Published: 2020-05-02

The theological meaning behind the votive procession of Corpus Christi based on “The directory on popular piety and liturgy”

Dariusz Kwiatkowski
Liturgia Sacra. Liturgia - Musica - Ars
Section: Liturgia
DOI https://doi.org/10.25167/ls.1898

Abstract

The article depicts the theological meaning behind the procession of Corpus Christi. “The directory on popular piety and liturgy” categorizes it as a “votive processions”. When organizing such a procession, one shall follow those theological criteria, which account for all the forms of popular piety, which means it should be of Christological, pneumatological and ecclesial character. The Corpus Christi procession shows the presence of Christ and the Church in a special way. It should be noted, that the popular piety has greatly eased in the process of creation and propagation of Christs’ Holy Body and Blood celebration. This procession is a model form of Eucharistic processions. Being a natural prolongation of Eucharistic celebrations, it contains both the liturgical elements (the presence of the Holy Sacrament, proclamation of the Gospel, prayers approved by the Church, the Holy Sacraments’ blessing) and many forms of local piety (decorating the streets and windows, laying flowers, adoring the altars, folk costumes). To sum up, it must be stated, that the procession which takes place on the day of Corpus Christi meets the requirements regarding theology and liturgy mentioned in “The directory on popular piety and liturgy” and the “Holy Communion and the cult of Eucharistic mystery outside of the Holy Mass, fit for the customs of Polish dioceses” book.

Keywords:

Procession, Christs’ Holy Body and Blood celebration, Eucharist, the Holy Sacrament, liturgy, popular piety, faith

Citation rules

Kwiatkowski, D. (2020). The theological meaning behind the votive procession of Corpus Christi based on “The directory on popular piety and liturgy”. Liturgia Sacra. Liturgia - Musica - Ars, 55(1), 107–124. https://doi.org/10.25167/ls.1898

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