Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2009 /  Corpus Christi

by Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published June 12, 2009

Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic Msgr. John Kasza points to the gold- and silver-brocade dove at the center of the canopy that will be held aloft over the archbishop and the Blessed Sacrament during the Corpus Christi procession.

Detroit - When Archbishop Allen Vigneron carries the monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament in this Sunday's Corpus Christi procession through the neighborhood around the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, he will walk under a canopy that hasn't been used in at least a half-century.

"The last time might have been sometime in the 1950s," said Msgr. John Kasza, the archbishop's secretary, about the gold and silver brocade canopy.

Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic Msgr. John Kasza shows the gold brocade cope and stole Archbishop Allen Vigneron will wear in this Sunday’s Corpus Christi procession, weather permitting.

"We found it among the cathedral's collection of vestments, and there's a cope and stole that match it (that) we hope to use if the weather's not too hot," he continued.

Msgr. Kasza said the cope and canopy were made in Germany, probably in the early 1920s.

There was no date on the monstrance, but the Latin inscription around its base indicated it was a memorial given in memory of Adeline Fisher, wife of Edward Fisher - who was one of the seven brothers who built the Fisher Building in Detroit after selling their Fisher Body Co. to General Motors Corp.

Msgr. Michael LeFevre, the cathedral's rector, said they are hoping for a large turnout of people from throughout the archdiocese.

The procession will follow a 2 p.m. holy hour at the cathedral, at which the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed for adoration, and will include Scripture, music, preaching and adoration.

Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic Msgr. Michael LeFevre shows the monstrance Archbishop Allen Vigneron will be carrying in the Corpus Christi procession on Sunday.

The eucharistic procession will form at 3 p.m., and will go out through the main doors of the cathedral, heading north on Woodward Avenue to Trowbridge. A cross bearer and candle-bearers will be in the lead, followed by groups of people wearing the traditional attire of various ethnic groups.

At Trowbridge, the procession will head east to John R, then south to Arden Park, then continue west back to Woodward, proceeding north until participants re-enter the cathedral.

As they walk, those in the procession will sing eucharistic hymns along the route. One group may singing Spanish, another Italian, another a Spiritual, and so forth.

More candle-bearers and a thurifer (someone carrying a censer with incense) will proceed ahead of the archbishop carrying the monstrance beneath the canopy, and will be at the rear of the procession along with servers, priests and deacons.

Once back in the cathedral, about 4 p.m., a hymn will be sung and Archbishop Vigneron will proceed to the altar, and - after a brief period of adoration - offer benediction to the assembly. Following this, the Eucharist will be reposed, a hymn sung and the assembly will recess out onto the Cathedral Plaza for a social with light refreshments.

The Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament is at 9844 Woodward Ave., adjacent to Detroit's Boston-Edison Historic District.