Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi (Latin for Body of Christ) is a Western Catholic feast. It is also celebrated in some Anglican and Lutheran churches. It honors the Eucharist, and as such it does not commemorate a particular event in Jesus' life. It is held on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday or, in some places, on the following Sunday. Its celebration on a Thursday is meant to associate it with institution by Jesus of the Eucharist during the Last Supper, commemorated on Maundy Thursday, and this is the first free Thursday after Paschaltide. In the current Ordinary form of the Roman rite of the Catholic Church, the feast is officially known as the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

The celebration of Corpus Christi became widespread only after both St. Juliana and Bishop Robert de Thorete had died. In 1263 Pope Urban IV investigated claims of a Eucharistic miracle at Bolsena, in which a consecrated host began to bleed. In 1264 he issued the papal bull Transiturus de hoc mundo in which Corpus Christi was made a feast throughout the entire Latin Rite. This was the very first papally sanctioned universal feast in the history of the Latin Rite.

In Curitiba, Corpus Christi rugs were made to the fullest extent of the Avenues Barão do Serro Azul and Cândido de Abreu from Cathedral Square to the Civic Center to accommodate the procession. The mat assembled for the procession, which took place yesterday afternoon, was made with five tons of materials and it was 1.5 kilometers long.

The celebration in front of the Cathedral Basilica began at 3 P.M. After the Mass, which lasted about an hour and a half, the faithful followed in procession toward the Civic Center on Avenida Cândido de Abreu. The celebration ended with a solemn blessing. It is estimated that 100 000 people attended the procession in Curitiba.