07/06/2026
The Solemnity of Corpus Christi originated with Saint Juliana of Cornillon who was born near Liège, Belgium around 1191. Orphaned at the age of five, Juliana and her sister were entrusted to the care of Augustinian nuns. Within the convent, Juliana grew in her faith, participated in Eucharistic adoration, and frequented Holy Communion. Eventually, she joined the Augustinian order.
At age sixteen, Juliana had a mystical vision during Eucharistic adoration in which she saw the moon with a dark stripe. By divine intuition, she understood that the moon symbolized the Church’s life on earth, and the dark stripe symbolized the absence of a feast dedicated to the Body and Blood of Christ. Though she had the same vision several more times, she kept it to herself for twenty years.
Around age thirty-six, Juliana shared her vision with two holy women. Together, the three grew in their love of Christ in the Eucharist, adoring His hidden presence and receiving Holy Communion frequently. After sharing her vision with the bishop, he reluctantly approved an annual feast to honor the Blessed Sacrament; other bishops followed. As word spread about Juliana’s visions, her superior and some clergy opposed her. She took refuge in various Cistercian monasteries for ten years.
Juliana died at the age of sixty-seven while adoring the Most Blessed Sacrament in her cell. A local Archdeacon in Lièges, Jacques Pantaléon of Troyes, who was familiar with Juliana and her visions, was elected Pope Urban IV in 1261. He believed that a universal Corpus Christi feast was God’s will.
In 1263, a Eucharistic miracle took place in Bolsena, Italy. A German priest named Father Peter of Prague stopped at the local church to offer Mass during a pilgrimage at the tomb of Saint Christina, a fourth-century martyr. Father Peter was struggling to believe in the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. During the consecration, blood flowed from the host he was holding onto his hands and the linen corporal on the altar. He immediately went to Pope Urban, who was staying nearby, to reveal the miracle and his lack of faith. The pope absolved him and sent a delegation to investigate. The delegation brought the corporal to the cathedral in Orvieto, where it remains enshrined today.
In 1264, Pope Urban instituted the universal Solemnity of Corpus Christi on the Thursday after the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, in honor of the day that the Eucharist was instituted. He asked the renowned theologian Father Thomas Aquinas to compose the liturgical texts for the feast. Among the texts the future saint and Doctor of the Church composed are the revered hymns, “Pange Lingua,” “Tantum Ergo,” “Panis Angelicus,” and “O Salutaris Hostia.”
The Solemnity of Corpus Christi has grown and become an important annual celebration, often including Eucharistic processions, adoration, and Mass. Where it is not a holy day of obligation, the solemnity is moved to the following Sunday so as to extend the celebration to the entire people of God. In 1869, Pope Pius IX canonized Saint Juliana of Lièges, adding greater credence to her miraculous visions and solidifying the importance of this holy solemnity.
(Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/corpus-christi-body-and-blood-of-christ-solemnity/)
