St Mary Catholic Church celebrates Corpus Christi Procession

On Sunday, May 29, following the 10:30 am Mass at St. Mary, the parish celebrated a "Corpus Christi Procession" around the Village green in front of the church in the beautiful summery weather. The last time St. Mary held a similar procession was was five years ago. Although superficially similar to the Filipino procession for May Crowning last week, this ceremony was actually quite different.

St. Mary's parish bulletin describes it like this: "It is an ancient tradition in the Catholic Church on Corpus Christi to participate in a solemn procession in which the Holy Eucharist is taken out of the church and brought into the local town. This procession is meant to be a public witness of our belief in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ contained in the Most Holy Eucharist."

The Corpus Christi procession stopped at four altars set up in the park, each facing one of the four corners of the world. At each altar the congregation "adored the Most Blessed Sacrament, sang a Eucharistic hymn, heard a proclamation from one of the four Gospels, and received a blessing with the Sacrament." After leaving the final altar, which faced west, the congregation re-entered the church for the conclusion of the Corpus Christi procession.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.