Spectacular Corpus Christi Procession in London (Video)

Yesterday, Sunday, there was a glorious Corpus Christi procession through the centre of London.

The celebrant was the Apostolic Nuncio to the United Kingdom, Monsignor Miguel Maury Buendía, 68. The Eucharist and start of the procession was at Corpus Christi Church in Maiden Lane, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary.

The procession wound its way along The Strand, passing Trafalgar Square with Lord Nelson himself watching from his tower, then along Pall Mall with its prestigious gentlemen's clubs and past the famous Piccadilly Circus to stop at the Walsingham Ordinariate Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory.

After a few hours, the procession continued past the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral to St James's Spanish Place, through the busy shopping area of Oxford Street, which was part of the route taken by Catholic martyrs during the time of the Reformation, to the gallows at Tyburn, where they were hanged, dragged along the ground by a horse and quartered as traitors [= Catholics].

Both the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and the Church of St James in Spanish Place, where the procession ended with a solemn benediction, were once embassy chapels, the former belonging to the Royal Bavarian Court and the latter to the Spanish Embassy.

Only in these embassy chapels, english Catholics were able to find Mass during the Penal Laws [against Catholics], so it was fitting that Our Eucharistic Lord should visit them during this procession.

Many Sunday shoppers were amazed to see such a large group of people singing hymns and Latin chants. Indeed, they had a unique opportunity to catch a glimpse of the Kingdom of God shining with supernatural beauty in the darkness of this world.