Innocent Reflections (16/2021) - Corpus Christi Carol
Dear Friends,
One of my all-time favourite albums is Grace by Jeff Buckley, who I realised when researching this post - in a cautionary tale for me - died in a wild swimming accident on the Mississippi River. Through it I discovered Benjamin Britten's haunting melody for the ancient Corpus Christi Carol - you can listen to Jeff Buckley singing it here.
Corpus Christi is traditionally celebrated today, the first available Thursday after the institution of Holy Communion at the last supper on Maundy Thursday. Maundy Thursday is probably my favourite of the services of the Triduum, but it is not a day of joy. As we remember in the Eucharistic prayer each day, it was the night when Jesus was betrayed. The liturgy follows Jesus from the washing of the disciples feet, to the blessing of the bread and the wine to the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. The formidable Juliana of Liege - a 13th century Norbertine Canoness with great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament - almost singlehandedly persuaded the whole church to adopt a new celebration of Holy Communion which could be marked with much more joy, and so Corpus Christi was held on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday (it could not be held during Easter Time, or the old octave of Pentecost). In more recent times the feast is often (as in our church) transferred to Sunday to ensure more people are there to celebrate. Perhaps next year we might consider going back to the Thursday ...
The Corpus Christi carol was first written down by an apprentice grocer in 1504 (you can find the text and a modern English gloss below) but its origins remain obscure, as does its meaning. Seemingly a fairy story about a falcon taking the beloved of the singer to an orchard it has been associated with the legend of the Fisher King, the Holy Grail from the King Arthur stories, and interpreted as an allegory of Christ. The debate between scholars continue as does the mystery, which in some ways makes it appropriate as a carol for a feast celebrating Holy Communion, which Christendom continues to debate the true meaning of, and retains its mystery even for those of us who believe the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ.
The plaintive cry - lully, lullay - is at once both a lullaby for a child and a cry for a lost love. In our church we cannot but remember the Coventry Carol which mourns the murder of the Holy Innocents by King Herod. Just as the story of Holy Communion begins in suffering - on the night when he was betrayed he took bread - so does the carol. We are transported to a purple hall with a bed on which a knight lies bleeding- the knight is either Christ himself, or the legendary guardian of the Holy Grail. The constant bleeding of the knight reminds us of the oddness of what we do at Holy Communion - eat and drink Christ's body and blood. The suffering of his death is tangible in the bread and the wine.
And so the question of Corpus Christi is how do we move from the suffering to the joy? How can we get beyond the betrayal and the bloody death of Jesus? And more broadly how do we get beyond the suffering of life in general: the knight continues to bleed and the maid to weep; we all yearn for lost loves, are wounded by the course of life and come to weep both night and day. In this time of sickness and estrangement we perhaps feel the pain more keenly, but it was always there. "The dripping blood our only drink/ The bloody flesh our only food" as TS Eliot has it.
Christ's answer is not to run from or ignore the suffering but to embrace it - stay with me, he says to the disciples in the garden. His command to eat his body and his blood at the last supper is a constant reminder to Christians to be alongside those who suffer and weep and mourn, to feel the sadness and the pain of the world, and to know that when we cry out Jesus is with us in his body and blood. And the mystery is that the beauty of the love which is offered is in itself redemption and joy
So let us give thanks for Christ's presence among us, and the gift of his body and blood, by showing love and solidarity to our neighbours.
With love and prayers,
Fr Ben
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He bare hym vp, he bare hym down,
He bare hym in to an orchard brown.
Lully, lulley, lully, lulley!
Þe fawcon hath born my mak away.
In þat orchard þer was an hall,
Þat was hangid with purpill & pall;
Lully, lulley, lully, lulley!
Þe fawcon hath born my mak away.
And in þat hall þer was a bede,
Hit was hangid with gold so rede;
Lully, lulley, lully, lulley!
Þe fawcon hath born my mak away.
And yn þat bed þer lythe a knyght,
His wowndis bledyng day & nyght;
Lully, lulley, lully, lulley!
Þe fawcon hath born my mak away.
By þat bedis side þer kneleth a may,
& she wepeth both nyght & day;
Lully, lulley, lully, lulley!
Þe fawcon hath born my mak away.
& by þat beddis side þer stondith a ston,
“Corpus Christi” wretyn þer-on.
Lully, lulley, lully, lulley!
Þe fawcon hath born my mak away.[12]
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He bore him up, he bore him down,
He bore him into an orchard brown.
Lully, lullay, lully, lullay!
The falcon has borne my mate away.
In that orchard there was a hall
That was hanged with purple and pall;
Lully, lullay, lully, lullay!
The falcon has borne my mate away.
And in that hall there was a bed:
It was hanged with gold so red;
Lully, lullay, lully, lullay!
The falcon has borne my mate away.
And in that bed there lies a knight,
His wounds bleeding day and night;
Lully, lullay, lully, lullay!
The falcon has borne my mate away.
By that bed's side there kneels a maid,
And she weeps both night and day;
Lully, lullay, lully, lullay!
The falcon has borne my mate away.
And by that bed’s side there stands a stone,
"The Body of Christ" written thereon.
Lully, lullay, lully, lullay!
The falcon has borne my mate away.
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This Week:
You can also watch all our services live on our website or our facebook page.
| Thursday |
Ss Charles Lwanga and Companions
7.00pm Communion by Extension |
Friday
Saturday |
10.00am Morning Prayer (Holy Trinity)
St Boniface
10.00am Communion by Extension |
| Sunday |
Corpus Christi
10.00am Parish Mass
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Monday 10.00am Mass
| Tuesday |
10.00am Mass |
| Wednesday |
10.00am Mass
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| Thursday |
7.00pm Vigil Mass of the Sacred Heart
7.30pm PCC meeting |
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