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Corpus Christi procession in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Bavaria)

Photo: Peter Kneffel/ dpa

Corpus Christi is a Catholic feast that is always celebrated on the second Thursday after Pentecost. The name is derived from Middle High German. "Vron" stands for "Lord", "lichnam" for "body". The term therefore means "body of the Lord" and has nothing to do with corpses, as the corruption "Happy Carcass Day" suggests.

Corpus Christi is a public holiday in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. In addition, shops and schools will remain closed in some Catholic regions of Saxony and Thuringia.

What is celebrated with Corpus Christi?

With the "Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ", Catholics commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus. According to the Bible, he had given the Apostles bread and wine, saying, "This is my body" and "This is my blood". In the Catholic masses, this is celebrated in the Eucharist (communion) - and on Corpus Christi again with a special feast. It is intended to demonstrate that Christ, and therefore God, is present.

For Catholics, Corpus Christi is therefore a celebration of confidence. Because there were no elaborate ceremonies in the traditionally quiet period before Easter, they were celebrated at the end of Easter. In many Catholic parishes, a consecrated host in a gold-decorated vessel, the monstrance, is still carried through the streets as the body of Christ in colorful processions. Less commonly, there are also ship processions, for example on the Rhine. The procession is emblematic of the wandering people of God in the world with Christ in their midst.

What are the historical origins of the festival?

Corpus Christi dates back to a vision of the Augustinian nun Juliana of Liège in 1209, who, according to legend, saw a small black spot in the moon during a prayer. She interpreted this as a directive that there must also be a feast for the celebration of the Eucharist. The moon stands for the church year and the spot shows that such a festival is missing in the Christian cycle. After her death in 1264, Pope Urban IV turned it into a general church festival. In the years that followed, the first processions took place, for example in Cologne.

What is the significance of Corpus Christi in non-Catholic areas?

For Protestant Christians, Corpus Christi is usually not celebrated. There is a fundamentally different understanding of the Lord's Supper. Martin Luther described the feast in 1527 as the "most harmful annual festival" that had no basis in the Bible. He saw the processions as idolatrous blasphemy. Under the influence of the Reformation, the Corpus Christi processions also took on a combative, rebellious character for the Catholics: they were intended to demonstrate the strength of the Catholic faith, especially to Protestants.

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