Corpus Christi Procession 2026, Cathedral of the Transfiguration #catholic #sspx

Let us adore Christ, the King, who ruleth the nations: who giveth fatness of spirit to them that eat him. My days are vanished like smoke, and my bones are grown dry like fuel for the fire: I am smitten as grass, and my heart is withered: because I forgot to eat my bread. Thus sadly speaks the hundred and first Psalm, whose title is: Prayer of the poor man, when he was anxious, and poured out his supplication before the Lord. And who is this poor man? It is Adam; it is the whole human race, the inheritor of Adam's miseries. God had given him his divine law, as his food; as the bread of his soul, he had given him the Word of God. Instigated by the old serpent, and led on by the woman, Adam took the forbidden fruit; he forgot the Word. But, lo! there appeareth the true bread of heaven, He, in whose Flesh thou mayest, if thou wilt, find the Word thou hadst forgotten. Cry out, from the depths of thy poverty, to heaven; regain thy former plenty. Eat! for thou art member of Him who hath said: I am the living Bread, which came down from heaven. Thou hadst forgotten to eat thy bread; but, now that Christ is crucified, all the ends of the earth shall REMEMBER; and shall he converted unto the Lord. It is because, together with the grandeur of the Liturgy, to which they are total strangers, public Worship has lost its social character; Communion, consequently, has lost its full meaning; and leaves such of its receivers in their state of contented isolation, for it is not, as far as they are concerned, the bond of unity, through Christ the Head, with the whole Body, whereof they were made members by Baptism. To say nothing of those nominal Catholics, with whom the word Church seems to be a term one meets with in history, but which has no present objective existence,—are there many even among those who are frequent, or daily, communicants, who understand this axiom of Saint Augustine: “The Eucharist is our daily Bread, for the virtue it implies is unity; and unity of the members in a body, is the health of that body, and the health of each member?” The doctrine here expressed is very profound. It enables us to appreciate the magnificence of such a sight as was to be seen, in former times, of the whole assembly of the Faithful concluding the solemnity of the Sacrifice by all communicating on the divine Victim. This unanimous meeting at the holy table of all them that had been made members of the Church by Baptism, is a sight which we cannot expect to behold in an age like our own, which is so full of immorality, infidelity, and cowardly human respect. And those of the Church’s children, whose fervent assiduity at the divine banquet is a consolation to her amidst the general neglect,—even they cannot always wait for the late hour of High Mass, though it would bring them closer into the spirit of the mystery of Communion, and would be more in accordance with the desires of the Church. They are generally prevented from such a practice by their delicate health, or by other obstacles which are, no doubt, very difficult to be removed; and our loving Mother, the Church, is quite aware of the moral impossibility of anything like a general return to the ancient practice. Still, we cannot forbear regretting the difficulty, and envying those happy times when each of the Faithful partook sacramentally of the Sacrifice, which was celebrated in the presence of the whole congregation. Yet, she does not press her wishes in this regard, except for the sacred Ministers, who are assistants at the Sacrifice; and, even for them, she does not prescribe it as an express command: "Let them know," she says, in her Council of Trent, "that it is extremely becoming, that, at least, on Sundays and solemn Feasts, they should receive holy Communion at the altar where they give their ministry." The Fathers of the same Council thus admirably express the traditional teaching, which we have been putting before our readers. "The holy Council, with fatherly affection, admonishes, exhorts, begs and implores, by the bowels of the mercy of our God, that all and each, of those who bear the name of Christians, will, at length, be united to each other in this sign of unity, in this bond of charity, in this symbol of concord. Let them be mindful of the infinite majesty, and the wonderful love, of our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave his beloved life as the price of our salvation, and his Flesh as our food. "Let them believe and venerate these sacred mysteries of his Body and Blood with such constancy and resoluteness, with such devotion of soul, and love, and worship, as that they may frequently receive that supersubstantial Bread. May it be to them their true life, and the perpetual health of their soul! And being strengthened by its strength, may they go through the journey of this miserable life, and reach their heavenly country, where they may eat, unveiled, that same Bread of the Angels, which they now receive under the sacred veils."*