Corpus Christi 2027 is Thursday, May 27. The Catholic feast falls 60 days after Easter Sunday, and in 2027 it comes in May instead of June because Easter is early.
It is a public holiday in Austria, Poland, Portugal, and Croatia, in six German states, and in many Brazilian cities. In the United States and England and Wales, the feast is kept on the following Sunday, May 30.
Key takeaways
- Corpus Christi is Latin for “Body of Christ”; the feast honors the Eucharist.
- In Germany, it is called Fronleichnam and is a holiday in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland.
- In Brazil, it is not a national holiday; each state or city decides, and many make it an optional day off.
- Colombia moves the holiday to Monday, May 31, 2027.
- Corpus Christi falls on May 27 again in 2032; in other years it lands between May 21 and June 24.
Table of Contents
Corpus Christi 2027 key facts
| Date | Thursday, May 27, 2027 |
|---|---|
| Sunday observance | Sunday, May 30, 2027 (where the feast is moved) |
| Rule | Thursday after Trinity Sunday; 60 days after Easter |
| Easter Sunday 2027 | March 28 |
| Full name | Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ |
| Also called | Fronleichnam (German), Corpus Christi (Portuguese and Spanish), Corpo de Deus (Portugal), Boże Ciało (Polish), Tijelovo (Croatian) |
| Next date | Thursday, June 15, 2028 |
What is Corpus Christi?
Corpus Christi is a Catholic feast that celebrates the belief that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, the bread and wine of Mass.
Its Latin name means “Body of Christ,” and its full title is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, according to Wikipedia.
The feast is best known for its processions. Priests carry the consecrated host through the streets in a monstrance, a gold display case, while people follow with hymns, prayers, and flowers.
Corpus Christi is also the name of a city in Texas, named after the feast. This page covers the feast and its holiday dates.
Where is Corpus Christi a public holiday in 2027?
Corpus Christi is a public holiday in about 25 countries, in full or in part. The table lists the main ones and the 2027 date each uses.
| Country | Status | 2027 date |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | National holiday | Thursday, May 27 |
| Poland | National holiday (Boże Ciało) | Thursday, May 27 |
| Portugal | National holiday (Corpo de Deus) | Thursday, May 27 |
| Croatia | National holiday (Tijelovo) | Thursday, May 27 |
| Germany | Holiday in 6 states and parts of 2 more | Thursday, May 27 |
| Switzerland | Holiday in Catholic cantons | Thursday, May 27 |
| Spain | Holiday in some regions and cities | Thursday, May 27 |
| Brazil | Municipal holiday or optional day off | Thursday, May 27 |
| Colombia | National holiday, moved to Monday | Monday, May 31 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | National holiday | Thursday, May 27 |
| Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino | National holiday | Thursday, May 27 |
| United States, United Kingdom | Not a public holiday | Church feast on Sunday, May 30 |
The country list follows Wikipedia. Colombia’s date comes from Calendario de Colombia, under Law 51 of 1983, which moves several holidays to Monday. Other countries in the full list include Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Panama, Peru, and East Timor.
Fronleichnam 2027 in Germany and Austria
Fronleichnam 2027 is Thursday, May 27. It is a public holiday in six German states: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland, according to Kalenderpedia.
It is also a holiday in some towns in Saxony (Bautzen district) and Thuringia (Eichsfeld, Unstrut-Hainich, and Wartburg districts). There, the rule is that you follow where you work, not where you live. In the other eight states, May 27 is a normal working day.
Many Germans take Friday, May 28, as a bridge day, which turns the holiday into a four-day weekend from Thursday to Sunday. In Austria, Fronleichnam is a holiday nationwide.
May 2027 is unusually full of holidays in both countries: Ascension Day is May 6, Whit Monday is May 17, and Corpus Christi is May 27. Whit Monday is on our Pentecost 2027 page.
Is Corpus Christi a holiday in Brazil in 2027?
Not nationally. Corpus Christi, on Thursday, May 27, 2027, is a ponto facultativo, an optional day off, in most of Brazil. States and cities decide whether to make it a holiday, and employers decide whether to open, as Rádio Itatiaia explains.
| Status in 2025 | State capitals |
|---|---|
| Municipal holiday | Belo Horizonte, Boa Vista, BrasÃlia, Cuiabá, Curitiba, Maceió, Natal, Porto Alegre, Porto Velho, Salvador, São Paulo, Vitória |
| Optional day off | Aracaju, Belém, Campo Grande, Florianópolis, Fortaleza, Goiânia, João Pessoa, Macapá, Manaus, Palmas, Recife, Rio Branco, Rio de Janeiro, São LuÃs, Teresina |
The list is from 2025; cities can change their rules, so check your city hall before May 27, 2027. The 2027 national holiday calendar of ANBIMA, Brazil’s financial markets association, includes Corpus Christi, so financial markets are expected to close.
Corpus Christi dates, 2025–2036
Corpus Christi moves with Easter, so it can fall on any Thursday from May 21 to June 24. The table adds the Sunday observance used in the United States and elsewhere, and Colombia’s Monday holiday.
| Year | Corpus Christi (Thursday) | Sunday observance | Colombia holiday |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | June 19 | June 22 | Monday, June 23 |
| 2026 | June 4 | June 7 | Monday, June 8 |
| 2027 | May 27 | May 30 | Monday, May 31 |
| 2028 | June 15 | June 18 | Monday, June 19 |
| 2029 | May 31 | June 3 | Monday, June 4 |
| 2030 | June 20 | June 23 | Monday, June 24 |
| 2031 | June 12 | June 15 | Monday, June 16 |
| 2032 | May 27 | May 30 | Monday, May 31 |
| 2033 | June 16 | June 19 | Monday, June 20 |
| 2034 | June 8 | June 11 | Monday, June 12 |
| 2035 | May 24 | May 27 | Monday, May 28 |
| 2036 | June 12 | June 15 | Monday, June 16 |
Corpus Christi falls in May in only 4 of these 12 years (2027, 2029, 2032, and 2035), by our count; in the rest, it falls in June.
How Corpus Christi fits the Easter calendar
Corpus Christi is the last of the spring feasts counted from Easter. In 2027, Easter is March 28, Pentecost is May 16, Trinity Sunday is May 23, and Corpus Christi follows four days later on May 27.
How Corpus Christi is celebrated
Processions are the heart of the feast. In many towns, people decorate the procession route with flowers, branches, and carpets made of petals or colored sawdust.
- Poland: In Spycimierz, parishioners lay a flower carpet about 1 kilometer long. Poland’s flower carpet tradition joined UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage in 2021.
- Spain: Toledo and Seville hold major processions. In Castrillo de Murcia, a man dressed as a devil, El Colacho, jumps over babies laid on mattresses, a custom dating to the 1600s.
- Valencia: the procession, first held in 1355, includes eleven large wooden floats called the Rocas.
- Croatia: children in white scatter rose petals as processions circle the church.
- Peru: in Cusco, images of saints are carried around the main square, mixing Catholic and Inca traditions.
- Rome: the Pope leads a procession from the Basilica of St. John Lateran to St. Mary Major.
History of Corpus Christi
The feast began in Liège, in present-day Belgium, in the 1200s. Juliana of Liège, a nun, spent about 40 years asking for a feast in honor of the Eucharist, and the local bishop introduced it in his diocese in 1246.
In 1264, Pope Urban IV made Corpus Christi a feast for the whole Western Church with a papal bull, Transiturus de hoc mundo. Thomas Aquinas is traditionally credited with writing the hymns and prayers for its Mass. The feast spread across Europe after Pope John XXII confirmed it in 1317.
Frequently asked questions
When is Corpus Christi 2027?
Corpus Christi 2027 is Thursday, May 27. When the feast is moved to Sunday, it is celebrated on May 30.
When is Fronleichnam 2027?
Fronleichnam 2027 is Thursday, May 27, a public holiday in six German states and in all of Austria.
Is Corpus Christi a national holiday in Brazil?
No. It is a municipal holiday in some cities, such as São Paulo, and an optional day off in others, such as Rio de Janeiro.
Why is Corpus Christi on a Thursday?
The feast recalls the Last Supper, which took place on Holy Thursday. It falls on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday.
Is Corpus Christi a holiday in the United States?
No. US Catholic churches celebrate the feast on the following Sunday, May 30, 2027, and it is not a federal or state holiday.
What does Corpus Christi mean?
Corpus Christi is Latin for “Body of Christ.”
When is Corpus Christi 2028?
Corpus Christi 2028 is Thursday, June 15.
