Madrid.- Pope Leo XIV presided this Sunday over the Corpus Christi procession through the Plaza de Cibeles and Alcalá Street in Madrid behind a 1943 monstrance of the Blessed Sacrament, which is kept in the Museum of the Almudena Cathedral in the Spanish capital.
The pontiff processed under a canopy, an ancient tradition that Leo XIV revived last year during Corpus Christi through the streets of Rome.
The procession left the unprecedented image of a pope processing with the Blessed Sacrament through a decorated street in Alcalá, turned into a large floral carpet with more than 30,000 carnations thanks to the work of the Association of Carpet Makers of Corpus Christi of Ponteareas (Pontevedra).
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This association created sixteen large carpets three meters wide along more than 500 meters to decorate the central Madrid artery.
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The floral compositions incorporate emblematic elements of Christian iconography, such as the Sacred Host and the Keys of Saint Peter integrated into a pilgrim’s shell, and have required the use of more than 30,000 carnations, mainly white and yellow, in honor of the colors of the Vatican flag.
After the celebration of the communion rite at the massive papal mass in Cibeles, the consecrated host was placed in the monstrance -a piece crafted in 1943 by the Arte Granda workshops in gilded silver, enamel, amethyst, and diamonds, and linked to the history of Madrid- and placed in the center of the altar.
The Pope recited a prayer and offered incense to the Blessed Sacrament to begin the procession, accompanied throughout by music performed by the choir and orchestra, which consisted of nearly 400 members.
Throughout the entire procession, covering a route of about 700 meters, flower petals were thrown while the bells of nearby churches rang as the first pope to travel to Madrid since Benedict XVI did so fifteen years ago for World Youth Day (WYD) passed by.
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Once the procession was finished and back at the altar, the pontiff put incense on the Blessed Sacrament again, said a prayer, and gave the blessing to the people.
Just as during the entire Eucharist, the sun scorched more than 1.2 million people gathered outdoors to witness a mass in which bottles of water and parasols were being handed out, and even pieces of cardboard from boxes so they could fan themselves.
The mass in Cibeles and the subsequent procession have been the most crowded events of the Pope’s visit to Spain, which will continue until June 12 with stops in Barcelona and the Canary Islands.
