When does Corpus Christi take place in 2021 and why do Catholics celebrate Corpus Christi but not Protestants?
Here you can find out all the background information about the festival.
Munich - Corpus Christi is a solemn festival in the Catholic church year, which is celebrated on the 60th day after Easter Sunday.
In relation to Pentecost, the festival takes place on the second Thursday after.
Corpus Christi falls on June 3rd this year.
The “feast of the most holy body and blood of Christ” is celebrated.
Corpus Christi is not a non-working holiday in all federal states
Corpus Christi is not a public holiday in all federal states.
The residents of the following federal states can look forward to a day off:
Baden-Wuerttemberg
Bavaria
Hesse
North Rhine-Westphalia
Rhineland-Palatinate
Saarland
The following federal states are special cases, in which Corpus Christi is only a public holiday in a few regions with a predominantly Catholic population.
These include the following:
Saxony, where there is a celebration in regions with Sorbian communities
Thuringia with the entire district of Eichsfeld, the Eichsfeld localities of the Unstrut-Hainich district and parts of the Wartburg district
In the rest of Germany, Corpus Christi is a regular working day.
That is why Protestants do not celebrate Corpus Christi
The name Corpus Christi is derived from the Middle High German words "vron" and "lichnam" and means something like "body of the Lord". By Lord is meant in this case Jesus Christ. Because the meaning of Corpus Christi is closely related to Maundy Thursday, on which Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples. With the words "This is my body .... this is my blood" he shared bread and wine with them.
In the Catholic doctrine of the faith, Jesus is physically present after the Eucharist in the form of bread and wine.
On Corpus Christi, the believers celebrate that Jesus is actually with them.
This also explains why Protestants do not celebrate Corpus Christi.
For them Jesus is indeed present in bread and wine during the Lord's Supper.
But after the celebration is over, bread and wine are just what they were before: bread and wine.
Corpus Christi took place for the first time in 1247
Corpus Christi has been celebrated since the Middle Ages.
The festival goes back to St. Juliane von Liège, who saw the moon darkened in one place in 1209.
Christ is said to have explained to her that the moon signifies the church year, the dark spot the lack of a feast of the sacrament of the altar.
The Bishop of Liège filled this gap for the first time with a festival in 1247.
Pope Urban IV introduced it to the whole Church in 1264.
Corpus Christi is a popular festival
A visible expression of Corpus Christi are the magnificent processions that lead through the cities and communities.
Many associations such as music clubs or the volunteer fire brigade also take part.
The first move to Bavaria was in Benediktbeuern in 1273.
The priest stands in the center of the procession, which begins after a service.
He wears a consecrated wafer in a monstrance, which makes the presence of Jesus visible to the believers through the festively decorated streets.
It is often protected by a canopy supported by four girders.
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At the center of a Corpus Christi procession is the monstrance carried by a priest with a consecrated host
© ULMER Pressebildagentur / imago-images.de
During the procession there are stops at various stations.
Then the Gospels are read, intercessions are made and the priest gives the blessing.
Special Corpus Christi processions attract visitors
In some communities special Corpus Christi processions can be admired, which attract many visitors.
Lake processions take place in the Upper Austrian towns of Hallstadt and Traunkirchen and in Seehausen on the Staffelsee in Bavaria.
At the Staffelsee, the priest and the faithful travel in dozen of boats from the shore to the island of Wörth, on which there is a chapel.
In Mühlheim, the so-called Mühlheimer god costume leads to the Rhine.