The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ

The Solemnity of the
Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ
Feast of Corpus Christi

Adoro te devote
 A Eucharistic hymn by Saint Thomas Aquinas

 

I devoutly adore you, O hidden Deity,

Truly hidden beneath these appearances.

My whole heart submits to you,And in contemplating you,It surrenders itself completely.

Sight, touch, taste are all deceived

In their judgment of you,

But hearing suffices firmly to believe.

I believe all that the
Son of God has spoken;

There is nothing truer
than this word of truth.

On the cross only the divinity was hidden,

But here the humanity is also hidden.

I believe and confess both,

And ask for what the
repentant thief asked.

I do not see the wounds as Thomas did,

But I confess that you are my God.

Make me believe more and more in you,

Hope in you, and love you.

O memorial of our Lord's death!

Living bread that gives life to man,

Grant my soul to live on you,

And always to savor your sweetness.

Lord Jesus, Good Pelican*,

wash me clean with your blood,

One drop of which can free

the entire world of all its sins.

Jesus, whom now I see hidden,

I ask you to fulfill what I so desire:

That the sight of your face being unveiled

I may have the happiness

 of seeing your glory. Amen

*The symbolism of the mother pelican feeding her little baby pelican is rooted in an ancient legend which preceded Christianity. The legend was that in time of famine, the mother pelican wounded herself, striking her breast with the beak to feed her young with her blood to prevent starvation.

In the prayer written by Saint Thomas Aquinas, the pelican symbolizes Jesus our Redeemer who gave His life for our redemption and the atonement He made through His passion and death. We were dead to sin and have found new life through the Blood of Christ.  Jesus continues to feed us with His body and blood in the holy Eucharist.

For devotional items related to the Catholic Church, please visit Lynn's Timeless Treasures.