Catholics across the world are taking part in colourful processions, as they celebrate Corpus Christi. The holy day symbolises their belief in the body and the blood of Jesus Christ, and his Real Presence in the Eucharist.
In the village of Crostwitz – one of the centres of the Sorbian area in Saxony, Germany – locals took part in an annual Sorbian Corpus Christi procession, before attending mass. In southern Germany, lake Staffelsee was scattered with rowing boats as people dressed in traditional Bavarian dress.
Girls wearing traditional Sorbian festive dress arrive back in church to continue mass following the annual Sorbian Corpus Christi processionSean Gallup/ Getty Images
Liturgically celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, Catholics attend a Holy Mass where there is often a procession of the Blessed Sacrament, usually displayed in a monstrance. The procession is then followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
IBTimesUK takes a look at some of Corpus Christi processions that have happened so far:
Participants in a Corpus Christi procession cast their shadows as they walk on a road near the lake Staffelsee in Seehausen near MurnauChristof Stache/ AFPWomen and girls wearing traditional Sorbian festive dress participate in the annual Sorbian Corpus Christi procession as they leave massSean Gallup/ Getty ImagesGirls wearing traditional Sorbian festive dress walk through the cemetery of the village church during the annual Sorbian Corpus Christi processionSean Gallup/ Getty ImagesWomen and girls wearing traditional Sorbian festive dress walk past a flag adorned with a Sorbian flag as they participate in the annual Sorbian Corpus Christi processionSean Gallup/ Getty ImagesGirls wearing traditional Sorbian festive dress arrive back in church to continue mass following the annual Sorbian Corpus Christi processionSean Gallup/ Getty ImagesSorbian women and girls wearing traditional Sorbian festive dress prepare to participate in the annual Sorbian Corpus Christi processionSean Gallup/ Getty ImagesGirls wearing traditional Sorbian festive dress participate in the annual Sorbian Corpus Christi procession through the village centre in CrostwitzSean Gallup/ Getty ImagesSorbian men, women and girls wearing traditional Sorbian festive dress walk in the annual Sorbian Corpus Christi procession through the village of CrostwitzSean Gallup/ Getty ImagesGirls wearing traditional Sorbian festive dress participate in the annual Sorbian Corpus Christi procession through the village center in CrostwitzSean Gallup/ Getty ImagesWomen and girls wearing traditional Sorbian festive dress participate in the annual Sorbian Corpus Christi procession through the village of CrostwitzSean Gallup/ Getty ImagesGirls wearing traditional Sorbian festive dress participate in the annual Sorbian Corpus Christi procession as they emerge from mass in the village church in CrostwitzSean Gallup/ Getty ImagesA young girl wearing traditional Sorbian festive dressSean Gallup/ Getty ImagesSteffi Mark adjusts the dress of Marta, 7, during the annual Sorbian Corpus Christi processionSean Gallup/ Getty ImagesWomen and girls wearing traditional Sorbian festive dress participate in the annual Sorbian Corpus Christi procession through the village centre with Sorbian flagsSean Gallup/ Getty ImagesYoung Sorbian men hold banners as they walk past a cross inscribed with text in Sorbian during the annual Sorbian Corpus Christi procession in CrostwitzSean Gallup/ Getty ImagesResidents wait in their boat as they take part in a Corpus Christi procession at the lake Staffelsee in SeehausenChristof Stache/ AFPResidents and spectators in their boats take part in a Corpus Christi procession at the lake Staffelsee in Seehausen near MurnauChristof Stache/ AFPCardinal and archishop Rainer Maria Woelki conducts the Corpus Christi Mass from a seven-meter-long refugee boatRolf Vennenbernd/ AFPPeople in traditional Bavarian dresses sit in a boat as they take part in a Corpus Christi procession at the lake Staffelsee in Seehausen near MurnauChristof Stache/ AFPA seven-meter-long refugee boat is placed in front of the cathedral in Cologne. Archbishop of Cologne, in memory of thousands of people who lost their lives in the Mediterranean seaOliver Berg/ AFPPeople in traditional Bavarian dresses sit in a boat as they take part in a Corpus Christi procession at the lake Staffelsee in Seehausen near MurnauChristof Stache/ AFPA seven-meter-long refugee boat is placed in front of the cathedral in Cologne. Archbishop of Cologne, in memory of thousands of people who lost their lives in the Mediterranean seaOliver Berg/ AFPA man in a boat prepares to take part in a Corpus Christi procession at the lake Staffelsee in Seehausen near MurnauChristof Stache/ AFP
