Saturday in the Octave of Corpus Christi; Commemoration of St. Norbert of Xanten: Missa “Cibávít eos“
The Octave of Corpus Christi being privileged, Feasts are either commemorated only (in which case the appropriate Collect is said after that of the Office) or transferred to after the Octave.
The Feast of Corpus Christi (Latin for Body of Christ), also known as Corpus Domini, is a Latin Rite liturgical solemnity celebrating the tradition and belief in the body and blood of Jesus Christ and his Real Presence in the Eucharist. It emphasizes the joy of the institution of the Eucharist, which was observed on Holy Thursday in the sombre atmosphere of the nearness of Good Friday.
St. Norbert of Xanten (c. 1080–1134), founder of the Premonstratensian or Norbertine Order, stands among the great reforming saints of the twelfth century. Born into nobility at Xanten in Germany, he initially lived the comfortable life of a court cleric attached to the household of Emperor Henry V. A dramatic conversion followed when he was thrown from his horse during a violent storm and narrowly escaped death. Hearing in his heart the words of the Psalmist, “Turn away from evil and do good,” Norbert abandoned worldly ambitions and embraced a life of penance, preaching, and apostolic zeal.
In 1120 he founded the Order of Prémontré at Prémontré in northern France. Unlike monks, the Norbertines were canons regular following the Rule of St. Augustine. They combined a common liturgical life centred on the Divine Office and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with active pastoral ministry, preaching, missionary work, and the care of souls. The Eucharist stood at the heart of their vocation. Common prayer and the daily celebration of Mass were intended to be the sustaining force of the community and the source of its apostolic fruitfulness.
Indeed, devotion to the Blessed Sacrament became one of the defining characteristics of the Order. The Norbertines themselves identify “Cultus Eucharisticus” as one of their foundational pillars. St. Norbert lived at a time when daily Mass was far from universal, yet he celebrated Mass daily and spent long hours in prayer before the altar. The earliest constitutions of the Order devoted special attention to reverence for the Eucharistic mystery, seeing in it the source of zeal for souls and the renewal of the Church.
Norbert’s Eucharistic devotion was not merely personal; it was doctrinal and missionary. During his preaching in Antwerp he confronted the followers of Tanchelm, a heretical agitator who denied or undermined belief in the Real Presence and encouraged contempt for the Church’s sacramental life. Through preaching, catechesis, and personal holiness, Norbert restored confidence in the Blessed Sacrament and rekindled Eucharistic devotion among the faithful. His success was so remarkable that he came to be known as the “Apostle of the Blessed Sacrament,” a title that remains associated with him to this day. For this reason he is often depicted in sacred art carrying a monstrance.
The Norbertine Order inherited this Eucharistic spirit. Across nearly nine centuries, Norbertines have been known for the solemnity of their liturgy, devotion to the altar, careful celebration of the sacred mysteries, and promotion of Eucharistic worship. Their white habit itself became a visible sign of a life ordered around the altar and the sanctuary. The Order spread rapidly throughout medieval Europe, founding hundreds of houses and producing saints, bishops, missionaries, scholars, and martyrs, all nourished by the same Eucharistic spirituality.
For St. Norbert, the Eucharist was not simply one devotion among many; it was the living presence of Christ from whom all reform, holiness, and apostolic work must flow. His enduring message remains profoundly relevant today: renewal in the Church begins not with programmes or structures, but with a return to the altar, to the Sacrifice of the Mass, and to adoration of Our Lord truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
INTROIT Psalm 80: 17
He fed them with the fat of wheat, alleluia; and filled them with honey, out of the rock, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. (Ps. 80: 2) Rejoice in God, our Helper sing aloud to the God of Jacob. v. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Repeat He fed them……
COLLECT
O God, Who in a wonderful Sacrament hast left unto us the memorial of Thy Passion; grant, we beseech Thee, that we may so venerate the sacred mysteries of Thy Body and Blood as to experience continually within ourselves the fruit of Thy Redemption. Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, Forever and ever.
Commemoration St Norbert
O God, Who made blessed Norbert, Your Confessor and Bishop, a brilliant preacher of Your word, and through him enriched Your Church with a new religious family, grant, we beseech You, that by his prayerful intercession and Your help, we may be able to do what he has taught us by his words and deeds. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
R. Amen.
LESSON 1 Corinthians 11: 23-29
Lesson from the First Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians. Brethren, I have received of the Lord, that which also I delivered to you that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye and eat, this is My Body which shall be delivered for you; this do for the commemoration of Me. In like manner also the chalice, after He had supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in My Blood; this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of Me. For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink this chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord until He come. Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink of the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and the Blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself; and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the Body of the Lord.
GRADUAL/ ALLELUIA Psalm 144: 15, 16
The eyes of all hope in Thee, O Lord, and Thou givest them meat in due season. V. Thou openest Thy hand, and fillest living every creature with Thy blessing. Alleluia, alleluia. V. (John 6: 56) My Flesh is meat indeed and My Blood is drink indeed: he that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me, and I in him. Alleluia.
SEQUENCE “Lauda Sion” (At the celebrant’s discretion)
Sion, lift up thy voice and sing:
Praise thy Savior and thy King,
Praise with hymns thy shepherd true.
All thou canst, do thou endeavor,
Yet thy praise can equal never
Such as merits thy great King.
See today before us laid
The living and life-giving Bread!
Theme for praise and joy profound!
The same which at the sacred board
Was, by our incarnate Lord,
Giv’n to His Apostles round.
Let the praise be loud and high:
Sweet and tranquil be the joy
Felt today in every breast.
On this festival divine
Which records the origin
Of the glorious Eucharist.
On this table of the King,
Our new Paschal offering
Brings to end the olden rite.
Here, for empty shadows fled,
Is reality instead;
Here, instead of darkness, light.
His own act, at supper seated,
Christ ordain’d to be repeated,
In His memory divine;
Wherefore now, with adoration,
We, the Host of our salvation,
Consecrate from bread and wine.
Hear, what holy Church maintaineth,
That the bread its substance changeth
Into Flesh, the wine to Blood.
Doth it pass thy comprehending?
Faith, the law of sight transcending
Leaps to things not understood,
Here beneath these signs are hidden
Priceless things, to sense forbidden
Signs, not things, are all we see.
Flesh, from bread, and Blood from wine,
Yet is Christ in either sign,
All entire, confessed to be.
They, who of Him here partake,
Sever not, nor rend, nor break:
But, entire, their Lord receive
Whether one or thousands eat,
All receive the self-same meat,
Nor the less for others leave,
Both the wicked and the good
eat of this celestial Food;
But with ends how opposite!
Here ‘t is life:
and there ‘t is death:
The same, yet issuing to each
In a difference infinite.
Nor a single doubt retain,
When they break the Host in twain,
But that in each part remains
What was in the whole before;
Since the simple sign alone
Suffers change in state or form
The signified remaining one
And the same for evermore.
Lo! upon the altar lies,
Hidden deep from human eyes,
Bread of Angels from the skies,
Made the food of mortal man;
Children’s meat to dogs denied,
In old types presignified:
In the manna Heaven-supplied
In Isaac, and the Paschal lamb.
Jesu! Shepherd of the sheep!
Thou Thy flock in safety keep,
Living Bread! Thy life supply:
Strengthen us, or else we die:
Fill us with celestial grace!
Thou, who feedest us below!
Source of all we have or know!
Grant that with Thy Saints above,
Sitting at the feast of love,
We may see Thee face to face.
Amen. Alleluia.
GOSPEL St. John 6: 56-59
At that time, Jesus said to the multitude of the Jews: “My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth Me, the same shall also live by Me. This is the Bread that came down from Heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this bread shall live forever.”
OFFERTORY ANTIPHON Leviticus 21: 6
The priests of the Lord offer incense and loaves to God, and therefore they shall be holy to their God, and shall not defile His Name. Alleluia.
SECRET
Graciously bestow on Thy Church, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the gifts of unity and peace, which are mystically shown forth in the gifts now offered. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, Forever and ever.
Commemoration St Nobert
May Your Saints, we beseech You, O Lord, everywhere make us joyful: so that, while we reflect upon their merits, we may enjoy their help. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
R. Amen.
PREFACE of the Incarnation
It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God, for through the Mystery of the Word made flesh, the new light of Thy glory hath shone upon the eyes of our mind, so that while we acknowledge God in visible form, we may through Him be drawn to the love things invisible. And therefore with Angels and Archangesl, with Thrones and Dominations, and with all the hosts of the heavenly army, we sing the hymn of The glory, evermore saying:
COMMUNICANTES
Communicating, and keeping this most holy day, on which the spotless virginity of blessed Mary brought forth a Savior to this world; and also reverencing the memory first of the same glorious Mary, ever Virgin, Mother of the same our God and Lord Jesus Christ: as also of the blessed Apostles and Martyrs Peter and Paul, Andrew, James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon, and Thaddeus; Linus, Cletus, Clement, Xystus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian, and of all Thy Saints, through whose merits and prayers, grant that we may in all things be defended by the help of Thy protection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
Oh my Jesus,
I believe that Thou art present in the Blessed Sacrament.
I love Thee above all things, and I desire Thee in my soul.
Since I cannot now receive Thee sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart.
As though Thou were already there,
I embrace Thee and unite myself wholly to Thee.
Permit not that I should ever be separated from Thee. Amen.
COMMUNION ANTIPHON 1 Corinthians 11: 26, 27
As often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall show forth the death of the Lord, until He come: therefore whosoever shall eat this Bread or drink the Chalice of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Alleluia
POSTCOMMUNION
Make us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, to be filled with the eternal enjoyment of Thy Divinity, which is prefigured by the reception in this life of Thy precious Body and Blood. Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, Forever and ever.
Commemoratio St Norbert
Grant, we beseech You, almighty God, that as we thank You for the favors we have received, we may, by the intercession of blessed Norbert, Your Confessor and Bishop, obtain still greater blessings. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
R. Amen.
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