During the procession, the consecrated host is displayed in a monstrance held aloft by a member of the clergy. At the end of the procession, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is imparted.[2] Many Corpus Christi guilds were formed to support these processions which due to the seasonal conditions in early summer were often a high point of the area's religious year.[3]
Corpus Christi processions became a focus for tensions between Catholics and Protestants during the Counter Reformation. The processions were seen as a threat to the Protestant church in Thorn in Poland. From 1682, St Mary's Church had to be guarded by a LutheranBürgerwehr (militia) during the Corpus Christi processions, as the assembled Catholics might have occupied this church as well. Further violent conflicts occurred in 1688 and 1721.[6]
It was believed that Corpus Christi processions were banned under the terms of the 1829 Catholic Emancipation Act although in practice they were becoming more common in the UK in the nineteenth century.[7]
In 1901 the evangelical preacher Arthur Trew was sentenced to twelve months' hard labour after he incited his supporters to riot in a Corpus Christi procession in Belfast. In 1908 a Eucharistic Congress held in London had to abandon plans for a public procession after a personal intervention from the Prime Minister Herbert Asquith,[8] although a procession was still held without the Eucharist where members of religious orders processed in ordinary clothes ostentatiously carrying their religious habits which they were legally not allowed to wear in public in silent protest.[9]
In 1924 the Corpus Christi procession in Carfin, Scotland, was successfully blocked from using the public roads by the local MP and OrangemanHugh Ferguson citing the 1908 precedent, which became one of the triggers for the 1926 Catholic Relief Act which explicitly repealed the ban on Catholic processions.[10]
Examples
Italy
Rome
A notable Eucharistic procession is that presided over by the Pope each year in Rome, where it begins at the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran and concludes with Benediction passes at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. Corpus Christi wreaths, which are made of flowers, are hung on the doors and windows of the Christian faithful, in addition to being erected in gardens and fields.[1]
Cagli
In Cagli's procession, the city's streets are carpeted with flowers, arranged by citizens and worshippers as a demonstration of popular piety, for the procession in which the priest carries the consecrated host, under a rich canopy, accompanied by members of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament.
Philippines
A procession in Manila, Philippines, where the monstrance is placed on a carriage (carroza), rather than being held by a cleric. The Archbishop of Manila, CardinalJose Advincula, kneels before the Blessed Sacrament during the entire procession.
In 2018, the tradition was entered into the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.[14] In March 2020 Poland nominated the Flower carpets tradition for inclusion on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity maintained by UNESCO. On 15 November 2021, a UNESCO Evaluation Body issued a document containing the examination of nominations for inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2021. The Evaluation Body recommended that the Flower carpets tradition for Corpus Christi processions be inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.[15] The final decision on the inscription was taken on 15 December 2021 by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.[16]
The history of flower carpets in Spycimierz goes back to a hard to specify period. Although the oldest written account of this custom comes from the parish chronicle dating back to 1957, oral communication is much older. For the oldest message, one should acknowledge the legend of the appearance of this custom along with the return of soldiers from Napoleon to their native village. The composition of the flower carpets has changed and evolved over the years. At first, yellow sand and twigs were used, so the old decoration was modest. Later, flowers began to be used, and the current way of dressing the route took shape after 1945. The colorful carpet of live flowers is laid by parishioners along the Corpus Christi road, which is about 1 kilometre long. A solemn procession passes over it at 5 p.m.[17]
Spain
Ponteareas
Dating back to 1857, it is traditionally celebrated with a procession of the Holy Sacrament along floral carpets laid in the streets. In 1968 the festival was declared a festival of Tourist Interest, in 1980 of National Tourist Interest, and in 2009 of International Tourist Interest, joining other famous Spanish celebrations such as Fallas and the Tomatina.
↑" Examination of nominations for inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity " https://ich.unesco.org/en/16com
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