Resources for Corpus Christi

Jean Bourdichon, Angels Holding the Host for Adoration
From Heures de Frédéric d'Aragon
French (Tours), c. 1501-1504
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 10532, fol. 302

"Jesus said to the Jewish crowds:
"I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh for the life of the world."

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus said to them,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever."

John 6:51-58 

(Gospel for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ)

The feast of Corpus Christi or Corpus Domini or The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is a special feast day of the Church.  It occurs on either the Thursday after Trinity Sunday (in many countries) or on the Sunday after Trinity Sunday (in the United States).  It focuses our attention on the mystery of the Eucharist, in which the bread and wine that we offer are transformed into the true Body and Blood of Christ.


It was officially established for the universal Church in 1264 by Pope Urban IV, who asked St. Thomas Aquinas to compose the liturgical prayers for the feast.  Thomas responded with some of the most beautiful prayers and hymns in the history of the Church.  Artists also developed a complex and fascinating repertoire of images which celebrate the same mystery.  In past essays I have described many of the ways in which artists have responded.  Here is a series of links which you can use to access this material.

Lists of Posts Related to the Feast of Corpus Christi

"The Miracle of the Mule – A Corpus Christi Reflection"

“The Living Bread That Came Down From Heaven”

"Of the Blood, All Price Exceeding, Shed by Our Immortal King"

The Last Supper vs. the Institution of the Eucharist

Corpus Christi in the Vatican Stanze

Posts Reviewing the 2013 Exhibition Illuminating Faith: The Eucharist in Medieval Life and Art at the Morgan Library, New York

Illuminating Eucharistic Faith at the Morgan Library

The Sacrifice of the Mass at the Morgan

The Eucharist and the Old Testament at the Morgan Library

Domestic Devotion to the Eucharist at the Morgan Library

The Feast of Corpus Christi at the Morgan Library

Eucharistic Miracles and Final Ends at the Morgan Library

Posts Examining the Related Iconography of the Manna in the Desert, an Old Testament Prefiguration of the Eucharist, and the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish, a New Testament Prefiguration

Prefiguring Salvation –Manna in the Desert and the Bread from Heaven, Part I

Prefiguring Salvation -- Manna in the Desert and the Bread from Heaven, Part II

Prefiguring Salvation -- Manna in the Desert and the Bread from Heaven, Part III

Illustrating Miracles – Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish

© M. Duffy, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025

Links for the Iconography of the Holy Trinity

Master of the Trinity, The Holy Trinity
From the Petites Heures of Jean de Berry
French (Bourges), c. 1385-1390
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 18014, fol. 137v

In this image the Trinity is shown as two identical figures representing the Father and 

the Son and a dove representing the Holy Spirit.  This is only one of many attempts 

by artists to give visual form to the mystery of the Holy Trinity.

Every year the Sunday after Pentecost is devoted to the contemplation of the Holy Trinity, a distinctly Christian belief.  

Christians believe in and worship One God.  But they believe that this One God is composed of Three "Persons", called the Holy Trinity in human language.1  What Christians do NOT believe in is three gods.  Rather, in some way that we humans cannot understand, God is a community of love whose essence is being.  

Trinitarian belief is unique among the monotheistic religions, not appearing in either Judaism or Islam, although it is hinted at in the Old Testament.  There are God's words at the creation of humans (Genesis 1:26-27) and in the three visitors who come to Abraham's tent in Mamre, who are treated variously as three and as one and that one is "the Lord" (Genesis 18).  It is also part of Christianity from the very beginning.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Within twenty to twenty-five years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, Saint Paul wrote in his Second Letter to the Corinthians: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you." (2 Corinthians 13:13)  This letter is generally dated to the year 57.2  So, this is not a belief that appeared after a couple of hundred years, but one that was already there during the lifetime of the Apostles (remember that Peter is believed to have been executed in the year 64).  These people who knew Jesus of Nazareth, who had traveled with him, who had eaten with him, who had seen him put to death and had seen him rise again to walk and eat with them had come to the understanding that he was not only from God, but actually was a manifestation of God.  These men and women who had seen him ascend to heaven and had hidden away in prayer in the days after that event had experienced something on the tenth day that had caused them to cast caution aside and to boldly proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth was the son of God, was God and that they had received a divine spirit, a Holy Spirit, that sent them forth to preach this to everyone.  By 57 they had come to understand that all these experiences were experiences of the one God, but that these experiences were indicative of different tones within the harmony that is God. 

These Apostles and disciples, Jesus’ companions during His life, were Jewish, as was Paul, and, therefore, presumably strong believers in only one God.  This early appearance of belief in God as three tones, three "Persons", implies a very profound shift in their thinking. One can only presume that this shift came from the revelation they experienced from the Resurrection, the Ascension and the Descent of the Holy Spirit.  

Understanding this exceptional revelation of the nature of God is one that has taxed the minds of Christians, including great poets and great theologians, as well as ordinary believers, for the past 2,000 years.  It remains mysterious.  

It has also taxed those who work in the visual arts.  How can one depict a God who is one but also three?  How does one visualize something that seems impossible to express in language?  There have been various themes that artists have developed over the centuries and I have reviewed several of them in the past decade.  So, I offer these links to you as an exploration of the attempt by Christian artists to express this great mystery of the faith.

This essay is the most general of the group.

Iconography of the Holy Trinity – Imagining The Unimaginable   

The other essays look at specific forms which the artistic imagination has developed to present aspects of the life of the Holy Trinity.

Iconography of the Holy Trinity -- The Throne of Grace

Iconography of the Holy Trinity -- The Pietà of the Father, Divine Love Made Visible

This essay deals with the visual representation of the Holy Spirit as a dove.

A Dove Descending

If you wish to delve deeper into this fascinating subject you might want to check out the following You Tube segments:

A recent video on of theological reflections on the Trinity by Bishop Robert Barron

And a recording of the legendary preacher, the Venerable Bishop Fulton Sheen.

1.  I have put the word Persons in quotes to signify that this is only a feeble description of the reality of God.  However, our human speech does not really have an appropriate word for this reality and the word "person" (in whatever language you speak) is the best we can do.

2. For the date see https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2corinthians/0

© M. Duffy, 2025

Links for Pentecost

Pentecost
From a Bible historiale by Guiard des Moulilns
French (Saint-Omer), 14th Century
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 152, fol. 451r

Over the last several years I have presented various essays on different aspects of the event and feast of Pentecost.  This day on which the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles following the Ascension of Jesus has frequently been called the birthday of the Church.  That is for good reason.

While the Apostles may have recovered their belief in Jesus and realized his divinity and power during the period from the Resurrection to the Ascension of Jesus they were still incompletely formed for their mission.  However, since Jesus had promised to send them the Spirit they were hopeful.  Retreating in a body to a single place to pray, they spent nine days praying together.  What they prayed for and what they expected we don't know, but we do know what they received and it is mysterious.  

"When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together.

And suddenly there came from the sky
a noise like a strong driving wind,
and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim."

(Acts 2:1-4)   First Reading for Pentecost Sunday, Masses During the Day

When the moment had passed, the Apostles were changed forever.  No longer timid and afraid, they were now "filled with the Holy Spirit" and able to communicate with others in languages they had not known before.  They were "enabled to proclaim"   (Acts 2:4).  

And proclaim they did, beginning that very day.

For "there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem.

At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd,
but they were confused
because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
They were astounded, and in amazement they asked,
"Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?
Then how does each of us hear them in his native language?
We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites,
inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene,
as well as travelers from Rome,
both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs,
yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues
of the mighty acts of God."  

(Acts 2:4-11)  First Reading  for Pentecost Sunday, Masses During the Day

The ways in which artists have reflected these passages have been varied over the centuries.  Over these last years I have prepared essays that demonstrate the various approaches to this mysterious event in the life of the Church.  Click on the links below to be directed to each.

At This Sound, They Gathered In a Crowd

A Dove Descending

Tongues of Fire

Mary, Mother of the Church

So, Happy Birthday to all those who make up the current, terrestrial Church and also to those of the Church in Purgatory and of the Church in Celestial Bliss!

© M. Duffy, 2024

Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.