Boże Ciało (Corpus Christi) - a beautiful celebration in Catholic Poland

As its name implies (Corpus Christi is Latin for 'God's body'), this feast is celebrated in honour of the Holy Eucharist or Blessed Sacrament, the Body and Blood of Christ. The Sunday after Pentecost is Trinity Sunday, and Boże Ciało is observed on the following Thursday. To this day it remains a public holiday in Poland and other Catholic countries. Despite their atheist<ayiton cmapaing which scrubbed other Catholic countries. Poland's former communist rulers (1945-1989) were afraid to ban Corpus Christi.

In addition to central celebrations in Warsaw's Old Town, every parish holds its own its neighbourhood procession. Little girls strewing the way the Blessed Sacrament is due to pass with flower petals They are followed by altar boys jangling bells and perfuming the air with incense. The priest is flanked by two parish volunteers who help hold up his elbows beneath the heavy monstrance containing the Holy Eucharist. Four other men, often firemen in parade uniforms, carry a decorative over the threesome. Worshipers watching the procession from the sidelines genuflect and make the Sign of the Cross when the Blessed Sacrament passes. Townsfolk living along the procession route traditionally decorate their windows and balconies with holy pictures and flowers.

Yes, and try to tell in public something like "This day is bs". You'll see then how Polish Catholics are peaceful. :p For me it's nothing more than Procession of the Pharisees.

It's a free country so say what you like. You are apparently among those who feel the true heart of Poland beats in its pubs and brothels. So be it.

What is "the heart of Poland" in your eyes, Polonius?

Germans call it the same thing, "Fronleichnam":-)

Exactly. So why have you written next such offensive things? As Christians MUST be full of respect towards others, it just proved what I written about the Pharisees.


to speak evil of no one, not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing all humility toward all men.

Tt 3:2

And most popular: Do not judge, as you will be judged.

Who is a Christian who do not follow his mentors rules? Jesus "declared war" to such Pharisees once - so I simply prefer to even spend whole life in pubs and brothels, than on pretending to be Christian, who practically has nothing in common with his own "god".

But here I will stop talking about religion. I proved what I wanted to prove - Christian aggression toward non-Christians.

" But here I will stop talking about religion "

yes some people seem to think that spirituality and morality can only come from swaggering around to the perfume of incense with an old man wearing a dress.

Morality is embedded deep in our DNA and is an effect of evolution of humans. An outcome of our self-awarness adopted by religions to uplift their significance. Even animals act according to it.

My posts of the last 8 years answer your query.

"Gone searching through 8 years of posting of some random forum user".

<<VELES"This day is bs".>>
And this is not offensive? It offends one of the most pround areas of human existence -- man's relationship to God.
The Christophobes claim religon-bashing is their right tro freeedom of speech until someone starts criticising one of their pet minorities or taboos.

Merged: JP2's top aide counting on Poland's president Duda

Speaking at a Corpus Christi celebration in Kraków, Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, the late Polish Pontiff's closest aide, expressed the hope that things would improve under Duda. "Poland calls out for people of conscience in politics and social aiffairs. I am counting on the hopes placed in Andrzej Duda and that from August things in Poland will be better."

Dziwisz also condemned EU's anti-domestic violence convention which does nothing to prevent such violence but blames it on the family, religion and tradition. The convention convenientyl fails to point out that percentagewise the most domestic violence occurs in unmarried and same-sex households.

Merged:

Thusrday, 15th June is Boże Ciało (Corpus Christi)

Thursday, 15th June, is Corpus Christi, a public holiday in Cahtolic Poland whether PiSlamic likes it or not. There is a big central procession in Warsaw and other cities, but each and every parish also holds its own neighbourhood one. The procession goes right by our home so we decorate our windows with a cross and flowers as wlel as a Polish and Church flag. I should add this is a work-free national holiday, and some may be surprised to learn that it also was during the commie era. The regime did liquidate a few relgious holidays (Epiphany and Assumption -- since reactivated) and renamed All Saints Day the Day of the Dead but stopped short of abolishing Corpus Chrisit as a national holiday. Once widely practiced in America's Polonian neighbourhoods, eventually it fell by the wayside under the pressure to WASP-ify. During the 1970s ethnic renaissance, it was reusrrected in some places. In Detroit, my good friend, the late Michał Królewski, and his youth group, the Polish-American Folk Theater, arranged to have hte procession go down the middle of the street in a traditonal Polish neighbourhood with little girls strewing the way of the Blessed Sacrament with flower petals and paticipants singing Eucharistic hymns.

Any idea why the Communists kept it as a holiday, Polly?

I don't know - maybe because processions on that day to bless the houses and fields were ingrained in Polish culture

Could be, I can understand keeping All Saints because people would have just treated it as a holiday anyway, but this one is a bit stranger.

I suppose the PZPR knew fine well that allowing some limited Church activity was also a good way of keeping people passive.

Why would you say that though, unless you purposely wish to provoke people? You are entitled to your views and don't have to take part.

I think 'dancing with the stars' among many other shows on TV, is BS, so I never watch. If others wish to then it's up to them.

I think it was more that trying to disallow Church activity would have been a way to make them very active and that trying to cancel a free day (or communize it) would have created more opposition than it was worth. Remember that the official line of communism in this part of the world was that religion would whither away and the communist government shouldn't try to reverse that but the government shouldn't try to hasten the process along either.. of course no government actually followed that policy, but that was policy.

I think it's interesting how the 'same' holidays play out in different countries this year I was in Malta for easter and the TV had a short news item on the Polish community there bringng świeconki to church on Saturday (the Maltese don't do that). On the other hand, I was at a good Friday service that was genuinely moving (despite me being non-religious and not understanding the service which was in Maltese).

Probably there were at least a few thinking people amongst the ham-handed leadership who convinced their bosses that a token gesture would generate some goodwill. Obviously, with Moscow's approval. In fact, in the first post-war processions (1945-48), Soviet agent (nominal president) Bierut was in the front row of worshippers. Despite their own propaganda, the regime knew they were hated as stooges of a foreign occupation power and saw this is a way of humanising their image. After hard-line Stalinism took hold (1949-53), the regimists stopped attending but its public-holiday status remained. But on into the Gierek years, rival activities (fests, picnics, runs, sporting events) were held on that day and state televison ran once hugley popular serials such as "Bonanza" and "Dr Kkildafre" in a bid to decrease procession attendance.

Edited

The Corpus Christi which is always on Thursday brings about the so called long weekend in Poland - today it is a bank holiday and tomorrow a lot of people take a day off too. I don`t need to - schools break up for two days.

In another thread I posted 4 photos of floral carpets used to pave the way for the procession
https://polishforums.com/travel/poland-completely-random-views-64568/3/#msg1796095

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These are work of arts.I always admired them.
My mum told me that for the first time there wasn't any decorations on my street. Even though I'm no church supporter I do feel sad that with falling believers numbers those things will disappear too.

Don't feel sad Lenka, it is just prophesy being fulfilled.
The Bible tells us in the last days that this will happen.


It all started when they took Jesus out of our schools and it has only gotten worse.
A little ten year old girl was just expelled from school because she wore a "Jesus loves me" shirt.
Satan is alive in this world capturing as many souls as he can before the return.

Of course not. They will keep it for tourists.