Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene attended Monaco’s Corpus Christi celebrations from the window of the Prince’s Palace on 3 June, the evening before the holiday.
One of the most important religious celebrations in the Principality, Corpus Christi is a public holiday in Monaco that has been observed for centuries. In countries where the date is not a public holiday (such as in France), the celebration is postponed until the following Sunday.
The observance began with a Pontifical Mass, celebrated by His Excellency Archbishop Dominique-Marie David in Monaco’s Cathedral. Next was the procession of the Blessed Sacrament, which made its way through the streets of Monaco-Ville.
During the procession, the priest carried the Eucharist on display in a special receptacle called a “monstrance”. When the procession reached to the Palace Square, the Prince’s Carabiniers band played the bugle call “Aux Honneurs.”
The procession then stopped at Monaco’s Town Hall. After a moment of adoration (the act of worshiping and gazing upon the consecrated host) the Archbishop sang “Tantum ergo,” and then offered a blessing and a moment of prayer.
The fourth public holiday in Monaco this year, Corpus Christi is now called the “Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.” Corpus Christi (which is Latin for ‘Body of Christ’) is the celebration of the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, under the appearances of bread and wine, which are blessed as the Body and Blood of Christ. The feast is celebrated on the Thursday following the Holy Trinity, or sixty days after Easter, in memory of the last supper.
The Roman Catholic ritual is a tradition upheld by Monaco’s Princely Family. Prince Albert II typically attends traditional religious observances alongside Princess Charlene. In 2016 and in 2018, Prince Albert II attended Corpus Christi with Princess Caroline of Hanover.
