A Trio of Processions in the West Midlands

There were many processions around the West Midlands at the weekend, celebrating the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ (“Corpus et Sanguinis Christi”).

Amongst these were those at Birmingham Oratory in Latin on Thursday following the Traditional Rite, in Walsall in Polish, and at Oscott Seminary (in English).

Birmingham Oratory

At the Oratory, people processed round the Church partly due to the fact that it was late evening when this took place following the Solemn High Mass .

Polish Procession

On Sunday, in Walsall, the Polish Community processed into the street outside St Thomas of Canterbury Church before returning to the  Church to sing Ciebie Boga Wysławiamy (Te Deum Laudamus). 

Celebrant Father Maraszkiewicz, commented that especially with the way the choir led the singing, he felt he was in another world, "At times it seemed that I was back in Poland." (See also this story in Polish at Opoka and a Polish Tweet from Episkopat.pl)

St Mary's Seminary, Oscott

At St Mary’s College, Oscott, the procession went around the grounds, pausing half way at the specially prepared altar on which the monstrance was placed, and around this everyone knelt as the  Litany of the Most Blessed Sacrament was prayed.  People were present from as far away as Wales and Gibraltar.