Sunday, May 25, 2008 Lagura: Tantum ergo Sacramentum (Hence, even if but a sign) By Fr. Flor Lagura, SVD in the service of the word
AT the heart of Germany lies the city of Fulda founded by the Benedictine monk, Sturmius, in 744 AD at the instructions of St. Boniface, the great apostle to Germany.
And at the heart of Fulda towers the cathedral where St. Boniface, martyred by the fierce Franks, is buried. On this day, The Solemn Feast of Corpus Christi or the Body of Christ, the front of the cathedral is magnificently decorated with a carpet of flowers arranged so beautifully in religious motifs—the work of countless hands who patiently laid out the unique decoration on the night before the feast.
On the day of the feast itself, young boys—dressed in black and holding candles in their hands-- and girls all dressed in immaculate white and with baskets of flowers--line up in attendance as the Blessed Sacrament is carried in solemn procession. Knights in their costumes and gentlemen in their dark coats form the honor guard for the procession where people publicly profess their faith in the real presence of the Lord seen in the form of bread.
The land St. Boniface brought the faith to by his preaching has changed tremendously since the year when Fulda was established by the Benedictine monks. The standard of living has progressed tremendously. The once feared hordes of barbaric tribes have long settled down. Recent immigrants from the East have taken their place. The Christian faith has sadly split into two factions, namely the Catholic and Protestant or Lutheran. Into this sad religious picture comes a new player: Islam.
Despite the varied and vast changes that have come to the Germany faith in the Lord Jesus still flourishes, for he gives himself as bread to the lonely and, at times, despised immigrants who fail to get their due recognition for the wealth they also contribute to their land of adoption. Jesus still gives himself to the outcasts of society, to the degraded women in the streets of Sankt Pauli where he offers himself as the bread of compassion, forgiveness and consolation.
The Lord still patiently offers himself to the thousands who, on Sundays, might no longer go to church but will unfailingly attend and fervently take part in the rituals of soccer in the stadiums: the “cathedrals and basilicas” of today.
Jesus shares himself with others in many ways, but definitely he offers his flesh with others as the bread of life visibly and publicly in the Eucharist. For this reason, places like Fulda in Germany as well as many, many other places in this world show their gratitude and faith in the Lord whose reality they see in the visible sign of bread.
