Non Solum: A Corpus Christi Procession

A Pray Tell reader writes:

Our parish used to celebrate Corpus Christi with a Eucharistic procession around our small neighborhood block – choirs, ministers, and most parishioners who attended that Mass. Last year, when our new pastor arrived, he didn’t want to “bother with all that” and instead at the end of Mass put the Host in the monstrance and walked around the inside of the church once, all by himself.  Does that really qualify as a “procession”?  At the same time it looked silly, in my opinion -taking the Blessed Sacrament for a walk around the church, and sad -no notice given to the Instructions for Eucharistic Worship Outside of Mass. Advice?

I’m sure you’ll find much to discuss and push back on.

Editor

Katharine E. Harmon, Ph.D., edits the blog, Pray Tell: Worship, Wit & Wisdom.

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Comments

12 responses to “Non Solum: A Corpus Christi Procession”

  1. Terri Miyamoto

    What bothers me the most is that it’s up to the pastor. Why should he have the right to come in and change a parish custom on his own? I know that he does, but I don’t think he should.

    Reply
  2. Paul Fell

    Our parish has been offering a CC Procession for several years now. While attendance is never stellar, as all the kids have just finished school for summer vacation, we have a respectable crowd each year now. Due to the location of our parish, we cannot process to another church, as the nearest one is too far away and there really isn’t a safe route through town. Therefore, we set up a “temporary altar” at another location on campus and process to that location for Adoration / prayers, then we process back.

    Getting the Procession off the ground was not a smooth process, but things have improved over time. Also, people have come to expect and look forward to this event, so we are gaining people a little bit every year. One thing that we have been doing is including the most recent RCIA class and the most recent First Communion class in the Procession, as well as the normal retinue of clergy and K/Cs. This seems to help attendance, as more people become aware of the event each year, so some start attending from that point.

    To address your question about “does this qualify”, there are resources on-line that describe how a Eucharistic Procession works and how it can be done. These can be very large or very small (think about Holy Thursday in a small parish), so as far as I know, I think your priest’s procession “qualifies” per se, even if it isn’t very involved.

    If your parish does not offer many devotional events throughout the year, offering a more involved Procession could be a slog to get rolling, especially if the priest came from a parish that didn’t offer many regular devotions. Be gentle but persistent in your requests and find some people who are willing to head up the event at the beginning. Read about processions and be prepared to answer questions in any discussion with your priest. Depending on his past experiences, he may be wary of people who want lots of events as long as someone else organizes and runs them!

    Reply
  3. Paul Inwood

    I don’t think it looks silly taking the Blessed Sacrament for a walk around the church. When I was growing up, this happened several times a year (for example, in conjunction with the 40 Hours Devotion, or as part of a solemn Rosary, Procession and Benediction). The only outdoor procession was the Corpus Christi one, which for logistical reasons in my parish took place the following Sunday afternoon.

    Doing it within the church is just like the reduced procession that is allowed for on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord and Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion.

    As far as attendance at Corpus Christi processions is concerned, this practice arose in the 13th century as a result of one person’s particular devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, at a time when layfolk only saw a consecrated host for a few seconds at Mass and seldom received one in Holy Communion. As soon as the postconciliar liturgical reforms had made the liturgy more accessible to the people, a large part of the former devotional practices fell away: there was no longer a need for substitutes for a remote and incomprehensible (in the literal meaning of the word) Mass. It may be that these remaining mediaeval devotions are destined to die out in the same way.

    Reply
    1. John Kohanski

      @Paul Inwood:
      Another Eucharistic procession, at least in most Polish parishes, is the procession at Resurrection Mass very early on Easter Sunday where the Blessed Sacrament is taken from the Lord’s Tomb where it’s been reposed since Friday and returned to the tabernacle with a procession around the church.
      As far are devotional practices falling away because the liturgy is more “accessible” I’d say that they fallen away because modern life has made keeping up with them harder. I don’t see a greater devotion to the Mass, just lesser devotion to devotions outside of Mass. Sunday Vespers, Stations of the Cross, weekday rosary devotions during May and October, and Sacred Heart devotions in June fell off as modern life became more hectic and frenetic, not because they’re not needed or wanted.

      Reply
      1. Paul Inwood

        @John Kohanski:

        Yes, you may be right. In addition to those you mention I was also thinking of such things as Bona Mors, the Litany of Loreto, etc, which probably most people don’t even remember (they survived into my late teens in a few places and then were either dropped or replaced by “bible services”).

  4. Jonathan F. Sullivan

    I had never participated in a Eucharistic procession until last year. I found the experience quite uplifting (which surprised me). Especially in an era where religion is an increasingly private affair, such public displays serve a useful function in reminding the faithful that we are called to take Christ with us out into the world.

    Our diocese just released a guide to Eucharistic processions, put together by my colleague Eliot Kapitan: http://dio.org/uploads/files/Worship/Rites_to_Use/Eucharistic_Processions_Guide.pdf. Eliot indicates that, per the Order for the Solemn Exposition of the Holy Eucharist, processions within the church building are no longer permitted.

    Reply
    1. Paul Inwood

      @Jonathan F. Sullivan:

      Our diocese just released a guide to Eucharistic processions, put together by my colleague Eliot Kapitan: http://dio.org/uploads/files/Worship/Rites_to_Use/Eucharistic_Processions_Guide.pdf. Eliot indicates that, per the Order for the Solemn Exposition of the Holy Eucharist, processions within the church building are no longer permitted.

      I don’t want to take issue with my friend Eliot, but it is interesting to see exactly what Notitiae said when it appeared to ban processions within the body of a church.

      In reponse to a question as to whether it is licit to hold a procession of the Blessed Sacrament in the body of the church, the Notitiae author’s response is Negative.

      He then starts off by saying that the “Ordo” for Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist outside Mass does not mention such processions (which is true: it doesn’t), but that it talks of processions in the streets and from one church to another. His logic thus leads him to say, rather baldly, “Processions within the body of the church are not true ‘processions'”. He then realizes that he has a problem with Holy Thursday Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, so he hastily adds that this is not a procession but a “translation” of the Blessed Sacrament.

      So far, so unsatisfactory. However, the Notitiae author then says “On the other hand,” and goes on to cite a contradictory ruling from the Ordo which says that when it is not possible to have a procession then it is fitting that a public celebration take place within the cathedral church or in other suitable places. (He adds that, as with Mass or adoration, there should be readings from sacred scripture, singing, a homily, and time for meditation.)

      It therefore seems that the ban is not quite so clear-cut as the first half of the response might suggest.

      Reply
      1. John Swencki

        @Paul Inwood:
        As best as I can discern, the “purpose” of a procession is to give public witness. (Might “procession” be a Catholic liturgical term for “demonstration”?) Hence the directive that processions take place outside the church building.
        Even on Holy Thursday, the “purpose” of the procession with the Eucharist is to transfer It to a suitable place outside the church, though in many places that “outside place” is not available.
        The opening hymn of the Mass is no longer called the “Processional” but rather the “Entrance Hymn” since that is its purpose—to accompany an entrance into the church.
        Do gift bearers or those receiving Communion “process” toward the altar or simply “approach” the altar?
        We sometimes still fall prey to minimizing our symbols and symbolic actions, and so if we’re going to have a procession, let’s do it all the way. Otherwise I feel we run the risk of turning a public witness into an exercise of self-indulgence.

      2. Paul Inwood

        @John Swencki:

        The opening hymn of the Mass is no longer called the “Processional” but rather the “Entrance Hymn” since that is its purpose—to accompany an entrance into the church.
        Do gift bearers or those receiving Communion “process” toward the altar or simply “approach” the altar?

        John, I think we’re basically on the same side, but I’m having a hard time reconciling your statements with GIRM 47 on the Entrance Song:

        Its purpose is to open the celebration, foster the unity of those who have been gathered, introduce their thoughts to the mystery of the liturgical time or festivity, and accompany the procession [my emphasis] of the Priest and ministers.

        74:

        The procession [my emphasis] bringing the gifts…

        and 86:

        While the Priest is receiving the Sacrament, the Communion Chant is begun, its purpose being to express the spiritual union of the communicants by means of the unity of their voices, to show gladness of heart, and to bring out more clearly the “communitarian” character of the procession [my emphasis} to receive the Eucharist.

  5. Lee Bacchi

    Are these processions then followed by distributing food to the poor and homeless?

    Reply
  6. Rev. Julian Nix OSB

    I think one should have, at a minimum, incense and candles and singing while the procession is taking place.

    Reply
  7. Matthew J. Meloche

    We’ll have a procession indoors this Sunday at our televised Mass. Because of television cameras and the extreme heat outside, going outdoors is sort of out of the question. I feel that having the procession inside and ending Mass with Benediction can foster devotion to the Blessed Sacrament – and perhaps bring some new people to consider becoming adorers at our perpetual adoration chapel. While the procession takes place, the people will be invited to chant Pange Lingua, likely with organ improvisations between each verse.

    Speaking selfishly as an organist, I look forward to this since the other principal time the Pange Lingua is used (Holy Thursday), improvising instrumentally would not be kosher. The melody is such a lovely one and lends itself well to the organ.

    Reply

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