The Feast of Corpus Christi, also known as the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, celebrates the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The idea of a feast focused solely on the Holy Eucharist, was proposed by Thomas Aquinas, who put this idea forward to the then Pope Urban IV.

The feast is liturgically celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday or the following Sunday. At the end of the Eucharist, there is often a procession of the Blessed Sacrament, generally displayed in a monstrance, surrounded by a Corpus Christi wreath of flowers, followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Corpus Christi wreaths are also hung on the doors and windows of the Christian faithful, in addition to being erected in gardens and fields.

Here in Spain, Corpus Christi is big. Some towns will have a festival of events for several days leading up to the Thursday with a solemn and magnificent procession bearing the consecrated host through the streets. This is especially the case here in Andalucia, where the most famous celebration is in Granada province, where Corpus Christi has become fused with the annual “féria”.

The celebration of the feast was suppressed in Protestant churches during the Reformation, as they no longer recognised the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but rather saw the Eucharist as a memorial or re-enactment of the last supper. In the Church of England, Corpus Christi was abolished in 1548, but later reintroduced as a feast of Thanksgiving for Holy Communion.