Posted on 05/26/2005 7:21:57 AM PDT by Pyro7480
1962 Missal Mass Readings/Propers - Feast of Corpus Christi
INTROIT
Psalm 80: 17, 2
He fed them with the fat of corn, alleluia; and filled them with honey out of the rock, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Rejoice to God our helper; sing aloud to the God of Jacob. Glory be to the Father... - He fed them...
COLLECT - O God, who under a wonderful Sacrament hast left us a memorial of Thy Passion: grant us, we beseech Thee, so to venerate the sacred mysteries of Thy Body and Blood that we may ever feel within us the fruit of Thy Redemption. Who livest and reignest...
EPISTLE
1 Corinthians 11: 23-29
Brethren, I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me. In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me. For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord, until he come. Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord.
GRADUAL
Psalm 144: 15-16
The eyes of all hope in Thee, O Lord, and Thou givest them meat in due season. Thou openest Thy hand, and fillest every living creature with blessing.
Alleluia, alleluia. (John 6: 56-57) My flesh is meat indeed and My Blood is drink indeed: he that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me, and I in him.
SEQUENCE - St. Thomas Aquinas (Translation taken from Lauda Sion)
ZION, to Thy Savior sing, to Thy Shepherd and Thy King!Let the air with praises ring! All thou canst, proclaim with mirth, far higher is His worth than the glory words may wing.
Lo! before our eyes and living, is the Sacred Bread life-giving, theme of canticle and hymn. We profess this Bread from heaven to the Twelve by Christ was given, for our faith rest firm in Him.
Let us form a joyful chorus, may our lauds ascend sonorous, bursting from each loving breast. For we solemnly record how the Table of the Lord with the Lamb's own gift was blest.
On this altar of the King this new Paschal Offering brings an end to ancient rite. Shadows flee that truth may stay, oldness to the new gives way, and the night's darkness to the light.
What at Supper Christ completed He ordained to be repeated, in His memory Divine. Wherefore now, with adoration, we, the Host of our salvation, consecrate from bread and wine.
Words a nature's course derange, that in Flesh the bread may change and the wine in Christ's own Blood. Does it pass thy comprehending? Faith, the law of light transcending, leaps to things not understood.
Here beneath these signs are hidden priceless things, to sense forbidden; signs, not things, are all we see. Flesh from bread, and Blood from wine, yet is Christ in either sign, all entire confessed to be.
And whoe'er of Him partakes, severs not, nor rends, nor breaks: all entire, their Lord receive. Whether one or thousand eat, all receive the selfsame meat, nor do less for others leave.
Both the wicked and the good eat of this celestial Food: but with ends how opposite! With this most substantial Bread, unto life or death they're fed, in a difference infinite.
Nor a single doubt retain, when they break the Host in twain, but that in each part remain what was in the whole before; For the outward sign alone may some change have undergone, while the Signified stays one, and the same forevermore.
Hail! Bread of the Angels, broken, for us pilgrims food, and token of the promise by Christ spoken, children's meat, to dogs denied! Shown in Isaac's dedication, in the Manna's preparation, in the Paschal immolation, in old types pre-signified.
Jesus, Shepherd mild and meek, shield the poor, support the weak; help all who Thy pardon sue, placing all their trust in You: fill them with Your healing grace! Source of all we have or know, feed and lead us here below. Grant that with Your Saints above, sitting at the feast of love, we may see You face to face. Amen. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
John 6: 56-59
At that time, Jesus said to the multitudes of the Jews: My Flesh is meat indeed: and My Blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth this bread, shall live for ever.
OFFERTORY
Leviticus 21: 6
The priests of the Lord offer incense and loaves to God, and therefore the shall be holy to their GOd, and shall not defile His Name. Alleluia.
SECRET - Graciously bestow on Thy Church, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the gifts of unity and peace, which are mystically shown forth in the offerings now made. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost...
COMMUNION
1 Corinthians 11: 26-27
As often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord, until he come: therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. Alleluia.
POSTCOMMUNION - Fill us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, with that eternal enjoyment of Thy Divinity, which is prefigured by the reception in this life of Thy precious Body and Blood. Who livest and reignest, with God the Father...
The Other Eucharistic Hymns by St. Thomas Aquinas, Composed at the Request of Pope Urban IV
Adoro Te Devote
Sacris Solemniis
Verbum Supernum (O Salutaris Hostia is taken from this hymn.)
Pange Lingua (Tantum ergo is taken from this hymn.)
Corpus Christi became a mandatory feast in the Roman Church in 1312. But nearly a century earlier, Saint Juliana of Mont Cornillon, promoted a feast to honor the Blessed Sacrament. From early age Juliana, who became an Augustinian nun in Liége, France, in 1206, had a great veneration for the Blessed Sacrament, and longed for a special feast in its honor. She had a vision of the Church under the appearance of the full moon having one dark spot, which signified the absence of such a solemnity. She made known her ideas to the Bishop of Liége, Robert de Thorete, to the Dominican Hugh who later became cardinal legate in the Netherlands, and to Jacques Panaléon, at the time Archdeacon of Liége and who later became Pope Urban IV. Bishop Robert de Thorete ordered that the feast be celebrated in his diocese.
Pope Urban IV later published the Bull Transiturus (September 8, 1264), in which, after having extolled the love of Our Savior as expressed in the Holy Eucharist, ordered the annual celebration of Corpus Christi on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. More than four decades later, Pope Clement V published a new decree which embodied Urban IV's decree and ordered the adoption of the feast at the General Council of Vienna (1311). Pope John XXII, successor of Clement V, urged this observance.
The processions on Corpus Christi to honor the Holy Eucharist were not mentioned in the decrees, but had become a principal feature of the feast's celebration by the faithful, and became a tradition throughout Europe. These processions were endowed with indulgences by Popes Martin V and Eugene IV.
Saint Thomas Aquinas was given the task of composing hymns for the celebration of Corpus Christi by Pope Urban IV. These are among the best known (and beloved) of all Latin hymns, because they were traditionally sung by the people during regular Eucharistic Devotions, as well as by the choir on Holy Thursday and Corpus Christi.
Catholic ping!
One more to note...the Hymn "Panis Angelicus" comes from the last two verses of the Hymn "Sacris Solemnis" posted above.
Happy Feast of Corpus Christi!
The Solemnity of Corpus Christi (Body of Christ), now celebrated in the Latin Church on the Sunday following Trinity Sunday, commemorates the institution of the Holy Eucharist. Formerly celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, it paralleled Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday), which also commemorates Our Lord's institution of the Eucharist
That statement is inaccurate. Today (Thursday after Trinity Sunday) is still the official day of this feast throughout the Latin Rite. Most countries, however, have transferred it to Sunday, while Rome and a few other places have retained the original date from the Universal Calendar. Hence, Pope BXVI is Celebrating Corpus Christi today w/ a Procession to be carried live at 1pm EDT via EWTN.
Very relevant scripture here. I can't see how non-Eucharistic denominations are able to promote non-Eucahristic theology.
Nicely posted Pyro.
Thank you for posting this. What a beautiful picture you found.
can't see how non-Eucharistic denominations are able to promote non-Eucahristic theology.
Indeed. Just like Catholics' devotion to Mary, there seems to be a certain phobia of the biblical idea that Jesus meant what He said when He talked of His Body and Blood.
PS - I thought the Fra Angelico painting of Our Lord giving Himself to the Apostles was quite fitting for this thread.
Another of Fra Angelico's works that I really like is his Annunciation. (I shouldn't be so quick to hit the Post button.)
Does anybody know where I can find any old Catholic photographs on the net? Like of Eucharisic processions from the 20s through 60s? That era, doesn't have to be the celebration of Corpus Christi. Just old pictures of the people following the faith. It touches me with words too deep for sighs, which I've been getting a lot of lately.
Thanks, John
1. Soul, adorn thyself with gladness,
Leave behind all gloom and sadness;
Come into the daylight's splendor,
There with joy thy praises render
Unto Him whose grace unbounded
Hath this woundrous supper founded.
High o'er all the heavens He reigneth,
Yet to dwell with thee He deigneth.
2. Hasten as a bride to meet Him
And with loving reverence greet Him;
For with words of life immortal
Now He knocketh at thy portal.
Haste to ope the gates before Him,
Saying, while thou dost adore Him,
Suffer, Lord, that I receive Thee,
And I nevermore will leave Thee.
3. He who craves a precious treasure
Neither cost nor pain will measure;
But the priceless gifts of heaven
God to us hath freely given.
Though the wealth of earth were proffered,
Naught would buy the fits here offered:
Christ's true body, for thee riven,
And His blood, for thee once given.
4. Ah, how hungers all my spirit
For the love I do not merit!
Oft have I, with sighs fast thronging,
Thought upon this food with longing,
In the battle well-nigh worsted,
For this cup of life have thirsted,
For the Friend who here invites us
And to God Himself unites us.
5. In my heart I find ascending
Holy awe, with rapture blending,
As this mystery I ponder,
Filling all my soul with wonder,
Bearing witness at this hour
Of the greatness of Thy power;
Far beyond all human telling
Is the power within Him dwelling.
6. Human reason, though it ponder,
Cannot fathom this great wonder
That Christ's body e'er remaineth
Though it countless souls sustaineth,
And that He His blood is giving
With the wine we are receiving.
These great mysteries unsounded
Are by God alone expounded.
7. Jesus, Sun of Life, my Splendor,
Jesus, Thou my Friend most tender,
Jesus, Joy of my desiring,
Fount of life, my soul inspiring, --
At Thy feet I cry, my Maker,
Let me be a fit partaker
Of this blessed food from heaven,
For our good, Thy glory, given.
8. Lord, by love and mercy driven
Thou hast left Thy throne in heaven
On the cross for us to languish
And to die in bitter anguish,
To forego all joy and gladness
And to shed Thy blood in sadness.
By this blood, redeemed and living,
Lord, I praise Thee with thanksgiving.
9. Jesus, Bread of Life, I pray Thee,
Let me gladly here obey Thee.
By Thy love I am invited,
Be Thy love with love requited;
From this Supper let me measure,
Lord, how vast and deep love's treasure.
Though the gifts Thou here dost give me
As Thy guest in heaven receive me.
Hymn #305
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Rev. 19: 8
Author: Johann Franck, 1649
Translated by: Catherine Winkworth, 1858, alt.
Titled: "Schmuecke dich, o liebe Seele"
Composer: Johann Crueger, 1649
Tune: "Schmuecke dich"
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