Valencia Monstrance

The largest Monstrance in the world is carried through the streets of Valencia every year. There are 159 sculptures adorning the monstrance used in the annual Corpus Christi procession in Valencia, Spain, including biblical scenes from the Old Testament up to the Good Shepherd and the risen Christ. The apostles and doctors of the Church adorn the host and Eucharistic miracles are depicted. Saints particularly devoted to the Eucharist are part of the multitude of adorers, as is Pope Pius X, known as the “Pope of the Eucharist” since he encouraged frequent reception of the sacrament and lowered the age for first Communion. Valencia’s procession was first celebrated in 1355, and by 1372, it was an annual event: the city’s “festa grossa” (great feast). It was only in 1264 that Pope Urban IV had made the Corpus Christi feast universal for the whole Church. When the former monstrance was destroyed in the civil war, the city felt its loss at each Corpus Christi procession. But the post-war years were tumultuous times marked by economic struggles. 

Nevertheless, a Jesuit priest of the city, Father Antonio de León, proposed to Archbishop Prudencio Melo (archbishop from 1922–1945) the project of constructing a new Monstrance. While the archbishop agreed, the priest wasn’t sure how it could happen, given the economic situation. But then he received what he took as a sign, something of a “widow’s mite” in the form of five silver coins donated by a laborer of the city. León put the project in motion and the citizens of Valencia responded with enthusiasm. Both the poor of the city and the well off donated what they could. The current solemn procession consists of a large group of vested priests processing down the streets of Valencia, followed by a group of sacristans creating a cloud of incense, Jesus arrives as red flower petals rain down on the monstrance, thrown by the faithful gathered on their balconies and those lining the streets.