In Catholic teaching, corporal works are acts of mercy that care for the physical and bodily needs of other people.
The word corporal comes from the Latin corpus, meaning body. So the Corporal Works of Mercy are ways we serve Christ by caring for the bodily needs of our neighbors—food, water, clothing, shelter, companionship in sickness or imprisonment, and burial of the dead.
They are rooted especially in Matthew 25:35–40, where Jesus says:
“Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
They are called the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy:
- Feed the hungry
- Give drink to the thirsty
- Clothe the naked
- Shelter the homeless
- Visit the sick
- Visit the imprisoned
- Bury the dead
