Corpus Christi in Brazil

Hello friends from A Dica do Dia! Today we’re talking about the Corpus Christi holiday in Brazil. This holiday always falls on a different day every year, so how can you find out which day it is? The way to calculate when it will fall is simple: Just count 60 days after Easter Sunday. It is always on a Thursday because the Last Supper also happened on this day. Another important date to remember is Trinity Sunday, always the week before Corpus Christ.

To facilitate your life, we put the dates for Corpus Christi in the years to come:

Day of the week	Date	Month	Year
Thursday	16	June	2022
Thursday	8	June	2023
Thursday	30	May	2024
Thursday	19	June	2025
Thursday	4	June	2026
Thursday	27	May	2027

In Brazil, Corpus Christi is a Catholic celebration for the Eucharist: the symbolic presence of the Body of Christ in the consecrated host.

Cultural Aspects of Corpus Christi in Brazil

In many cities in Brazil it’s common to decorate the streets of the procession with carpets made from a variety of different materials and usually with designs of religious inspiration.

In the state of Goiás for example, flowers from the cerrado and sawdust are used to create colorful carpets that cover the streets where the congregation goes by.

In São Paulo, there’s a carpet made from crushed glass, flowers, dolomite and sawdust that stretches for 12 blocks throughout the city!

Corpus Christi in Rio de Janeiro

Here in Rio we also have a very special way to celebrate Corpus Christi. In the famous Candelária Church in the center of Rio there is a mass at 3 p.m. and when it finishes, people make a procession walking from Candelária to the Saint Sebastian Cathedral. During the celebration, large amounts of food are donated by people, which is then sent to homeless shelters and orphanages.

Vocabulary List

Corpus Christi	Feast of the Body of Christ
Feriado	Holiday
Eucaristia	Eucharist
Hóstia Consagrada	Sacramental Bread
Procissão	Procession
Serragem	Sawdust
Tapetes Coloridos	Coloured Sawdust Carpets
Vidro Moído	Crushed Glass
Dolomitas	Dolomite
Quarteirões	Blocks
Jesus Cristo	Jesus Christ

Now it’s your turn!

To practice what you’ve learned, read the sentences and tell us if they are correct or incorrect. If the sentence is right you can put the letter C (correto) and the letter E (errado) for the wrong ones.

1. This holiday happens on Tuesdays every year. (  )
2. It celebrates the Eucharist. (  )
3. People usually decorate the streets with colored carpets. (  )
4. In Rio de Janeiro flowers from the cerrado and sawdust are used to create colorful carpets. (  )
5. In Goiás, there’s a rug made from crushed glass, flowers, dolomite and sawdust than stretches over 12 blocks.  (  )
6. There’s a celebration in the Candelária Church in Rio de Janeiro.  (  )
7. People usually donate food during the celebrations.  (  )
8. The food is sent to rich people.  (  )
9. This holiday is not celebrated in Brazil.  (  )
10.  It’s very common to see processions on this date.  (  )

We hope that you’ve enjoyed getting to know our Corpus Christi in Brazil. Want to learn more Portuguese online? Check out our Online Portuguese Courses!

See you soon in the next A Dica do Dia and have a great holiday!

Hugs and kisses from the Rio & Learn team.

 Click in the links below to see more related Dicas
Holidays in Brazil
History of Tiradentes
Saint Sebastian’s Day in Rio de Janeiro
Independence Day in Brazil

Answers

1. This holiday happens on Tuesdays every year. ( E )
2. It celebrates the Eucharist. ( C )
3. People usually decorate the streets with colored carpets. ( C )
4. In Rio de Janeiro flowers from the cerrado and sawdust are used to create colorful carpets. ( E )
5. In Goiás, there’s a rug made from crushed glass, flowers, dolomite and sawdust than stretches out for 12 blocks.  ( E )
6. There’s a celebration in the Candelária Church in Rio de Janeiro.  ( C )
7. People usually donate food during the celebrations.  ( C )
8. The food is sent to rich people.  ( E )
9. This holiday is not celebrated in Brazil.  ( E )
10.  It’s very common to see processions on this date.  ( C )