7 Jun 2026. Corpus Christi, London Eucharistic Procession through Central London.
Matthew Chattle/Alamy Live News
‘Being able to spend time before the Blessed Sacrament – some people say wasting time with Almighty God before the Blessed Sacrament – is so important to feed our souls and give us that sense of where we’re going and what we’re supposed to be doing.’
Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament ensures that faith is more than just “pursuing do-goodery”, said Bishop of the Forces Paul Mason, who celebrated Mass for the Feast of Corpus Christi at the Church of Corpus Christi, in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden.
“The Blessed Sacrament is something of a North Star,” said Bishop Mason. “It gives us light, it gives us direction, it gives purpose, and without that, we can end up a bit lost.
“Simply being able to spend time before the Blessed Sacrament ensures that we don’t spin off on a frolic of our own pursuing do-goodery.
“This is the work of God that we’re called to be engaged in. If we don’t spend time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, it would be so easy to simply end up in a type of activism which doesn’t go anywhere.”
Bishop Mason said that the work of saints such as Mother Theresa was always anchored in prayer: “We all know the great good that she did, the hard work with the poor of Calcutta, it didn’t just come from her own promptings, her own initiative.
“She would spend hours before the Blessed Sacrament. From there she got her confidence, she got her direction, she got her inspiration to know what God was calling her to do. We need to be sure that, in the work that we do, that we’re following God’s promptings.”
The Corpus Christi procession departed from Maiden Lane and processed to the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory in Warwick Street, where there was a period of Adoration.
The procession then continued to the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family, where Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, the Ukrainian Eparch, joined, and concluded with Benediction at St James’s, Spanish Place.
“It’s an opportunity for Catholics to come out, show their faith, and show the importance and centrality of the Blessed Sacrament in the life of the Church,” said Bishop Mason.
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