The sun shone down on the Proto Cathedral of St. James the Greater on Sunday as the voices of a choir emanated onto 12th Street from inside the downtown Vancouver church.
Seconds later, altar servers emerged from inside and slowly walked down the front steps. One carried a gold crucifix while others held tall white candles or swung thuribles full of burning incense.
Then came the Rev. W.R. Harris carrying the Blessed Sacrament, a piece of bread believed to be consecrated as the body of Christ. As Harris walked, four others shielded him from the sun by holding a processional canopy over his head. They were followed by two choral groups, two trumpet players, children dropping flower petals and a couple hundred members of the church’s congregation.
Their walk took the congregation around parts of downtown as they occasionally stopped to pray or sing hymns. It was the first time in roughly 50 years that members of St. James led a Feast of Corpus Christi procession, which celebrates the Eucharist, out into the streets of Vancouver, parishioners said.
The Eucharist is based on a long-held belief in Catholicism that the bread and wine received during Mass and other ceremonies take on the true body and blood of Jesus Christ.
“O Jesus, we adore thee,” the choir sang, “whose precious blood and body become our sacred feast. O sacrament most holy, o sacrament divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine.”
As the procession crossed 12th Street and stopped in a parking lot, trumpets played. Then the crowd quieted so Harris could kneel at an altar adorned with red and white flowers and bless the congregation.
“Send workers into your great harvest, that the gospel may be preached to every creature and your people, gathered together by the word of life and strengthened by the power of Sacraments, may advance in the way of salvation and love,” Harris said.
The group walked south, taking 11th Street to Main Street. As they sang hymns along Main Street, a few curious onlookers stopped to watch. The procession turned west on Evergreen Boulevard, passing outdoor diners at a restaurant, before heading north on Columbia Street and stopping for prayers and another blessing at the Hamilton-Mylan Funeral home.
The group then headed back into the church for the final blessing, and continued its celebration with a meal.
The history of processions honoring the Feast of Corpus Christi date back to the early 13th century in Italy, said Scott Powell, pastoral assistant of music and liturgy at St. James. Sunday’s procession was a good way to show the Catholic faith to others, he added.
“I think it was a good opportunity for people not of a faith or the Catholic faith to experience a deep devotion that the people at the cathedral have for the Eucharist,” Powell said. “I thought it was very nice we had the opportunity to take our faith out from behind closed doors.”
