The etymological meaning of the word stems from the middle-high-german, "vrom" meaning "that, which concerns the Lord" and "leichnam", meaning "body"
Today's festival therefore dealt with "The Eucharist".
The ceremony or sacrament, during which Christians remember and celebrate "The Last Supper",
during which Christ offered bread and wine to his disciples and reportedly said:
"Take, eat; this is my body" and then, offering them a cup of wine: "Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood.....
(Matthew 26:26-28)
Although this is a scene described in the Bible, a book which must be considered as suspect in regards of its veracity, due to its many contradictions and incomprehensible, illogical, nonsensical statements, let us, for a moment, pretend as if this report were true and accurate:
Christ takes a loaf of bread, breaks from it and tells his fans that they should eat this, because this is his body.
Then he offers a drink from a cup of wine and tells them: drink this, for this is my blood.
The only consideration which prevents us from thinking of "Cannibalism" surely must be that Christ meant this symbolically, allegorically and not literally.
Leave it at this! Allow it to remain in the realm of the Symbol and it would be truly beautiful. As an Allegory Christ would have said:
"Each time you take a bite to eat, think of me! Each time you take a drink: Think of me.
But nooooo !
This would not have been enough of the magic: We need some spectacular "HocusPocus! Abra Cadabra"
The Church, in later years, had to insist that there was a true 'Transubstantiation' ! A true and real changing of what, a second ago, was a piece of bread, now is flesh of the body of Christ, and that, which a moment ago was a cup of wine, now is a cup of Christ's blood.
This transubstantiation happens not only at the Festival of the Eucharist, (Fronleichnam), but happens each and every Mass, celebrated by a Priest.
Christ is really present in flesh and blood and there is no debate! You hear?
This is to be 'believed' by every Catholic. He, who does not believe it, who thinks this be only a symbol, an allegory, is not a Catholic. Cannot be a Catholic, never was and never will be a Catholic.... and likely will find him/herself on a quick road to Hell.
I do not want to ask you to perform a chemical analysis of the wafer of bread or the cup of wine before and then after the aleged "transubstantation". Because, so the argument would be presented: One cannot proove or disproove matters of faith by scientific analysis or by logical considerations.
When I was a child, I went to "First Confession" and then to "First Communion".
The Priest, who gave Religious Instruction to a bunch of 3rd graders, told us most seriously:
"When you receive the Host, it may look like a waver, but it is not! It is the real body of Jesus Christ.
Therefore do not bite it with your teeth. This would hurt Jesus. Just press it gently with your tongue against the roof of your mouth and you will feel how the body of Christ dissolves and goes into your body, where it will stay, because your confession and absolution has made your body into a clean house in which Jesus will want to live. ( How sinful can an 8 year old be that Jesus Christ would want nothing to do with him ? )
Even at the ripe age of 8 I did not believe a word of it and only wondered why this nice man lied to us so blatantly, when I knew, because he told us, that 'Lieing' was a mortal Sin.
Bertstravels
still wonders.
An old custom: The route of the procession is decorated with birch trees
Four Altars, symbolising the four compas points, are erected
along the route. The Priest and his entrouage will stop and
he will read appropriate verses fro the Bible.
The "Bürgers" of the town, carrying various flags, casually move along.
Of course, the local "marching band" is there too and plays sacred music.
The ladies of the 'Trachten Klub'
The Priest, under the "heaven" carried by four members of the fire fighting brigade,
preceded by 6 Altar boys and girls
A stop at one of the four altars gives an opportunity for Monsignore
to read from the Scriptures
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