Feast of Corpus Christi

May our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament be praised, adored and loved, with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time!

O Sacrament most holy! O Sacrament divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!

These indulgenced ejaculations express admirably the scope and purpose of the present Feast, viz., to glorify the Blessed Sacrament and to bring souls to the feet of Jesus, the Divine Lover of souls.
(The Roman Missal, 1962)

This feast day was actually on Thursday, but may be celebrated on the following Sunday according to the indult of Pope Leo XIII. Fr. Schorp celebrated it today. He chanted the Sequence, which I loved hearing, but we had no procession. :o(

Sequence (in English)

Sion, lift thy voice and sing:
Praise thy Savior and thy King,
Praise with hymns thy Shepherd true.

All thou canst, do thou endeavour,
Yet thy praise can equal never
Such as merits thy great King.

See today before us laid
The living and life-giving Bread!
Theme for praise and joy profound!

The same which at the sacred board
Was, by our incarnate Lord,
Giv'n to His Apostles round.

Let the praise be loud and high;
Sweet and tranquil be the joy
Felt today in every breast,

On this festival divine
Which records the origin
Of the glorious Eucharist.

On this table of the King,
Our new Paschal offering
Brings to end the olden rite.

Here, for empty shadows fled,
Is reality instead;
Here, instead of darkness, light.

His own act, at supper seated,
Christ ordain'd to be repeated,
In His memory divine:

Wherefore now, with adoration,
We, the Host of our salvation
Consecrate from bread and wine.

Hear what Holy Church maintaineth,
That the bread its substance changeth
Into Flesh, the wine to Blood.

Doth it pass thy comprehending?
Faith, the law of sight 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.

They, who of Him here partake,
Sever not, nor rend, nor break:
But, entire, their Lord receive.

Whether one or thousands eat,
All receive the self-same meat,
Nor the less for others leave.

Both the wicked and the good
Eat of this celestial Food:
But with ends how opposite!

Here 'tis life: and there 'tis death:
The same, yet issuing to each
In a difference infinite.

Nor a single doubt retain,
When they break the Host in twain,
But that in each part remains,
What was in the whole before;

Since the simple sign alone
Suffers change in state or form,
The signified remaining one
And the same for evermore.

Lo! upon the altar lies,
Hidden deep from human eyes,
Bread of Angels from the skies,
Made the food of mortal man;

Chldren's meat to dogs denied,
In old types presignified:
In the manna heaven-supplied,
In Isaac, and the Paschal lamb.

Jesu! Shepherd of the sheep!
Thou Thy flock in safety keep.
Living Bread! Thy life supply:
Strengthen us, or else we die:
Fill us with celestial grace!

Thou, who feedest us below!
Source of all we have or know!
Grant that with Thy Saints above,
Sitting at the feast of love,
We may see Thee face to face.

Amen. Alleluia.

I've been given tiny flashes of understanding lately about the Eucharist that almost totally overwhelm me. Our total understanding has to be murky and incomplete. If we totally understood, if the reality of what It Is really penetrated our hearts, minds, souls, we would be unable to function in our daily lives.