Celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi, Covent Carden

This Sunday, 7 June, is the Feast of Corpus Christi. There will be processions with the Blessed Sacrament in towns and cities around the world.

Here are details of some of the Corpus Christi events taking place in the UK.

London

In central London the day starts will start at the Church of Corpus Christi, in Covent Garden, with a Pontifical Sung Mass in Latin, at 11am after which the procession will begin.

The group will depart from Maiden Lane and process to the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory in Warwick Street. On arrival, there will be a period of Adoration.

The procession will then continue to the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family, where Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, the Ukrainian Eparch, will join. The day concludes with Benediction at St James's, Spanish Place in Marylebone at around 5pm.

Bishop Paul Mason, Catholic Bishop of the Forces, will celebrate Mass and lead the procession. "It should be a really good day," he says. "It's an opportunity for Catholics to come out, show their faith, and show the importance and centrality of the Blessed Sacrament in the life of the Church."

"The Blessed Sacrament is something of a North Star. It gives us light, it gives us direction, it gives purpose, and without that, we can end up a bit lost. Simply being able to spend time before the Blessed Sacrament ensures that we don't spin off on a frolic of our own pursuing do-goodery.

"This is the work of God that we're called to be engaged in. If we don't spend time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, it would be so easy to simply end up in a type of activism which doesn't go anywhere. We need to be sure that, in the work that we do, that we're following God's promptings.

"Being able to spend time before the Blessed Sacrament - some people say wasting time with Almighty God before the Blessed Sacrament - is so important to feed our souls and give us that sense of where we're going and what we're supposed to be doing."
The real presence of Christ lies at the heart of our faith, says Bishop Mason. Moreover, Eucharistic Adoration, he says, enabled the saints during their time on Earth to stay close to the Lord.

"People may look at some of the great saints of the Church, picking one, let's say, Mother Teresa. We all know the great good that she did, the hard work with the poor of Calcutta, it didn't just come from her own promptings, her own initiative. She would spend hours before the Blessed Sacrament. From there she got her confidence, she got her direction, she got her inspiration to know what God was calling her to do."

The procession through central London is always well attended and it is normal to see members of the public drop to their knees in prayer when the procession passes. Even curious non-Catholics seem moved by what they see. Bishop Mason sees this as a great sign of hope:

"Some might think, 'What are these people up to carrying this monstrance?' - the monstrance is the apparatus we use to carry the Blessed Sacrament. There may be many looking on thinking, 'How odd is that?' But I hope it does raise questions in people's minds.
"It's a great sign of hope and it also points in the direction of the National Eucharistic Congress which we'll be having on 10 October, which, again, is to reaffirm the importance, the centrality of the Blessed Sacrament, the presence of Almighty God in the life of the Church."

Southwark

The procession will commence from the St George's Cathedral at 4.45pm and take a circular route encompassing Lambeth Road, Westminster Bridge Road and St George's Road, concluding inside the Cathedral with Benediction.

Birmingham

After the 1pm Mass at St Michael's Church, there will be a Corpus Christi procession at 2pm, with singing, prayer and moments of silence from St Michael's Church to St Chad's Cathedral.

The feast is also being celebrated in another part of the city with a car procession from 2.30 - 5pm. A monstrance, transported in a vehicle provided by Morton's, will begin the vehicular procession from Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Rednal to St John Fisher, West Heath. From there to Our Lady & St Brigid, Northfield to Our Lady & St Rose of Lima before ending at St Peter's, Bartley Green.
At each church, there will be a short reading of Scripture, followed by a prayer, and then a blessing over that pastoral area.
People will then follow the Blessed Sacrament from 'their church' to the next church. You are free to follow to the end, from wherever you begin, or to line the street as the vehicle leaves your church.
For more details see: www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk.

Cardiff

Cardiff Corpus Christi Procession will start from Nazareth House, at 3pm with arrival by 4.30
See: www.stpeterscardiff.org.uk/

Sunderland

The Diocese of Hexham & Newcastle will have Corpus Christi Procession after the 10.30 am Mass from St Mary's Church, Sunderland. See: https://diocesehn.org.uk/

Galashiels

Archbishop Cushley and people from across the Archdiocese will be gathering at 3pm in Our Lady & St Andrew's, Stirling Street, Galashiels for the annual Corpus Christi Procession.