Corpus Christi

Jesus said, 'I am the living bread that came down from heaven.'

(John 6.51)

Today is the feast of Corpus Christi
- the Day of Thanksgiving for the Institution of Holy Communion


This feast day is less well known, and far less celebrated, than the other one in the church's year that particularly celebrates the Eucharist - Maundy Thursday, but it offers a very different context.

Maundy Thursday flows into Jesus' arrest at the garden, his arrest and crucifixion.
Corpus Christi stands a little apart from that emotional rollercoaster of Holy Week, and so can 'simply' be a joyous celebration of the Eucharist.

It's a reminder, too, that however dark, bleak, depressing and scary the world, or our lives, might be, there is always joy that can be found in God - especially in receiving Christ in the Eucharist, and being fed spiritually by the bread of heaven.


A prayer for Spiritual Communion... a prayer for when we aren't able to receive communion:


Thanks be to you, Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits you have given me,
for all the pains and insults you have borne for me.
Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, I ask you to come spiritually into my heart.
O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may I know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day. Amen.

prayer from here

♫ Byrd's Ave verum corpus