There is nothing ordinary about the Blood of Jesus Christ.
It is the Blood of the Incarnate Word, poured out for sinners upon the altar of the Cross. It is the price of our redemption, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, and the fountain from which the sacramental life of the Church flows.
For centuries, Catholic tradition has dedicated the month of July to the contemplation of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Pope Saint John Paul II described the Precious Blood as an “unfathomable mystery of love and mercy” and reminded the faithful that the freedom won by Christ came at the price of His own life and Blood (John Paul II, 2001).
In the traditional Roman calendar, July begins with the First Class Feast of the Most Precious Blood on July 1. After the feasts of Corpus Christi and the Sacred Heart, Holy Mother Church draws our attention once more to Calvary. She places before us not merely an image of Our Lord’s suffering, but the very price with which our souls were purchased.
Why Is the Blood of Christ Called Precious?
Saint Peter writes:
“Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver, from your vain conversation of the tradition of your fathers: But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled” (Douay-Rheims Bible, 1 Pet. 1:18-19).
Gold and silver can purchase the things of this world. They cannot purchase the freedom of a soul enslaved by sin.
The Blood of Jesus is infinitely precious because it belongs to the Sacred Humanity of Christ, which is united to the divine Person of the Eternal Word. As Pope Saint John Paul II explained, the Blood of Christ is the source of salvation precisely because it is the Blood of the Word made flesh (John Paul II, 2000).
The Blood shed at Our Lord’s Circumcision, during His Agony in the Garden, at His Scourging, beneath the Crown of Thorns, along the road to Calvary, upon the Cross, and from His pierced Sacred Side is the Blood of God made man.
Pope John XXIII called the Blood of Christ the price of our redemption and the pledge of salvation and eternal life (John XXIII, 1960). Devotion to the Precious Blood is therefore not a morbid preoccupation with suffering. It is the grateful contemplation of the price Our Lord willingly paid to free us from sin and eternal death.
The Blood of the Covenant
Throughout the Old Testament, blood signified life, sacrifice, purification, and covenant.
At the first Passover, the Israelites placed the blood of the sacrificed lamb upon the doorposts of their homes. When the destroying angel saw the blood, he passed over them.
Later, Moses sealed the covenant between God and Israel by sprinkling the people with the blood of sacrifice:
“And he took the blood and sprinkled it upon the people, and he said: This is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words” (Douay-Rheims Bible, Exod. 24:8).
These sacrifices prepared the way for the one perfect and eternal Sacrifice.
At the Last Supper, Our Lord took the chalice and deliberately recalled the covenant at Sinai:
“For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins” (Douay-Rheims Bible, Matt. 26:28).
The blood of animals could only prefigure redemption. The Blood of Christ accomplished it.
Pope Benedict XVI explained that the theme of blood, especially in connection with the Paschal Lamb, holds a place of great importance in Sacred Scripture. Christ entered the Holy of Holies not with the blood of goats or calves, but with His own Blood, thereby obtaining eternal redemption (Benedict XVI, 2009).
The Epistle of the Feast of the Most Precious Blood expresses this mystery:
“Neither by the blood of goats, or of calves, but by his own blood, entered once into the holies, having obtained eternal redemption” (Douay-Rheims Bible, Heb. 9:12).
The Blood of Christ does not merely cleanse the body according to the ceremonies of the old law. It purifies the conscience, frees man from dead works, and restores him to the service of the living God.
“Thou Hast Redeemed Us, O Lord, in Thy Blood”
The Mass of the Most Precious Blood opens with the triumphant words of the Apocalypse:
“Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord, in Thy Blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation: and hast made us to our God a kingdom” (Propria, 2020).
The feast is solemn, but it is not sorrowful in the same manner as Good Friday. The Sacrifice has been accomplished. The Lamb who was slain now reigns in glory. His Blood has conquered sin, death, and the devil.
The Gospel of the feast returns us to Calvary. Saint John tells us that after Our Lord had given up His spirit, a soldier opened His side with a spear:
“But one of the soldiers with a spear opened his side, and immediately there came out blood and water” (Douay-Rheims Bible, John 19:34).
The Fathers of the Church saw in this mystery the birth of the Church. As Eve was formed from the side of the sleeping Adam, the Bride of Christ came forth from the pierced side of the new Adam as He slept in death upon the Cross.
The Blood and water also signify the sacramental life of the Church, especially the waters of Baptism and the Precious Blood of the Holy Eucharist.
The traditional Mass does not permit us to think of Calvary as a distant historical event. At every true Mass, the same Christ who offered Himself upon the Cross is made present upon the altar. The Sacrifice of Calvary is not repeated. It is made sacramentally present in an unbloody manner.
The Offertory of the feast asks:
“The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ?” (Propria, 2020).
The Precious Blood is not merely something Catholics remember. It is the Blood we adore beneath the sacramental appearances. It is the Blood of the Victim offered to the Father. It is the Blood by which every grace in the Christian life has been purchased.
The History of the Feast
Devotion to the Precious Blood is far older than the formal establishment of its feast. It is rooted in Sacred Scripture, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the writings of the Fathers, and the Church’s ancient veneration of the Passion of Christ.
The feast was extended to the universal Church by Pope Pius IX in 1849.
At the time, Pope Pius IX was living in exile at Gaeta. Don Giovanni Merlini, the third superior general of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, suggested that the Pope extend the feast to the entire Church. Pope Pius IX agreed, and on August 10, 1849, he decreed that the first Sunday of July would be dedicated to the Most Precious Blood (Müller, 1911).
The feast was later assigned to July 1. In the 1962 Roman calendar, it is celebrated as a First Class feast with red vestments.
Pope John XXIII had a deep personal devotion to the Precious Blood. In 1960, he issued the apostolic letter Inde a Primis, encouraging devotion to the Blood of Christ and approving the Litany of the Most Precious Blood for public and private use (Benedict XVI, 2009; John XXIII, 1960).
The Church continues to recommend several forms of devotion to the Precious Blood, including the Litany, the Chaplet of the Precious Blood, Eucharistic adoration, thanksgiving for the gift of Redemption, and prayers for mercy and pardon (Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 2001).
These devotions are not meant to remain confined to churches or religious communities. They belong in Catholic homes. Children should grow up hearing the Litany of the Precious Blood and learning that their salvation was purchased at a great price.
Devotion begins in the home.
How to Honor the Precious Blood During July
The most fitting way to honor the Precious Blood is to assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with greater attention and reverence. When possible, Catholics should attend Mass on July 1 and receive Holy Communion in the state of grace.
The month of July is also a fitting time to pray the Litany of the Most Precious Blood. The Litany traces the mystery of salvation from the old covenant to Calvary, the Holy Eucharist, and the final victory of Christ.
Catholic families may also meditate upon the occasions when Our Lord shed His Blood:
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At His Circumcision
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During His Agony in the Garden
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At His Scourging
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At His Crowning with Thorns
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Along the road to Calvary
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During His Crucifixion
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When His Sacred Side was pierced
These seven sheddings of the Blood of Christ have traditionally formed the basis of the Chaplet of the Precious Blood and other Catholic devotions (Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 2001).
July is also an appropriate time to offer acts of reparation for blasphemy, sacrilege, irreverence toward the Blessed Sacrament, and the sins by which Our Lord continues to be offended.
The faithful may pray for the conversion of sinners, for the release of the Holy Souls from Purgatory, for persecuted Christians, and for those who are in danger of dying without the sacraments.
It is also a fitting month in which to make a careful examination of conscience and a worthy Confession. Every absolution received in the sacrament was purchased by the Blood of Christ.
Families may place a crucifix in a place of honor and spend a few quiet minutes each day contemplating the wounds of Our Lord. A candle may be lit before the crucifix during family prayer, not merely as decoration, but as a small outward sign of reverence.
The flame reminds us of the faith that must remain burning within the soul. The crucifix keeps before our eyes the cost of our redemption.
Purchased at a Great Price
Modern man speaks easily of dignity, love, freedom, and mercy, but he often forgets the Cross.
The Precious Blood teaches us what those words truly mean.
Our dignity is revealed by the price God paid for us. Divine love is revealed in the wounds of Christ. True freedom was won through His obedience unto death. Mercy is not the denial of sin, but the forgiveness of sin through the Sacrifice of the Redeemer.
We were not cheaply purchased.
Each soul was bought with the Blood of Jesus Christ. That truth should change the way we approach the altar, the way we receive the sacraments, the way we resist temptation, and the way we look upon every person for whom Christ died.
Pope Benedict XVI wrote that even a person in a state of great moral misery can look upon the wounds of the Crucified Christ and recognize that God has not abandoned him. The Blood of Christ remains the pledge of God’s faithful love for humanity (Benedict XVI, 2009).
May this month of July deepen our gratitude for the Redemption and increase our reverence for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
May the Precious Blood guard our homes, cleanse our souls, strengthen us against temptation, and bring us at last to eternal life.
Most Precious Blood of Jesus, save us.
References
Benedict XVI. (2009, July 5). Angelus. The Holy See.
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. (2001). Directory on popular piety and the liturgy: Principles and guidelines. The Holy See.
John Paul II. (2000, July 1). Address to the “Sanguis Christi” Union and Jubilee pilgrims. The Holy See.
John Paul II. (2001, July 1). Angelus. The Holy See.
John XXIII. (1960, June 30). Inde a primis: Promoting devotion to the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy See.
Müller, U. (1911). Feast of the Most Precious Blood. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
Propria. (2020). The feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ: Proper prayers of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form.