The Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ

6/7/26

Today is the celebration of Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. 

Corpus Christi is a time of thanksgiving and adoration for the gift of the Holy Eucharist. It is also a time when our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is exposed and carried in procession in a public way, bringing Jesus outside the Church to the rest of the world.

On this Solemnity of Corpus Christi, beautiful memories always come to my mind when my husband and I were on a pilgrimage in Lourdes, France in 2016. We were there on a day there was an annual meeting of altar servers from all over France. We were so blessed to witness a Eucharistic procession of 2,500 priests, seminarians, altar servers and their families. It was the most beautiful sight to be in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament during this procession in front of the grotto where Our Lady appeared to Saint Bernadette. The world would have you believe the faith is not alive but do not believe the world. The faith is alive and living in all these families in France, as well as families throughout the whole world. Lourdes is a place of peace where the presence of Our Lady is felt and where families come from all over the world to know her and to know the peace that comes from Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.

As you prepare receive the Bread from Heaven, invite the Lord to come into the interior room of your soul in a new way. A most beautiful way to prepare for reception of the Eucharist is Devotion to the Divine House Guest of Souls www.divinehouseguest.org

"O, Divine House Guest of my soul, come, come in quickly!"

How do we prepare to greet our Eucharistic Lord when we receive Him in Holy Communion? Have we prepared our interior room to welcome Him into our interior home, to offer Him a meal, a basin and water to wash His feet, a place for Him to lay His head and rest?

The Devotion to the Divine House Guest of Souls is a Eucharistic, contemplative prayer. It is a beautiful way to welcome Christ into the interior room of our souls, offering Him a place of rest, refreshment, peace, hospitality, and love when we receive Him in Holy Communion. As you pray this beautiful devotion, you will grow in intimacy with Our Lord. Often Mary, St. Joseph and the Saints will accompany your contemplations. The devotion received the Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat on August 14th, 2024 in the Archdiocese of Boston. The Feast Day of Corpus Christ is truly the Divine House Guest Feast Day!

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever."  John 6:51

The Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is a powerful encounter. Jesus gave Himself to us in the Eucharist to nourish us spiritually, the Bread of Life, food for the journey through life.

Today Pope Leo XIV said: “Corpus Christi must not become a museum of the past to be visited but a school o faith from which we draw even today…The Eucharistic Jesus is that eternal spring that is hidden, a spring that flows and quenches thirst…Let us open ourselves to the encounter with Him, let us allow Him to quench the thirst of our hearts, so that we may go forth into the paths of life and history, bringing the people this stream of fresh water, a stream of love, peace, justice and joy…May the Lord Jesus, present in the Eucharist, transform you into bread that is broken, given and offered so that a life of fullness may spring forth for you, your families and for your country.”

O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving, be every moment thine.