Pope: blood donors offer indispensable solidarity
The Pope’s remarks came after the Angelus prayer with the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square.
Speaking ahead of the traditional prayer of Marian devotion, the Holy Father recalled the great Eucharistic feast day marked in many places around the world on Sunday: the Solemnity of the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ – the feast of Corpus Domini or Corpus Christi. The Pope discussed the importance of the Corpus Christi feast as a great public act of Eucharistic worship – evidenced especially in the many Eucharistic processions held in parishes and dioceses around the world. He also noted the emphasis the feast places on Eucharistic adoration as a central and integral part of the life of individual Christians, of faith communities and of the whole Church.
The Pope returned to discuss the importance of Corpus Christi in his words to the English-speaking pilgrims gathered in the Square: I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims present for this Angelus prayer. Today’s Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ celebrates the Lord’s saving presence in the Most Holy Eucharist. At the Last Supper, on the night before his death on the Cross, Jesus instituted the Eucharist as the sacrament of the new and eternal covenant between God and man. May this sacrifice of forgiveness and reconciliation strengthen the Church in faith, unity and holiness. Upon all of you I invoke the Lord’s blessings of joy and peace!
