ASHEBORO — As at other churches across the Diocese of Charlotte, Father Philip Kollithanath, pastor, led parishioners at St. Joseph Church in a Eucharistic procession after Mass June 18 to commemorate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, or in Latin, “Corpus et Sanguis Christi.”
On this holy day that honors Our Lord’s Presence in the Eucharist, Our Lord is placed in a monstrance which is then carried by a priest to four different altars representing the four corners of the earth.
While processing, the congregation follows and sings. At each altar there are readings, prayers and benediction. The feast day was established in 1246 by Bishop Robert de Thorte of Liege at the suggestion of St. Juliana of Mont Carvillon, and extended to the universal Church by Pope Urban IV in 1264.
The office was composed by St. Thomas Aquinas, and the procession was approved by Popes Martin V and Eugene IV. Originally observed on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, in 1970 it was shifted to the following Sunday for the U.S. and most of the world.
— Photos by Amber Sheriff | Catholic News Herald
