Corpus Christi Feast
Corpus Christi (Latin for Body of Christ) is a Christian feast. Its purpose is to honour the Eucharist, and as such it does not commemorate a particular event in Jesus’ life. Its celebration on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday is meant to associate it with Jesus’ institution of the Eucharist during the Last Supper, on Maundy Thursday. Because of the sorrow of Holy Week, no festivals are celebrated within it; the Thursday after Trinity Sunday is the first Thursday after Holy Week, Eastertide, and the (now obsolete in the ordinary form) Octave of Pentecost have ended. Within the Roman Catholic Church, the feast is officially known as the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. In most English-speaking countries, Corpus Christi is transferred to the Sunday after Trinity Sunday by the national Episcopal Conferences. At the end of the Mass, it is customary to have a Procession of the Blessed Sacrament (often outdoors) followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
Corpus Christi is primarily celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church, but it is also included in the calendar of a few Anglican churches, most notably the Church of England. The feast is also celebrated by some Anglo-Catholic parishes even in provinces of the Anglican Communion that do not officially include it in their calendars. In Roman Catholic parishes that use the Mass of Paul VI, the feast is known as “the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ”. In the Church of England it is known as “The Day of Thanksgiving for the Institution of Holy Communion (Corpus Christi)” and has the status of a Festival. It is also celebrated by the Old Catholic Church and by some Western Rite Orthodox Christians, and is commemorated in the liturgical calendars of the more Latinized Eastern Catholic Churches. The feast was also retained in some Lutheran churches up until about 1600.
In medieval times in many parts of Europe Corpus Christi was a popular time for the performance of mystery plays.
The Feast of Corpus Christi, which is a moveable feast, is celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday or, in countries where it is not a Holy Day of Obligation, on the Sunday after Holy Trinity.
The earliest possible Thursday celebration falls on 21 May (as in 1818 and 2285), the latest on 24 June (as in 1943 and 2038). The Sunday celebrations fall three days later.
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