In his homily at St Patrick’s, Archbishop Cushley said: “I was talking to a priest and he referred to the Blessed Sacrament as the living Lord.

“Those words encapsulate so much wonderful theology; just to say the living Lord says so much without having to say much else.

“It shows that the Lord is present  when we come before him in bread and wine consecrated at Mass, and the living Lord remains with us, he remains among us and for that reason we wish to homour the living Lord in the Blessed Sacrament today.”

Deacon Matthew McCafferty (below), spoke at the Bandstand in Burngreen park where there was a pause for prayer.

He said: “The Corpus Christi Procession is one of the few times of the year when Catholics take their faith out into the streets.

“What we are doing only makes sense if we are clear in one of the most fundamental aspects of our Catholic faith – that the Eucharist is Christ himself, not a symbol, or an allegory, or a metaphor, but truly Jesus Christ.

“So when we carry the blessed sacrament in procession it is truly Jesus himself who we are in procession with.”

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