Corpus Christi at Maple durham

CATHOLICS in Berkshire are expected to celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ next Thursday at a house that has been in the possession of a single Catholic family since 1490, with a Mass and Procession of the Blessed Sacrament, writes Andrew M Brown.
Catholic schoolchildren and parishioners from the Reading and South Oxfordshire deaneries are invited to outdoor worship in the grounds of Mapledurham, on the north bank of the Thames west of Reading.
Mapledurham is the home of the Blount family. Mass begins at 12 noon and all are welcome to join the congregation.
Corpus Christi, a commemoration and thanksgiving for the Eucharist, was instituted in the 13th century and became universal in the West in the 14th century. The traditional Corpus Christi procession involves a Mass followed by procession of the Host in a monstrance.
The name of the feast In the modern Roman rite, Corpus et Sanguis, emphasises that the Eucharist is the unity of both the Body and Blood of Christ.
To this end, the feast of the Precious Blood was suppressed after the Second Vatican Council.
IIIFor further information on Corpus Christi in South Oxfordshire, telephone 0118 972 3350.