The Feast of Corpus Christi, or the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ as it is often called today, goes back to the 13th century, but it celebrates something far older: the institution of the Sacrament of Holy Communion at the Last Supper. While Holy Thursday is also a celebration of this mystery, the solemn nature of Holy Week, and the focus on Christ's Passion on Good Friday, overshadows that aspect of Holy Thursday. Traditionally celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, in the United States this feast has been transferred to the following Sunday.

The following selection of songs from GIA and WLP serve as a background for reflection and meditation, or can be used to celebrate the Sacrement of Holy Communion.


Song List:

• Round The Table
  
• O Taste and See
  
• To Be Your Bread
  
• Jesus, Wine Of Peace
  
• Come And Eat This Living Bread
  
• Song Of The Body Of Christ
  
• Come To The Feast
  
• Take And Eat This Bread
  
• Taste And See - Psalm 34
  
• We Will Drink the Cup
  
• Look Beyond
  
• Communion Rite - Take, O Take Me As I Am
  
• Communion Rite - Joyous Cup
  
• Eat This Bread
  
• Come To The Feast
  
• Taste And See
  
• Song Of The Body Of Christ
  
• The Cup Of Salvation
  
• The Hand Of God
  
• With This Bread
  
• For Living, For Dying
  
• Share Your Bread With The Hungry
  
• Come And Dine
  
• Come To The Feast Divine
  
• Jesus, Bread Of Life
  
• For The Life Of The World
  
• Come, Taste And See
  
• A Place At The Table
  
• Take And Eat This Bread
  
• Come And Eat This Living Bread
  
• Come To The Table
  
• Father, We Thank Thee
  
• This Is The Body Of Christ
  
• Build Us A Table
  
• Concertato On "I Am The Bread Of Life

A sample of homilies delivered by Fr. Robert Barron in The Word on Fire series to celebrate this Feast day are available via the following links:

• Corpus Christi
• The Liturgy: A play of Priest, Congregation, and Ritual
• Food for Eternal Life
• The Liturgy as a Display of God's Justice

A representative sampling of the Schola Cantorum’s repertoire. A number of propers and hymns of the Advent and Christmas seasons are included here as well as some Requiem selections used on All Souls Day.

Song List:

• Christus Vincit
• Populus Sion- Introit For Advent Ll
• Conditor Alme Siderum- Vesper Hymn For Advent
• Rorate Caeli- Introit For Advent Lv
• Ave Maris Stella- Vesper Hymn For The Common Of The Blessed Virgin Mary
• Puer Natus Est Nobis- Introit For Christmas Mass During The Day
• Jesu, Redemptor Omnium- Vesper Hymn For Christmas
• Ave Maria
• Ecce Advenit- Introit For Epiphany
• Requiem Aeternam- Introit From The Mass Of The Dead
• Kyrie Eleison
• Dies Iraes- Sequence From The Mass For The Dead
• Sanctus
• Pater Noster
• Agnus Dei
• Lux Aeterna- Communion From The Mass For The Dead
• In Paradisum

The earliest certain observance of a feast in honor of all the saints is an early fourth-century commemoration of "all the martyrs." In the early seventh century, after successive waves of invaders plundered the catacombs, Pope Boniface IV gathered up some 28 wagonloads of bones and reinterred them beneath the Pantheon, a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods. The pope rededicated the shrine as a Christian church. According to Venerable Bede, the pope intended "that the memory of all the saints might in the future be honored in the place which had formerly been dedicated to the worship not of gods but of demons" (On the Calculation of Time).

But the rededication of the Pantheon, like the earlier commemoration of all the martyrs, occurred in May. Many Eastern Churches still honor all the saints in the spring, either during the Easter season or immediately after Pentecost.

How the Western Church came to celebrate this feast in November is a puzzle to historians. The Anglo-Saxon theologian Alcuin observed the feast on November 1 in 800, as did his friend Arno, Bishop of Salzburg. Rome finally adopted that date in the ninth century.

An excerpt from "Loyola Kids Book of Saints" about St. Ignatius of Loyola.  The book of saints for children tells how saints become saints and help us even today. Includes more than sixty saint stories for children.

The lives of saints for children . . .

Who are the saints, why are they important, and what can children learn from the saints? In Loyola Kids Book of Saints,
the first in the Loyola Kids series, author Amy Welborn answers these questions with exciting and inspiring stories, real-life applications,and important information about these heroes of the church. This delightful collection of saints for children, written in a storybook style for ages eight to twelve, explains how saints become saints, why we honor them, and how they help us even today.

Divided thematically, the book features more than sixty saints for children from all over the world and from all across time, including our newest saints, such as Katharine Drexel; popular saints, such as St. Anthony of Padua; and Blesseds, such as Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. Each story tells about a saint and encourages children to think about how they might use what they learn from the story in their everyday lives.