Yesterday, the Roman Martyrology commemorated the Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Pope Saint Pius X had assigned this date for the celebration of this great feast.
This feast has a great theological significance. Christ’s Blood is inestimably precious because it is His own ransom paid for our redemption. The Bible strongly proclaims this world transforming truth. The Letter to the Ephesians says: “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us” (Eph 1:7-8). In the Matthean Gospel Jesus tells his disciples while taking the cup filled with wine: “Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26: 27-28).
Christ, the High Priest, our Mediator, gave us our eternal redemption through the voluntary offering of Himself in a violent death on the Cross. The Letter to the Hebrews states: “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant” (Heb 9:11-15).
The saints’ extraordinary witness persuade us to invoke Christ’s Blood on us and on those who need God’s mercy around us. The Italian Carmelite nun and mystic, St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, wrote: “It is not as severed from Jesus' Sacred Body that the Precious Blood is now to be adored and offered, but as It is, at this moment, within the living Jesus, in heaven and in the Blessed Sacrament. Therefore, the soul that possesses the Precious Blood has everything and desires nothing more. The offering of the Precious Blood is of infinite efficacy. It begs remission for past sins or rather exacts it. It is a remedy against future sin; it returns thanks for all graces general or personal; it procures help from on high and brings comfort to the living and the dead. The practice of offering the Precious Blood is most pleasing to God; because, through It, He is glorified in the most sublime and excellent manner. As often as a creature offers the Precious Blood by which it was redeemed, it offers a gift of unequalled and infinite price”.
Yes! The Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Christ shows us why his Blood is of an unequalled and infinite value. The Blood of Christ, the only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father, the Incarnate Word, is the Blood that fell upon the earth in the Agony and shed profusely in the scourging. This Blood, which flew forth in the Crowning with Thorns and was poured out on the Cross is the price of our salvation. Without this Blood there is no forgiveness.
Christ’s Blood is the Eucharistic drink that gives refreshment to our souls. It is the stream of mercy, the sure victory over demons, the courage of Martyrs, the strength of Confessors, the bringing forth of Virgins, the help of those in peril, the relief of the burdened, the solace in sorrow, the hope of the penitent, the consolation of the dying, the peace and tenderness of hearts, the pledge of eternal life, the most powerful means through which souls are freed from purgatory. That is why Christ’s Blood is the most worthy of all glory and honour!
Benefit from the infinite merits of Christ’s Blood by praying the Chaplet of the Precious Blood that is on YouTube .
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap