Eternal Father, I offer Thee the most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, in satisfaction for my sins, in supplication for the holy souls in Purgatory and for the needs of Holy Church [especially for the soul of (Name)].
THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
The feast of the Most Precious Blood continues the mystery of redemption proper to Good Friday and to feasts such as the Holy Cross, Corpus Christi, and the Sacred Heart.
The observance was placed on the first Sunday in July by Pius IX in 1849, as the whole month is dedicated to the Precious Blood. The Breviary reform of St. Pius X assigned the feast to the present date of July 1.
The early Fathers say that the Church was born from the pierced side of Christ and that the Sacraments were brought forth through His Blood. The special beauty of this feast is its centering of our attention directly on the Blood of Christ, a shortcut to the heart of revelation. In these days we need to think of the Passion of Christ; we do not know how God is going to test us. Devotion to the Precious Blood is a fundamental, sane approach to God. It is hard and painful; it will help us to steel our own hearts against weakness.
Litany of the Most Precious Blood
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.
Blood of Christ, only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father, save us.
Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God, save us.
Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament, save us.
Blood of Christ, falling upon the earth in the Agony, save us.
Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging, save us.
Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with Thorns, save us.
Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross, save us.
Blood of Christ, price of our salvation, save us.
Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness, save us.
Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and refreshment of souls, save us.
Blood of Christ, stream of mercy, save us.
Blood of Christ, victor over demons, save us.
Blood of Christ, courage of Martyrs, save us.
Blood of Christ, strength of Confessors, save us.
Blood of Christ, bringing forth Virgins, save us.
Blood of Christ, help of those in peril, save us.
Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened, save us.
Blood of Christ, solace in sorrow, save us.
Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent, save us.
Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying, save us.
Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts, save us.
Blood of Christ, pledge of eternal life, save us.
Blood of Christ, freeing souls from purgatory, save us.
Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor, save us.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord!
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord!
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
V. Thou hast redeemed us, O LORD, in Thy Blood.
R. And made us, for our God, a kingdom.
Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, Who didst appoint Thine only-begotten Son the Redeemer of the world, and hast willed to be appeased by His Blood; grant unto us, we beseech Thee, so to venerate (with solemn worship) the price of our redemption, and by its power be so defended against the evils of this life, that we may enjoy the fruit thereof forevermore in Heaven. Through the same Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
Sanguis Christi: O Most Precious Blood
A poem in honor of the redeeming Precious Blood shed by our Divine Savior, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Son of man,
Who had no place
to lay His head,
on the eighth day,
His Blood He shed,
Word-Made-Flesh,
His Blood did give, Eternal Drink
that we would live.
O glorious, Precious Blood
that rained down
upon mankind―
as in the days of Noe,
the awful, dreadful Flood,
symbolic portent
of Thy Precious Blood―
poured forth
upon the earth,
sacramental birth,
to wash away
the stain of sin,
to make us
new-made wine.
Thy sacred Side,
the Door―
as in Noah’s Ark―
from which,
Thy Sacred Heart
did pour
Thy most Precious Blood;
sacramental wine,
glorious, mystic Sign;
Eucharistic drink―
The Blood Thou shed,
The Fountainhead,
The Rock,
which Moses struck.[1]
Life-Giving Water
atop Jacob’s well
imbibed Samaritan woman,
boldly she did tell;
The good wine at Cana,
which from water
Thou didst make,
foretaste of
Thy Precious Blood,
our souls’ thirst to slake.
The wine
tread at
the winepress,
the prophet did prophesy,[2]
the Blood
that drenched
Thy garments,
as Thou trod
to Calvary;
that mingled with
Thy sweat
in Gethsemani;
that poured from
Thy sinless Flesh,
the Scourging
ripped and torn,
flayed by sinister soldiers,
who did mock and scorn;
from Thy hallowed Head
pressed by
the Crown of Thorns;
from Thy Hands and Feet,
which nails did adorn;
from Thy sacred Side,
forsaken and forlorn,
fulfilling David’s prophecy:
His Lord’s bitter agony.[3]
As our Sorrowful Mother
mourned and agonized,
Immaculate heart pierced,
as Simeon prophesied
Virgin ewe
whose blood
was fed
to the Lamb
Whose Blood
was shed―
in the Circumcision;
at the Pillar;
by the Crown of Thorns;
the nails;
the soldier’s spear―
Precious Blood,
O so dear.
The Angelic Salutation,
proclaimed at the
Annunciation:
Ave Maria
gratia plena
Dominus tecum
Word-Made-Flesh
in Virgin Womb
flesh and blood
He did assume…
She His holy habitation,
Chalice of His sweet libation
Blood poured forth
for our salvation
O most Wondrous
Incarnation!
Take and drink ye all of this.
For this is
the Chalice of My Blood,
of the New and
Eternal Testament
—The Mystery of Faith—
Which Shall be Shed for You
and for Many
unto the Remission of Sins.
Footnotes
1 Cf. I Corinthians 10:2-4 and Numbers 20:11.
2 Isaias 63:1-3.
3 Psalm 21.
Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
(“Divine Intimacy” by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, OCD)
In today’s liturgy, the majestic figure of Jesus stands before us
as that of a king who presents himself to his people robed in his
royal mantle. The first antiphon of Vespers says: “Who is this that
cometh. With dyed garments? This beautiful one in his robe.”
But the mantle Jesus wears is not beautiful by reason of fine linen
or purple, but rather because it is sprinkled with His Blood, which
was shed for our sins. “He was clothed in a robe sprinkled with
blood, and His Name is called the Word of God.” That blood
which the Word, when He became incarnate, took from our human
nature, He gave back to us—every drop of it—as the price of our
redemption. And He gave it back, not as if constrained by anyone,
but freely, because He willed to, because He loved us. “Christ . . .
hath loved us,” says St. John, “and washed us from our sins in His
own Blood.” All the mysteries of our redemption are mysteries of
love; and, therefore, all urge us to love. But the one on which we
meditate today is especially moving since it makes us consider the
redemption from its most terrible aspect: the shedding of the
Blood of Jesus, which, from Calvary, flowed forth to crimson the
whole world, to sprinkle all souls. Christ has redeemed us,
“neither by the blood of goats or of calves, but by His own Blood,”
St. Paul exclaims in the Epistle. This is a great truth which, if
really understood, would more than suffice to make us genuine
saints. We must have a “sense” of Christ’s Blood, that Blood
which He shed to the last drop for us, and which, through the
Sacraments, especially Penance, continually flows over our souls
to cleanse them, purify them and enrich them with the infinite
merits of the Redeemer. “Bathe in His Blood, immerse yourself in
His blood, clothe yourself in the Blood of Christ, “Was St.
Catherine of Siena’s continual cry.
In the Office of the day, St. Paul earnestly invites us to
correspond with Christ’s gift. “Jesus . . . that He might sanctify
the people by His own Blood, suffered outside the gate. Let us go
forth therefore to Him. . . Bearing His reproach.” If we want the
Blood of Christ to bear all its fruit in us, we must unite our own
blood with it. His alone is most precious, so precious that a single
drop is sufficient to save the whole world; nevertheless, Jesus, as
always, wants us to add our little share, our contribution of
suffering and sacrifice, “bearing His reproach.” If we are sincere
we will have to admit that we do all in our power to escape
Christ’s shame and disgrace. A lack of consideration, a slight
offense, a cutting word, are all that it takes to arouse our passions.
How can we say that we know how to share in Christ’s
humiliations? Behold our divine Master treated like a malefactor,
dragged amidst the coarse insults of the soldiers outside the gate of
Jerusalem and there crucified between two thieves! And we?
What part do we take in His Passion? How do we share in His
reproach?
To redeem us, “Jesus … endured the Cross despising the
shame…: and “you,” St. Paul reproaches us, “have not yet resisted
unto blood, striving against sin.” Can we say that we know how to
struggle “unto blood” to overcome our faults, our pride, our self-love?
Oh! How weak and cowardly we are in the struggle, how
self-indulgent and full of pity for ourselves, especially for our
pride! Jesus, Innocence itself, expiated our sins even unto a
bloody, ignominious death! We, the guilty ones, far from atoning
for our faults unto blood, cannot even sacrifice our self-love. The
blood which flows from sincere, total renunciation of self, from
humble, generous acceptance of everything that mortifies, breaks,
and destroys our pride: this is the blood which Jesus asks us to
unite with His!
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