Corpus Christi Procession

An annual outdoor procession of the consecrated Host carried in a monstrance through the streets of a town or city on the feast of Corpus Christi (Thursday after Trinity Sunday), accompanied by a canopy, candles, flower-strewn paths, and the singing of Eucharistic hymns such as Pange Lingua. The procession became universal in Catholic Europe during the 14th century, gave rise to the monstrance as a specialized liturgical vessel, and spread to the Americas and Asia with Catholic missions. It remains a major public Catholic observance in Poland, Spain, Latin America, and parts of Africa.