The Feast of Corpus Christi

Welcome, young history buffs and curious minds, to My Daily Saint, the podcast that digs deep into the incredible lives of the saints, those remarkable people who shaped history and continue to inspire us today. Forget dusty old portraits and boring stories. Today, imagine that you are kneeling alone in a silent stone chapel in the year 1206. It's quiet, dimly lit, and you are deep in prayer during Eucharistic adoration. Suddenly, your surroundings fade away, and a vision appears right before your eyes. You see a massive, glowing, resplendent full moon hovering in the air.

It is beautiful and bright, but there is one chilling flaw, a stark, dark beam crossing directly over its shining face. You are terrified, you are amazed, and then you hear the voice of Jesus explaining exactly what this mystery means.

Today, we are looking at the incredible life of a teenager who literally changed the global calendar of the Catholic Church. Her name is Saint Juliana. Now, back to that crazy vision. When Jesus spoke to the 16-year-old Juliana, who was a religious sister at the monastery of Montcornillon, he told her that the brilliant moon represented the church, and that the dark beam was a specific lack or missing piece within it. Jesus told her that he desired a brand new feast day, a day where the Holy Eucharist would be specifically and deeply honored, and he tasked her with praying for it.

If you were told by God at age 16 to help start a worldwide feast day, you'd probably start telling people about it, right? But Juliana waited, and waited. In fact, it wasn't until the year 1230, when she had become the prioress of her monastery, that she finally felt it was the right time to take action. That means she held on to this immense secret, and Prayed about it for 24 years.

When she finally acted, she didn't do it alone. Juliana shared her incredible vision with two of her closest friends, a hermit named Eva and another sister named Isabella. Together, these three women united their prayers to ensure God's will would be carried out. Eventually, they reached out to a man named John of Lausanne, a canon of the Church of St. Martin in Liège. And from there, word spread to other priests and theologians. But it wasn't easy. While some leaders agreed that a new feast was a great idea, others openly ridiculed and made fun of Juliana.

Finally, in 1246, a diocesan synod made it official, and the feast was established locally in the Diocese of Liege. But God had much bigger plans. One of Juliana's biggest supporters from the very beginning was an archdeacon named Jacques Pontellion. Years after Juliana passed away, this very same man was elected to the papacy as Pope Urban IV. He never forgot his father, and he never forgot his father. He never forgot his father. He never forgot his brave friend Juliana. In 1264, six years after her death, Pope Urban IV officially established the Feast of Corpus Christi for the entire world to celebrate on the Thursday after Pentecost, now most often celebrated on that Sunday.

To make the celebration even more beautiful, the Pope commissioned the legendary St. Thomas Aquinas to write special hymns honoring the Blessed Sacrament. Now, the feast did face some bumps. Pope Urban IV passed away just a year after announcing it, and the popes that followed him sort of let the feast slip through the cracks. But in 1314, Pope Clement V put out a new official document, and the feast became universally celebrated. Today, Corpus Christi is traditionally celebrated with incredible Eucharistic processions and adoration.

In the U.S. today, only one-third of Catholics actually believe that the Eucharist is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. This makes St. Juliana's special feast more important today than ever before. So, what can you do about it? This week, find one or two good friends who share your faith. Ask them to be your prayer partners. No matter what your struggle or task, Unite your prayers with your friends just like Juliana did. And next time you are at Mass or Eucharistic adoration, say a prayer to the 16-year-old girl who helped bring that beautiful celebration to the entire world. Thank you for joining us on My Daily Saint. We look forward to sharing another incredible story of faith and courage with you tomorrow.