Its destruction reflected the tumultuous religious landscape of the time.
Even in destruction, God's presence can lead to renewal and transformation.
Catechism
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Eucharist is the heart of Christian life, completing Christian initiation for those baptized and confirmed and drawing the whole community into the Lord’s sacrifice. Instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper, it perpetuates the sacrifice of the cross and is the Church’s memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, sign of unity, and bond of charity. As the source and summit of Christian life, it contains Christ himself and stands at the center of the Church’s sacraments, ministries, and apostolic works. In our shared devotion, the Eucharist calls us into the unity of God’s people and gives us a foretaste of the heavenly liturgy and eternal life with God.
As we reflect together, the many names for the Eucharist reveal the inexhaustible richness of this sacrament. It is Eucharist, an action of thanksgiving to God for his works of creation, redemption, and sanctification. As the Lord’s Supper, it recalls the supper Jesus shared with his disciples before his Passion and anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem. In the Breaking of Bread, those who receive the one broken bread, Christ, enter into communion with him and become one body in him. The Eucharist is also the memorial of the Lord’s Passion and Resurrection and the Holy Sacrifice, making present Christ’s one sacrifice and including the Church’s offering. At Holy Mass, the faithful are sent forth to fulfill God’s will in their daily lives.
Baptism is the sacrament of faith and the source of new life in Christ, from which the whole Christian life begins. Faith is received and grows within the community of the Church, and after Baptism it is called to develop. Parents, godparents, and the whole ecclesial community share responsibility for helping the baptized—children and adults alike—grow in faith and for safeguarding the grace given in Baptism. The Church teaches that Baptism is necessary for salvation for those who have received the Gospel and can ask for it, while trusting God’s mercy for those who desire Baptism but cannot receive it, including catechumens who die before Baptism. For children who die without Baptism, the Church entrusts them to God’s mercy and hopes in his saving love. For Catholic families, these teachings encourage us to nurture faith at home, support the baptized on their Christian path, and not prevent little children from coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.