Corpus Christi and the Carpet of Flowers at Arundel Cathedral 2026
This year, the Feast of Corpus Christi and Arundel’s world-famous Carpet of Flowers takes place on Wednesday 3rd & Thursday 4th June 2026.
But what is Corpus Christi?
Latin for ‘Body of Christ’, the Corpus Christi festival is often called ‘Corpus et Sanguis Christi’, meaning the ‘Body and Blood of Christ’. This Roman Catholic, High Anglican and Western Orthodox festival celebrates the truth of bread and wine becoming the body of Christ during Mass.
When is Corpus Christi held?
This jubilant, celebratory festival is held on the Thursday (or following Sunday) after Trinity Sunday, and 60 days after Easter. And depending on the year, the festival falls between late May and the middle of June.
How is Corpus Christi celebrated in Arundel?
A Solemn Mass, a full ceremonial form of Mass is held in Arundel Cathedral. The Mass is celebrated by a priest with a deacon and subdeacon, who sing most parts of the Mass and incense is used.
After the Solemn Mass, Christ’s Body (Corpus Christi), in the form of bread, is carried in a procession with hymns down the floral aisle, for the public to witness. Then, weather permitting, it is carried through the streets of Arundel to Arundel Castle’s quadrangle, where the procession ends with a Benediction, or blessing.
Bishop Cormac Murphy-O’Connor carrying the Blessed Sacrament in the castle quadrangle where Benediction takes place
The procession from the Cathedral to the Castle
The Carpet of Flowers
Arundel Cathedral has an extraordinary, and now world-famous way, of celebrating Corpus Christi – the Carpet of Flowers. Every year, a team of volunteers create a 90-foot floral carpet up the central aisle of the Cathedral, in just one day.
Each year, the different design theme is first drawn out on paper before the thousands of flowers are laid.
The Corpus Christi Carpet of Flowers is free to visit, and you can also see the Cathedral’s beautiful stained-glass windows and soaring architecture. If you’re lucky, you will enjoy the Cathedral’s organ, which sounds like an orchestra in one instrument.
How did Arundel come to host a Carpet of Flowers for Corpus Christi?
In 1877 Henry Fitzalan-Howard, the 15th Duke of Norfolk, who founded the church of Our Lady and St. Philip Neri (which became Arundel Cathedral), saw a carpet of flowers in the Italian village of Sutri, just outside Rome.
This inspired him to introduce a carpet of flowers to Arundel. Nearly 150 years later, we still enjoy his wonderful idea.
The central aisle of the Cathedral in 1953
Can people walk on the Carpet of Flowers?
A resounding No! The flower carpet is designed to be enjoyed as a spectacle for two days. But it has a deeper meaning.
The flowers pave the way for the King of Kings, as Christ is referred to in the Bible, to be carried by the Bishop during the Blessed Sacrament, the celebration of the Body and Blood of Christ with bread and wine.
The beauty of the flowers and the skill that went into designing and laying the carpet are sacrificed to God, and a special event not to be missed in the town’s calendar.
For more information about Arundel Cathedral and the festival, please visit: https://arundelcathedral.uk/corpus-christi
Written by Barb Hogan, Visit Arundel
Photos by Charlie Waring, Nigel Cull and Arundel Cathedral