The Church has always believed in the fact that the consecrated bread and wine at Holy Mass has become the actual Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus – in their substance but not usually in their appearance. Nevertheless, on occasion, God also manifests the form of Christ’s flesh and not just the substance – usually in times where people are struggling with their faith.

One such occasion occurred in 1263 with a German priest named Peter of Prague who was having doubts about the Transubstantiation of the Eucharist.  God therefore allowed the form of the Eucharist to also exhibit it’s fleshly nature and at the consecration, the bread and wine appeared too as flesh and blood, with blood dripping over the altar cloths.  This miracle in Bolsena, Italy prompted St Thomas Aquinas to write much of the liturgy of a new feast to celebrate the miracle in order to strengthen the faithful.  More about the miraculous events surrounding the feast can be read in the article on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.

The Church established the Solemnity of Body of Christ (Corpus Christi) in 1274.  Many of the faithful have practiced a period of 9 days of prayer before his feast day as a preparation and deepening of devotion to Jesus, and the instrument of our salvation – his flesh. given to him by Mary.

Today is the first day of this Novena to Corpus Christi for 2023.