CORPUS CHRISTI

little shocking, perhaps?

This little story may shock you,  if like me, you made your first Holy Communion in those days of altar rails when the sanctuary was really out of bounds, the sacred place where the God of eternity resided in human time. So, we knelt, girls and boys on bony knees (short trousers were  part of an economic  norm  rather than the fashion) on cold marble, hands joined piously under a starched white altar cloth which we tucked under our chins,  while we seemed to wait forever for the priest to come to us. We knew the translation of Domine non sum dignus (Lord, I am not worthy) and had time to repeat it over and over again. Fasting from the previous night,  this Bread from Heaven was the first nourishment of the day. “Corpus Christi” had a magical ring to it as had our response in the Amen. (We learnt at school, that that meant, “so be it”). The children were the first to receive and so we had what seemed like an eternity to say our prayers of thanksgiving – our first introduction to meditation.

Molly’s home-made bread.

Oh yes!, the story. I digressed.  Well, fast forward into the seventies.  Everything is changed. No altar rails;  Eucharistic ministers;  A fast of one hour; no more short trousers;  everything in English;  Opportunities to experiment;  So, on a retreat the priest decided to create  a scene as close to the last supper as possible, even to choosing an upper room.  Making the communion bread was the challenge,  and this is where Molly came in. She was an expert home baker and people came as much for her home-made bread as they did for the lovely ambience of the retreat house.  So,  she got the recipe for the special unleavened  bread and it was used during the Mass. It came to communion time and seated next to Molly I received the Lord.  No sooner had I received and begun my prayer of thanks when  Molly turned to me (I was just a year off ordination) and said: “Michael, was that bread a bit hard”?

Texture, Substance and Meaning.

For Molly as baker,  her first concern was that she had baked the bread properly. For me, it was making a new act of faith. Yes, it tastes differently from the usual communion bread. No, doubt it has Molly’s touch. Yet it had received a new meaning in the words of consecration. The substance or heart of it was changed.  It was indeed the Body of Christ. Today, Corpus Christi, take time to make as your pre-communion mantra: Domine non sum dignus: Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say  the word and I shall be healed.

Fr. Michael McCullagh, C.M..

25th June 2006