The Liturgy of Corpus Christi

By Msgr Michael de Verteuil

Chair, Liturgical Commission

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ was declared in the 13th century. The celebration of the Mass of Corpus Christi (as the solemnity is usually called) is rich in meaning and in this article I attempt to describe some of it by looking at the Presidential Prayers (Collect, Prayer over the Gifts, Prayer after Communion), the Prefaces and the Scripture Readings of the Mass of the feast.

The Presidential Prayers look at the implications of the mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ in the light of past, present and future.

Collect—The Opening Prayer. This refers to the past, looking back to the sacrifice of Jesus: “O God, who in this wonderful sacrament have left us a memorial of your Passion….” by which we have been redeemed.

Prayer over the Gifts—Refers to the present in which we experience ‘the gifts of unity and peace’ in the Eucharist as St Paul tells us in the Second Reading.

Prayer after Communion—Points to the future as we pray: “Grant…that we may delight for all eternity in that share in your divine life which is foreshadowed in the present age by our reception of your precious Body and Blood.”

The Preface—The prayer which ends “Holy, holy, holy”. There are two possible prefaces, but the preference is for Preface II of the Most Holy Eucharist. This Preface also looks at the feast through the lens of the past, present, future.

• Past: “For at the Last Supper with his Apostles …. he offered himself to you as the unblemished lamb…”
• Present: “Nourishing your faithful by this sacred mystery you make them holy … so that the human race …may be enlightened by one faith and united by one bond of charity.”
• Future: “And so, we approach the table of this wondrous Sacrament, so that… we may pass over to the heavenly realities here foreshadowed.”

The First Reading (Deut 8:2–3,14–16) reminds the people how God was with them on their journey to the Promised Land and fed them with manna to sustain them—a foreshadowing of our journey through life to the Promised Land of Heaven and how the Lord sustains us with the bread from Heaven, the precious Body and Blood of Christ.

The Second Reading (1Cor 10:16–17) speaks of the Body and Blood of Jesus bringing us into communion with Him and with one another—the sacrament of unity and peace.

The Gospel (Jn 6:51–58) tells of the Real Presence of Jesus in the bread and wine: “the bread that I shall give is my flesh”; “For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him.”

In some way the Gospel looks to the future. “Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life…Anyone who eats this bread will live forever” as the First Reading looks back to the Israelites in the desert and the Second to the present as we receive Communion.

All time is God’s and throughout history and into the future (of the world and our own), God is with us and we celebrate His special presence in the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.