This Sunday, 7 June, is the Feast of Corpus Christi. One of the most important and iconic events in the capital will see Jesus Christ, in the Blessed Sacrament, processed through the streets of central London.
The day starts at the Church of Corpus Christi, a “hidden gem” in the heart of Covent Garden, with an 11am Pontifical Sung Mass in Latin, after which the procession will begin.
The group will depart from Maiden Lane and process to the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory in Warwick Street. On arrival, there will be a period of Adoration.
The procession will then continue to the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family, where Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, the Ukrainian Eparch, will join. The day concludes with Benediction at St James’s, Spanish Place in Marylebone at around 5pm.
Bishop Paul Mason, Catholic Bishop of the Forces, will celebrate Mass and lead the procession. “It should be a really good day,” he says. “It’s an opportunity for Catholics to come out, show their faith, and show the importance and centrality of the Blessed Sacrament in the life of the Church.”
Bishop Mason makes a stellar comparison to highlight the centrality of the Blessed Sacrament:
“The Blessed Sacrament is something of a North Star. It gives us light, it gives us direction, it gives purpose, and without that, we can end up a bit lost. Simply being able to spend time before the Blessed Sacrament ensures that we don’t spin off on a frolic of our own pursuing do-goodery.
“This is the work of God that we’re called to be engaged in. If we don’t spend time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, it would be so easy to simply end up in a type of activism which doesn’t go anywhere. We need to be sure that, in the work that we do, that we’re following God’s promptings.
“Being able to spend time before the Blessed Sacrament – some people say wasting time with Almighty God before the Blessed Sacrament – is so important to feed our souls and give us that sense of where we’re going and what we’re supposed to be doing.”
The real presence of Christ lies at the heart of our faith, says Bishop Mason. Moreover, Eucharistic Adoration, he says, enabled the saints during their time on Earth to stay close to the Lord.
“People may look at some of the great saints of the Church, picking one, let’s say, Mother Teresa. We all know the great good that she did, the hard work with the poor of Calcutta, it didn’t just come from her own promptings, her own initiative. She would spend hours before the Blessed Sacrament. From there she got her confidence, she got her direction, she got her inspiration to know what God was calling her to do.”
The procession through central London is always well attended and it is normal to see members of the public drop to their knees in prayer when the procession passes. Even curious non-Catholics seem moved by what they see. Bishop Mason sees this as a great sign of hope:
“Some might think, ‘What are these people up to carrying this monstrance?’ – the monstrance is the apparatus we use to carry the Blessed Sacrament. There may be many looking on thinking, ‘How odd is that?’ But I hope it does raise questions in people’s minds.
“It’s a great sign of hope and it also points in the direction of the National Eucharistic Congress which we’ll be having on 10 October, which, again, is to reaffirm the importance, the centrality of the Blessed Sacrament, the presence of Almighty God in the life of the Church.”
Visit the website of the Church of Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane for more details.
