In the weeks following Pentecost, the Church celebrates two special feasts:  the Most Holy Trinity and the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi.  This feast celebrates and honors Christ's gift of himself in the Eucharist, and includes the traditional Corpus Christi procession following the 10:00am Mass.  The Elliott Bay Pipe Band, led by Cathedral piper Tyrone Heade, played a prelude before the Mass.


The procession begins, and in a very literal way, we take our faith to the streets of our city.
As always, the cross leads the procession, but today, it is adorned with flowers, reminding us that the cross of Christ is our tree of life.
 

Dozens of volunteers, including ushers, altar servers, choristers, and many more, help make the procession joyful, reverent, and beautiful. THANK YOU!




"Jesus, here present, our living Savior, grant us your mercy, show us your favor!"




Children scatter flower petals and carry pennants to prepare the way for Christ, present in our midst in the sacrament of his Body and Blood.




Stacey Sunde leads the children of the Schola Cantorum.


"Those who drink my blood and eat of my body live in me and I live in them, says the Lord."






At the center of the procession, Father Ryan carries the Blessed Sacrament, exposed in the monstrance.




Old and young take to the streets to profess their faith.


"You are the Body of Christ."














"In the Corpus Christi procession, we walk with the Risen One on his journey to meet
the entire world."  (Benedict XVI)



 


The procession ends with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament on Terry Avenue.  Benediction (celebrated every Sunday afternoon at the Cathedral during Vespers) is a solemn blessing of the people with the host, exposed in the monstrance.


"O may we all one bread, one body be, in this blest sacrament of unity."
 





Father Ryan blesses us by making the sign of the cross over the hundreds gathered with the monstrance.




"The procession represents an immense and public blessing for our city: Christ is, in person, the divine Blessing for the world. May the ray of his blessing extend to us all!" (Benedict XVI)


"Some day, after we have mastered the wind, the waves, the tides, and gravity,
we shall harness for God the energies of Love.
Then, for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire."
Teilhard de Chardin, SJ