Today, Poles celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi, which is a public holiday. It has been celebrated in Poland since the Middle Ages. It is one of the most important Catholic feasts. In every church, there are processions.
In Poland, at the synod of Gniezno in 1420, the feast was declared universal and celebrated in all churches in the country. Since the end of the 15th century, a blessing with the Blessed Sacrament has been given during the feast.
The famous processions, which are the greatest highlight of the feast, have not accompanied it from the very beginning. According to the oldest mention, the first procession took place in 1265 in Cologne. Originally, the procession consisted of a simple, uninterrupted march with the Blessed Sacrament, ending with a blessing. By the end of the 15th century, processions to the four altars were already common in Germany, England, France, northern Italy and Poland.
Corpus Christi is also known as the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ and is a Christian liturgical solemnity celebration. It is celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, so 60 days after Easter, or, in some countries where it is not a holy day of obligation, on the following Sunday.