The Feast of Corpus Christi

"Among the immeasurable benefits, which the goodness of God hath bestowed on the Christian people, is a dignity beyond all price.  For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is unto us?  The only-begotten Son of God was pleased to make us partakers of his divine nature; that is, he took our nature upon him, being himself made man that he might, as it were, make men into gods.  And this body, which he took from us, he gave wholly unto our salvation.  For, on the Altar of the Cross, he offered up his body to God the Father, as a sacrifice for our reconciliation, and thereon he shed his own blood for our redemption; that is, his blood is the price whereby he redeemeth us from wretchedness and bondage, and the washing whereby he cleanseth us from all sin.  And for a noble and abiding Memórial of this his so great work of goodness, he hath left unto his faithful ones the same his very Body for Meat, and the same his very Blood for Drink, with which we are fed under the forms of Bread and Wine.

O how precious a thing then, how marvellous, how health-giving, yielding royal dainties, is the Supper of the Lord.  Than this Supper can anything be more precious?  Therein there is put before us for meat, not as of old time, the flesh of bulls and of goats, but Christ himself, our very God.  Than this Sacrament can anything be more marvellous?  Therein it is that Bread and Wine become unto us the very Body and and Blood of Christ; that is to say, perfect God and perfect Man, Christ himself, is there under the veils of a little bread and wine.  His faithful ones eat him, but he is not mangled; nay, when the veil which shroudeth him in the Sacrament is broken, in each broken fragment thereof remaineth the whole Christ himself, perfect God and perfect Man.  All that the senses can reach in this Sacrament, all these abide of bread and wine, but the Thing is not bread and wine.  And thus room is left for faith.  For Christ, who hath a Form that can be seen, is herein taken and received not only unseen, but seeming to be bread and wine, and the senses, which judge by the wonted look, are warranted against error.

Than this Sacrament can anything be more health-giving?  Thereby are sins purged away, strength is renewed, and the soul fed upon the fatness of spiritual gifts.  This Supper is offered up in the Church, both for the quick and the dead; it was ordained to the health of all, all get the good of it.  Than this Sacrament can anything yield more of royal dainties?  The glorious sweetness thereof is of a truth such that no man can fully tell it.  Therein ghostly comfort is sucked from its very well-head.  Therein a Memorial is made of that exceeding great love which Christ shewed in time of his sufferings.  It was in order that the boundless goodness of that his great love might be driven home into the hearts of his faithful ones, that when he had celebrated the Passover with his disciples, and the Last Supper was ended, then, knowing that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end, and instituted this Sacrament.  For this Sacrament is the everlasting forth-shewing of his death until he come again; this Sacrament is the embodied fulfilment of all the ancient types and figures; this Sacrament is is the greatest wonder which ever he wrought, and the one mighty joy of them that now have sorrow, till he shall come again; and thereby their heart shall rejoice, and their joy no man take from them."
-- From a Sermon by St Thomas Aquinas

** Most dioceses have transferred this feast to this Sunday, while the Vatican and those following the 1962 liturgical calendar observe it today.

Memorial of St Thomas Aquinas

"St. Thomas Aquinas, priest and doctor of the Church, patron of all universities and of students. His feast day is January 28th. He was born toward the end of the year 1226. He was the son of Landulph, Count of Aquino, who, when St. Thomas was five years old, placed him under the care of the Benedictines of Monte Casino. His teachers were surprised at the progress he made, for he surpassed all his fellow pupils in learning as well as in the practice of virtue.

When he became of age to choose his state of life, St. Thomas renounced the things of this world and resolved to enter the Order of St. Dominic in spite of the opposition of his family. In 1243, at the age of seventeen, he joined the Dominicans of Naples. Some members of his family resorted to all manner of means over a two year period to break his constancy. They even went so far as to send an impure woman to tempt him. But all their efforts were in vain and St. Thomas persevered in his vocation. As a reward for his fidelity, God conferred upon him the gift of perfect chastity, which has merited for him the title of the "Angelic Doctor".

After making his profession at Naples, he studied at Cologne under the celebrated St. Albert the Great. Here he was nicknamed the "dumb ox" because of his silent ways and huge size, but he was really a brilliant student. At the age of twenty-two, he was appointed to teach in the same city. At the same time, he also began to publish his first works. After four years he was sent to Paris. The saint was then a priest. At the age of thirty-one, he received his doctorate.

At Paris he was honored with the friendship of the King, St. Louis, with whom he frequently dined. In 1261, Urban IV called him to Rome where he was appointed to teach, but he positively declined to accept any ecclesiastical dignity. St. Thomas not only wrote (his writings filled twenty hefty tomes characterized by brilliance of thought and lucidity of language), but he preached often and with greatest fruit. Clement IV offered him the archbishopric of Naples which he also refused. He left the great monument of his learning, the "Summa Theologica", unfinished, for on his way to the second Council of Lyons, ordered there by Gregory X, he fell sick and died at the Cistercian monastery of Fossa Nuova in 1274.

St. Thomas was one of the greatest and most influential theologians of all time. He was canonized in 1323 and declared Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius V."

-- Biography from Catholic Online

** Those following the 1962 Liturgical Calendar observe St Thomas Aquinas on 7 March, the actual day of his death. The ordinary calendar observes his memorial today, when the translation of his relics to Toulouse occurred in 1369.


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"Why did the Son of God have to suffer for us? There was a great need, and it can be considered in a twofold way: in the first place, as a remedy for sin, and secondly, as an example of how to act. 

   It is a remedy, for, in the face of all the evils which we incur on account of our sins, we have found relief through the passion of Christ. Yet, it is no less an example, for the passion of Christ completely suffices to fashion our lives. Whoever wishes to live perfectly should do nothing but disdain what Christ disdained on the cross and desire what he desired, for the cross exemplifies every virtue.

   If you seek the example of love: Greater love than this no man has, than to lay down his life for his friends. Such a man was Christ on the cross. And if he gave his life for us, then it should not be difficult to bear whatever hardships arise for his sake.

   If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross. Great patience occurs in two ways: either when one patiently suffers much, or when one suffers things which one is able to avoid and yet does not avoid. Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently, because when he suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth. Therefore Christ's patience on the cross was great. In patience let us run for the prize set before us, looking upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who, for the joy set before him, bore his cross and despised the shame.

   If you seek an example of humility, look upon the crucified one, for God wished to be judged by Pontius Pilate and to die.

   If you seek an example of obedience, follow him who became obedient to the Father even unto death. For just as by the disobedience of one man, namely, Adam, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man, many were made righteous.

   If you seek an example of despising earthly things, follow him who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, in who are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Upon the cross he was stripped, mocked, spat upon, struck, crowned with thorns, and given only vinegar and gall to drink.

   Do not be attached, therefore, to clothing and riches, because they divided my garments among themselves. Nor to honors, for he experienced harsh words and scourgings. Nor to greatness of rank, for weaving a crown of thorns they placed it on my head. Nor to anything delightful, for in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."

-- From a conference by St Thomas Aquinas

Could the love of God do more for man?

"When men adore Christ, they truly adore God. Christ is Emmanuel, that is, God-with-us. In Christ we can, so to speak, see the face of God. It is His human face, it is true. But even this vision is a foretaste of the beatific vision of God which is the inheritance of all those who are members of Christ's Body, the Church. It is their inheritance because Christ is the perfect Mediator between God and me. He stands between God and men - He mediates between them - because He brings God's gifts to men and He takes men to God. As man, He is the perfect Mediator because He occupies a position midway between God and men. As man He is not God, and so He stands below God. But as a man possessing the fullness of grace, knowledge and power, He stands above men. He is thus in a perfect position to mediate between God and men. And this is what Christ is doing ceaselessly for men in and through His Body, the Church.

The Incarnation is God's answer to the misery of men without God. God stoops to man to raise him to Himself. 'And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all things to Myself.' Man has only to accept freely Christ as his Mediator. Not even Christ saves a man against his will. Because man is proud, God has stooped down to him. Since man is disobedient, God has given him the example of the perfect obedience of Christ. A man is ignorant and in error, God has given him Christ, the perfect Teacher. Could the love of God do more for man? 'By this hath the charity of God appeared toward us, because God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we may live by him'."

-- My Way of Life: The Summa Simplified for Everyone by Walter Farrell, OP, STM, & Martin J Healy, STD