July 1st - Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus

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Elizabeth
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Posts: 1,227

July 1st - Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Jul 2, 2019 3:59:06 GMT

Post by Elizabeth on Jul 2, 2019 3:59:06 GMT

Most Precious Blood of Jesus

The month of July is dedicated to the Most Precious Blood of the Redeemer. Supreme homage is given to the Sacred Blood. As we adore the Sacred Heart, because it is the Heart of Jesus, who is God, so we adore the Most Precious Blood.

The Blood of Jesus is the fountain of salvation. Each drop that flowed from the wounds of the Saviour is a pledge of man's eternal salvation. All races of the earth have been ransomed, and all individuals, who will allow the saving power of the Sacred Blood to be applied to their soul, are heirs of heaven. St. John Chrysostom calls the Precious Blood the saviour of souls; St. Thomas Aquinas, the key to heaven's treasures; St. Ambrose, pure gold of ineffable worth; St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, a magnet of souls and pledge of eternal life. The sins of mankind, in their number, in their offense to the Supreme Being, in the effects on transgressors, are immense; yet, the Precious Blood of Jesus is not frightened by numbers, it has in Itself the power to appease an angered God and to heal wounded creatures.

The Precious Blood is a cleansing bath. Unlike all other blood, which stains, the Blood of Jesus washes clean and white. According to the words of St. John, in the Apocalypse, the Angels wonder, and the question is asked: These that are clothed in white robes, who are they? The Lord answers: These are they that have washed their robes, and have made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. For no other reason did the Precious Blood flow but to regain for the souls of men the beautiful dress of innocence, and , once regained, to preserve it throughout life and into eternity.

The Blood of the Saviour is a well of consolation for troubled hearts. Can anyone, confidingly, look at the Sacred Blood trickling down from the Cross without taking courage to carry on, in spite of the difficulties which are the common lot of all? One glance at the Cross must be able to drive away fear. And, another, must be able to instill trust in Him who did not rest until the last drop, mingled with water, flowed out of an opened Heart. He, who was willing to do so much for men, must be willing to overlook and forget the frailties which they deeply regret; He must be willing to come to their assistance when harassed, to defend them when tempted, to comfort them when afflicted. The Blood of Jesus must be for Christians what the north-star is to sailors.

Would that men on earth honored the Precious Blood in the manner in which they who are in heaven give honor and praise and thanksgiving! They proclaim that It purchased the glory which they enjoy. Without It, they would have remained slaves of Satan and outcasts from the eternal mansions of God. Let us profess that we owe to the Sacred Blood of Jesus all that we have in this life, and that to It we shall owe all that we shall enjoy in a better and eternal life!

"The inner life of another that is known to God alone becomes to a much less degree open to us through friendship. It partially fills the desire of our incomplete, lonely hearts for completeness in another. Friendship brings out the best in a person through forgetfulness of self." - St. Thomas Aquinas

Admin
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July 1st - Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Jul 1, 2020 14:01:21 GMT

Post by Admin on Jul 1, 2020 14:01:21 GMT

July 1 – Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)

John the Baptist has pointed out the Lamb, Peter has firmly fixed His throne, Paul has prepared the Bride; this their joint work, admirable in its unity, at once suggests the reason for their feasts occurring almost simultaneously on the cycle. The alliance being now secured, all three fall into shade; while the Bride herself, raised up by them to such lofty heights, appears alone before us, holding in her hands the sacred cup of the nuptial-feast.

This gives the key of today’s solemnity; revealing how its illumining the heavens of the holy Liturgy, at this particular season, is replete with mystery. The Church, it is true, has already made known to the sons of the New Covenant, and in a much more solemn manner, the price of the Blood that redeemed them, its nutritive strength, and the adoring homage which is its due. Yes; on Good Friday, earth and heaven beheld all sin drowned in the saving stream, whose eternal flood-gates at last gave way, beneath the combined effort of man’s violence and of the love of the divine Heart. The festival of Corpus Christi witnessed our prostrate worship before the altars whereon is perpetuated the Sacrifice of Calvary, and where the outpouring of the Precious Blood affords drink to the humblest little ones, as well as to the mightiest potentates of earth, lowly bowed in adoration before it. How is it, then, that Holy Church is now inviting all Christians to hail, in a particular manner, the stream of life ever gushing from the sacred fount? What else can this mean, but that the preceding solemnities have by no means exhausted the mystery? The peace which the Blood has made to reign in the high places as well as in the low; the impetus of its wave bearing back the sons of Adam from the yawning gulf, purified, renewed, and dazzling white in the radiance of their heavenly apparel; the Sacred Table outspread before them, on the waters’ brink, and the Chalice brimful of inebriation; all this preparation and display would be objectless, if man were not brought to see therein the wooings of a Love that could never endure its advances to be outdone by the pretensions of any other. Therefore, the Blood of Jesus is set before our eyes, at this moment, as the Blood of the Testament; the pledge of the alliance proposed to us by God; the dower stipulated upon by Eternal Wisdom for this divine union to which he is inviting all men, and whereof the consummation in our soul is being urged forward with such vehemence by the Holy Ghost. This is why the present festival, fixed as it is upon a day that must necessarily be one of the Sundays after Pentecost, does not interrupt, in any way, the teaching which these Sundays are particularly meant to convey, but tends rather to confirm it.

“Having therefore, Brethren, a confidence in the entering into the Holies by the Blood of Christ,” says the Apostle, “a new and living way which he hath dedicated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, let us draw near with a pure heart in fullness of faith, having oru hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with clean water, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he is faithful that hath promised. Let us consider one another to provoke unto charity and to good works. And may the God of peace who brought again from the dead the great pastor of the sheep, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Blood of the everlasting Testament, fit you in all goodness, that you may do his will: doing in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom is glory for ever and ever. Amen!”

Nor must we omit to mention here, that this feast is a monument of one of the most brilliant victories of Holy Church, in our own age. Pius IX had been driven from Rome in 1848, by the triumphant revolution; but the following year, just about this very season, his power was re-established. Under the ægis of the Apostles on June 28th and the two following days, the eldest daughter of the Church, faithful to her past glories, swept the ramparts of the Eternal City; and on July 2nd, Mary’s festival, the victory was completed. Not long after this, a twofold decree notified to the City and to the world the Pontiff’s gratitude and the way in which he intended to perpetuate, in the sacred Liturgy, the memory of these events. On August 10th, from Gaëta itself, the place of his exile in the evil day, Pius IX, before returning to re-assume the government of his States, addressing himself to the invisible Head of the Church, confided her in a special manner to His divine care, by the institution of this day’s Festival; reminding him that it was for His Church that He vouchsafed to shed all His Precious Blood. Then, when the Pontiff re-entered his Capital, turning to Mary, just as Pius V and Pius VII had done under other circumstances, he, the Vicar of Christ, solemnly attributed the honor of the recent victory to Her who is ever the “Help of Christians,” for on the Feast of Her Visitation it had been gained; and he now decreed that this said Feast of July 2nd should be raised from the rite of double-major to that of second class throughout the whole world [Pius XI in 1934 subsequently raised it to the First Class]. This was but a prelude to the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which the immortal Pontiff had already in project, whereby the crushing of the serpent’s head would be completed.

The Mass

The Church, gathered by the Apostles from the midst of all the nations under heaven, advances toward the Altar of the spouse who hath redeemed her in his Blood, and in the Introit hails his Merciful Love. She, henceforth, is the Kingdom of God, the depository of Truth.

Introit

Redimisti nos, Domine, in Sanguine tuo, ex omni tribu, et lingua, et populo, et natione, et fecisti nos Deo nostro regnum.

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.

Ps. Misericordias Domini in æternum cantabo: in generationem et generationem annuntiabo veritatem tuam in ore meo. ℣. Gloria Patri. Redemisti nos.

Ps. The mercies of the Lord I will sing for ever: I will show forth thy truth with my mouth to generation and generation. ℣. Glory, &c. Thou hast.

The Blood of the Man-God being the pledge of peace between heaven and earth, the object of profoundest worship, yea, itself the very center of the whole Liturgy, and our assured protection against all the evils of this present life, deposits, even now, in the souls and bodies of those whom it has ransomed, the germ of eternal happiness. The Church, therefore, in her Collect, begs of the Father, who has given us His Only-Begotten Son, that this divine germ may not remain sterile within us, but may come to full development in heaven.

Collect

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui Unigenitum Filium tuum mundi Redemptorem constituisti, ac ejus Sanguine placari voluisti: concede quæsumus, salutis nostræ pretium solemni cultu ita venerari, atque a præsentis vitæ malis ejus virtute defendi in terris; ut fructu perpetuo lætemur in cœlis. Per eumdem Dominum.

Almighty and everlasting God, who hast appointed thy Only-Begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world, and hast been pleased to be appeased by his Blood: grant us, we beseech thee, so to venerate with solemn worship the price of our salvation, and to be on earth so defended by its power from the evils of this present life, that we may rejoice in its perpetual fruit in heaven. Through the same Lord, &c.

A commemoration is here made of the Sunday, which cedes to the Feast of the Precious Blood the first honors of this day.

Epistle

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Hebræos. Cap. IX.

Fratres, Christus autem assistens pontifex futurorum bonorum, per amplius et perfectius tabernaculum, non manufactum, id est, non hujus creationis: neque per sanguinem hircorum aut vitulorum, sed per proprium sanguinem introivit semel in Sancta, æterna redemptione inventa. Si enim sanguis hircorum et taurorum, et cinis vitulae aspersus inquinatos sanctificat ad emundationem carnis: quanto magis sanguis Christi, qui per Spiritum Sanctum semetipsum obtulit immaculatum Deo, emundabit conscientiam nostram ab operibus mortuis, ad serviendum Deo viventi? Et ideo novi testamenti mediator est: ut morte intercedente, in redemptionem earum prævaricationum, quæ erant sub priori testamento, repromissionem accipiant qui vocati sunt æternæ hæreditatis: in Christo Jesu Domino nostro.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews. Ch. IX.

Brethren, Christ, being come an High Priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hand, that is, not of this creation: Neither by the blood of goats, or of calves, but by his own blood, entered once into the holies, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and of oxen, and the ashes of an heifer being sprinkled, sanctify such as are defiled, to the cleansing of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who by the Holy Ghost offered himself unspotted unto God, cleanse our conscience from dead works, to serve the living God? And therefore he is the mediator of the new testament: that by means of his death, for the redemption of those transgressions, which were under the former testament, they that are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance; in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Epistle that has just been read to us is the confirmation of what we were saying above, as regards the special character of this festival. It was by his own Blood that the Son of God entered into heaven; this divine Blood continues to be the means whereby we also may be introduced into the eternal alliance. Thus, the Old Covenant founded, as it was, on the observance of the precepts fo Sinai, had likewise by blood consecrated the people and the law, the tabernacle and the vessels it was to contain; but the whole was bug a figure. “Now,” says Saint Ambrose, “it behooves us to tend to Truth. Here below, there is the shadow; here below, there is the image; up yonder, there is the Truth. In the law was but the shadow; the image is to be found in the Gospel; the Truth is in heaven. Formerly a lamb was immolated; now Christ is sacrificed, but he is so only under the signs of the mysteries, whereas in heaven it is without veil. There alone, consequently, is full perfection, unto which our thoughts should cleave, because all perfection is in Truth without image and without shadow.” Yea! there alone is rest: thither, even in this world, do the sons of God tend; without indeed attaining fully thereunto, they get nearer and nearer, day by day; for there alone is to be found that peace which forms saints.

“O Lord God,” cries out in his turn another illustrious Doctor, the great Saint Augustine, “give us this peace, the peace of repose, the peace of the seventh day, of that Sabbath whose sun never sets. Yea! verily the whole order of nature and of grace is very beautiful unto thy servitors, and goodly are the realities they cover; but these images, these successive forms, bide only awhile, and their evolution ended, they pass away. The days thou didst fill with thy creations are composed of morning and of evening, the seventh alone excepted, for it declineth not, because thou hast for ever sanctified it, in thine own Rest. Now what is this Rest, save that which thou takest in us, when we ourselves repose in thee, in the fruitful peace which crowns the series of thy graces in us? O sacred Rest, more productive than labor! the perfect alone know thee, they who suffer the divine Hand to accomplish within them the Work of the Six Days.”

And, therefore, our Apostle goes on to say, interpreting, by means of other parts of Scripture, his own words, just read to us by holy Church, and therefore today if ye shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts. The Blood Divine hath rendered us participators of Christ: it is our part not to squander, as though it were worthless, this immense treasure, this initial incorporation which unites us to Christ, the divine Head; but let us abandon ourselves, without fear and without reserve, to the energy of this precious leaven whose property it is to transform our whole being into him. Let us be afraid lest we fall short of the promise referred to in our today’s Epistle, that promise of our entering into God’s Rest, as Saint Paul himself tells us. It regards all believers, he says, and this divine Sabbath is for the whole people of the Lord. Therefore, to enter therein, let us make haste; let us not be like those Jews whose incredulity excluded them forever from the promised land.

The Gradual brings us back to the great testimony of the love of the Son of God, confided to the Holy Ghost, together with the Blood and Water of the Mysteries; a testimony which is closely linked here below with that which is rendered by the Holy Trinity in heaven. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, sings the Verse. What is this, but to say, once again, that we must absolutely yield to these reiterated invitations of love? None may excuse himself, by arguing either ignorance, or want of vocation to a way more elevated than that wherein tepidity is dragging him. Let us hearken to the Apostle addressing himself to all, in this same Epistle to the Hebrews: “Yea, verily; great and ineffable are these things. But if you have become little able to understand them, it is your own fault; for whereas for the time you ought to be masters; you have need to be taught again what are the first elements of the words of God: and you are become such as have need of milk, though your age would require the solid meat of the perfect. Wherefore, as far as concerns us in our instructions to you, leaving the word of the elementary teaching of Christ, let us go on to things more perfect, not laying again the foundation of penance from dead works, and of faith towards God. Have you not been illuminated? have you not tasted also the heavenly gift? have you not been made partakers of the Holy Ghost? What showers of graces, at every moment, water the earth of your soul! it is time that it bring in a return to God who tills it. Ye have delayed long enough: be now, at last, of the number of those who by patience and faith shall inherit the promises, casting your hope like an anchor sure and firm, and which entereth in within the veil, where the forerunner Jesus is entered for us, that is, to draw us in thither after Him.”

Gradual

Hic est qui venit per aquam et sanguinem, Jesus Christus: non in aqua solum, sed in aqua et sanguine.

℣. Tres sunt qui testimonium dant in cœlo: Pater, Verbum, et Spiritus Sanctus; et hi tres unum sunt. Et tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in terra: Spiritus, aqua, et sanguis; et hi tres unum sunt.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Si testimonium accipimus, testimonium Dei majus est. Alleluia.

This is He that came by water and blood, Jesus Christ: not by water only, but by water and blood.

℣. There are three that give testimony in heaven; the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that give testimony on earth; the Spirit, the water, and the blood: and these three are one.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater. Alleluia.

Gospel

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Johannem. Cap. XIX.

In illo tempore: Cum accepisset Jesus acetum, dixit: Consummatum est. Et inclinato capite tradidit spiritum. Judæi ergo (quoniam parasceve erat) ut non remanerent in cruce corpora sabbato (erat enim magnus dies ille sabbati), rogaverunt Pilatum ut frangerentur eorum crura, et tollerentur. Venerunt ergo milites: et primi quidem fregerunt crura, et alterius, qui crucifixus est cum eo. Ad Jesum autem cum venissent, ut viderunt eum jam mortuum, non fregerunt ejus crura, sed unus militum lancea latus ejus aperuit, et continuo exivit sanguis et aqua. Et qui vidit, testimonium perhibuit: et verum est testimonium ejus. Et ille scit quia vera dicit: ut et vos credatis.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to John. Ch. XIX.

At that time, when Jesus had taken the vinegar, he said: It is consummated. And bowing his head, he gave up the ghost. Then the Jews, (because it was the parasceve,) that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath day, (for that was a great sabbath day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. The soldiers therefore came; and they broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with him. But after they were come to Jesus, when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers with a spear opened his side, and immediately there came out blood and water. And he that saw it, hath given testimony, and his testimony is true. And he knoweth that he saith true; that you also may believe.

On that stupendous Day, Good Friday, we heard for the first time this passage from the Beloved Disciple. The Church, as she stood mourning at the foot of the Cross whereon her Lord had just died, was all tears and lamentation. Today, however, she is thrilling with other sentiments, and the very sane narration that then provoked her bitter tears, now makes her burst out into anthems of gladness and songs of triumph. If we would know the reason of this, let us turn to those who are authorized by her to interpret to us the burden of her thoughts this day. They will tell us that the new Eve is celebrating her birth from out the side of her sleeping Spouse; that from the solemn moment when the new Adam permitted the soldier’s lance to open his Heart, we became, in very deed, bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. Be not then surprised, if holy Church sees naught but love and life in the Blood which is gushing forth.

And thou, O soul, long rebellious to the secret touches of choicest graces, be not disconsolate; say not: “Love is no more for me!” How far away soever the old enemy may, by wretched wiles, have dragged thee, is it not still true that to ever winding way, yea, alas! perhaps even to every pitfall, the streamlets of this Sacred Fount have followed thee? Thinkest thou, perhaps, that thy long and tortuous wanderings from the merciful course of these ever pursuant waters may have weakened their power? Do but try: do but, first of all, bathe in their cleansing wave; do but quaff long draughts from this stream of life; then, O weary soul, arming thee with faith, be strong, and mount once more the course of the divine torrent. For, as in order to reach thee, it never once was separated from its fountain head, so likewise be certain that by so doing, thou needs must reach the very Source Itself. Believe me, this is the whole secret of the Bride, namely, that whence soever she may come, she has no other course to pursue than this, if she would fain hear the answer to that yearning request expressed in the Sacred Canticle: Show me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou restest in the mid-day! So much so indeed, that by re-ascending the sacred Stream, not only is she sure of reaching the Divine Heart, but moreover she is ceaselessly renewing, in its waters, that pure beauty which makes her become, in the eyes of the Spouse, an object of delight and of glory to him. For thy part, carefully gather up today the testimony of the Disciple of love; and congratulating Jesus, with the Church, his Bride and thy Mother, on the brilliancy of her empurpled robe, take good heed likewise to conclude with St. John: Let us then love God, since he hath first loved us.

The Church, while presenting her gifts for the sacrifice, sings how that Chalice which she is offering to the benediction of her sons, the priests, becomes by virtue of the sacred words, the inexhaustible source whence the Blood of her Lord flows out upon the whole world.

Offertory

Calix benedictionis, cui benedicimus, nonne communicatio Sanguinis Christi est? Et panis quem frangimus, nonne participatio Corporis Domini est?

The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?

The Secret begs for the full effect of the divine alliance, of which the Lord’s Blood is both the means and the pledge; since its effusion, continually renewed in the Sacred Mysteries, has hushed the cry of vengeance that the blood of Abel had sent up from earth to Heaven.

Secret

Per hæc divina mysteria, ad novi, quæsumus, Testamenti mediatorem Jesum accedamus; et super altaria tua, Domine virtutum, aspersionem Sanguinis melius loquentem quam Abel innovemus. Per eumdem.

By these divine mysteries, we beseech thee that we may approach to Jesus, the Mediator of the New Testament; and that upon thy Altars, O Lord of Hosts, we may renew the sprinkling of that Blood, speaking better than that of Abel. Through the same, &c.

A Commemoration of the Sunday is then made: and the Priest entones the triumphant Preface of the Cross, for thereon was the ineffable union concluded in the divine Blood.

Preface

Vere dignum et justum est, æquum et salutare, nos tibi semper et ubique gratias agere, Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, æterne Deus: Qui salutem humani generis in ligno Crucis constituisti: ut unde mors oriebatur, inde vita resurgeret: et qui in ligno vincebat, in Ligno quoquo vinceretur: per Christum Dominum nostrum. Per quem Majestatem tuam laudant Angeli, adorant Dominationes, tremunt Potestates. Cœli, cœlorumque Virtutes, ac beata Seraphim, socia exsultatione concelebrant. Cum quibus et nostras voces, ut admitti jubeas deprecamur, supplici confessione dicentes; Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, &c.

It is truly meet and just, right and available to salvation, that we should always, and in all places, give thanks to thee, O holy Lord, Father Almighty, eternal God. Who hast appointed that the salvation of mankind should be wrought on the wood of the Cross; that from whence death came, thence life might arise; and that he who overcame by the tree, might also by the Tree be overcome; through Christ our Lord; by whom the Angels praise thy Majesty, the Dominations adore it, the Powers tremble before it; the Heavens and the heavenly virtues, and the blessed Seraphim, with common jubilee glorify it. Together with whom, we beseech thee that we may be admitted to join our humble voices, saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, &c.

The Communion Antiphon hails the merciful love of which our Lord gave proof by his coming, not suffering himself to be turned aside from his divine projects by the accumulation of crimes which he must destroy in his own Blood, in order to purify the Bride. Thanks to the adorable mystery of faith operating in the secret of hearts, when he shall come again visibly, nothing will remain of this sad past but a memory of victory.

Communion

Christus semel oblatus est ad multorum exhaurienda peccata; secundo sine peccato apparebit exspectantibus se, in salutem.

Christ was offered once to exhaust the sins of many; the second time he shall appear without sin to them that expect him, unto salvation.

Inebriated with gladness at the Savior’s fountains, his sacred Wounds, let us pray that the Precious Blood now empurpling our lips may remain unto eternity, the living Source whence we may ever draw beatitude and life.

Postcommunion

Ad sacram, Domine, mensam admissi, hausimus aquas in gaudio de fontibus Salvatoris: Sanguis ejus fiat nobis, quæsumus, fons aquæ in vitam æternam salientis. Qui tecum vivit et regnat.

Having been admitted to the holy Table, O Lord, we have drawn waters in joy from the fountains of our Savior: may his Blood, we beseech thee, become within us a fountain of water springing up to Eternal Life. Who liveth and reigneth, &c.

Then is made a Commemoration of the Sunday, the Gospel of which is likewise read instead of that of Saint John, at the end of Mass.

VESPERS

Yesterday, at the opening of the feast, the Church sang ‘Who is this that cometh from Bosra, in Edom, with his robe so richly dyed? Comely is he in his vesture! It is I,’ replied he, ‘I whose word is full of justice, I who am a defender, to save.’ He that spoke thus was clad in a garment dyed with blood, and the name given unto him is the Word of God. ‘Wherefore, then,’ continued the Church, ‘is thy robe all bespotted, and thy garments like tot hose who tread in the wine-press? I have trodden the wine-press alone, and among men none was there to lend aid.’

Thus did he appear, by the virtue of his divine Blood, to whom the psalmist exclaimed: ‘Arise in thy glory and beauty, march forward unto victory!’ (Psalm 44) After this first sublime dialogue concerning the Spouse, another, this morning, pointed out to us the bride drawing for herself from this precious Blood that superhuman loveliness which beseems the nuptial banquet of the Lamb. The Lauds antiphons brought upon the scene the members of holy Church, especially her martyrs in whom her radiant beauty glitters most of all: ‘These who are clad in white robes, who are they, and whence come they? These are they stand before the throne of God, ministering to him day and night. They have conquered the dragon by the Blood fo the Lamb and the word of the Testament. Blessed are they who have washed their robes in the Blood of the Lamb!’

This evening the Church returns to her Lord, repeating at her Second Vespers the same antiphons as at her first.

ANT. Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra, this beautiful one in his robe?

Ps. Dixit Dominus.

ANT. I that speak justice and am a defender to save.

Ps. Confitebor tibi Domine.

ANT He was clothed in a robe sprinkled with blood, and his name is called the Word of God.

Ps. Beatus vir.

ANT. Why then is thy apparel red, and thy garments to them that tread the wine-press?

Ps. Laudate pueri.

ANT. I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the Gentiles there is not a man with me.

PSALM 147

Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise thy God, O Sion.

Because he hath strengthened the bolts of thy gates, he hath blessed thy children within thee.

Who hath placed peace in thy borders: and filleth thee with the fat of corn.

Who sendeth forth his speech to the earth: his word runneth swiftly.

Who giveth snow like wool: scattereth mists like ashes.

He sendeth his crystal like morsels: who shall stand before the face of his cold?

He shall send out his word, and shall melt them: his wind shall blow, and the waters shall run.

Who declareth his word to Jacob: his justices and his judgments to Israel.

He hath not done in like manner to every nation: and his judgments he hath not made manifest to them.

ANT. I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the Gentiles there is not a man with me.

CAPITULUM

(Hebrews ix)

Brethren, Christ, being come to a High Priest of the good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, neither by the blood of goats nor of calves, but by his own Blood, entered once into the Holies, having obtained eternal redemption.

HYMN

Let the streets re-echo with festive song, let the brow of every citizen beam gladsomeness; let young and old file along, in order due, bearing lighted torches.

Being mindful of that Blood which Christ, upon the cruel tree, did dying shed for many a thousand wounds, let us at least, the while, pour forth our mingling tears.

Grave loss befell the human race, by the old Adam’s sin. The new Adam’s sinlessness and tender love have life restored to all.

If the eternal Father heard on high the strong cry of his expiring Son, far more is he appeased by this dear Blood and is thereby enforced to grant us pardon.

Whosoever in this Blood his robe doth wash, is wholly freed from stain, and roseate beauty gains, whereby he is made like unto angels well-pleasing to the King.

Henceforth, let none inconstant from the straight path withdraw but let the furthest goal be fairly touched. May God, who aideth them that run the race, bestow the noble prize.

Be though propitious to us, O almighty Father, that those whom thou didst purchase by the Blood of thine only-begotten Son, and whom thou dost re-create in the Paraclete Spirit, thou mayest one day transfer unto the heavenly heights.

Amen.

℣. We beseech thee, therefore, help thy servants.

℟. Whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious Blood.

Though this feast passes away like all else here below, the object it celebrates remains, and is the treasure of the world. Let, then, this feast be fore each one of us, as it indeed is for the Church herself, a monument of heaven’s sublimest favors. Each year, as it recurs in the cycle, may our hearts be found bearing new fruits of love, that have budded forth, watered by the fructifying dew of the precious Blood.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Ye shall observe this day for a memorial, and ye shall keep it holy unto the Lord, in your generations, with an everlasting worship.

COLLECT

Almighty and eternal God, who has appointed thy only-begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world, and hast been pleased to be appeased by His Blood: grant us, we beseech thee, so to venerated with solemn worship the price of our salvation, and to be on earth so defended by its power from the evils of this present life, that we may rejoice in its perpetual fruit in heaven. Through the same Lord, etc.

We here add the Matins hymn of the feast, which is redolent of grace and tenderness.

HYMN

The just ire of the Creator did erst the guilty world submerge beneath the vengeful rain of waters, Noe, in the Ark sequestered safe the while. But yet more wondrous still the violence of love that hath the world in Blood now laved.

The happy world, watered by such salubrious rain, now buds forth fair flowers, where erst sprang naught but thorns: yea, now hath wormwood nectar’s savory sweetness e’en assumed.

The cruel serpent hath suddenly laid aside his poison dire, and vanished is the wild ferocity of beasts: such the victory of the wounded Lamb all meek!

O depth inscrutable of heavenly wisdom! O benignant tenderness of love Thus every heart aloud proclaims: The slave was worthy of death, and the King, in goodness infinite, did undergo the punishment.

When by his sin we provoke the wrath of the judge divine, then by the pleading of this eloquent Blood may we be protected.

Then may the throng of threatened evils pass from us away!

Let the ransomed world praise thee, bringing her grateful gifts, O thou, the leader and loving author of eternal salvation, who, together with the Father and the Holy Ghost, dost possess the blessed kingdom. Amen.

"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Archbp. Lefebvre 1980

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July 1st - Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Jul 1, 2020 14:07:29 GMT

Post by Admin on Jul 1, 2020 14:07:29 GMT

The following are adapted from the Our Lady of Fatima Chapel email, found here.

Offering of the Most Precious Blood

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ in atonement for my sins, and in supplication for the holy souls in purgatory and for the needs of Holy Church. - 500 days indulgence; an indulgence of 3 years if recited during July, the Month of the Most Precious Blood.

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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 takes away the sins of the world,
spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us, O Lord.

V. Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord, in Thy Blood.
R. And made us, for our God, a Kingdom.

Let us pray:

Almighty and eternal God, Thou hast appointed Thine only-begotten Son the Redeemer of the world, and willed to be appeased by His Blood. Grant we beg of Thee, that we may worthily adore this price of our salvation, and through its power be safeguarded from the evils of the present life, so that we may rejoice in its fruits forever in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

The Most Precious Blood

"Converse in fear during the time of your sojourning here; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible gold or silver,

but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled." - Peter 1:18

July is the month consecrated to the Most Precious Blood. Supreme homage is given to this Sacred Blood, for as we adore the Sacred Heart, because it is the Heart of Christ, who is God, so too we adore His Most Precious Blood.

Christ's Precious Blood is the price of our Redemption, and is poured out daily in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, whence it flows into the channels of the seven Sacraments, as an atonement for our sins and for our sanctification. For, as in Egypt, God was propitiated by the blood of the paschal lamb - the type and figure of the true Lamb of God - so He is propitiated by the blood of his Son, the true Paschal Lamb.

If only the souls on earth would honor the Precious Blood in the manner in which they who are in heaven give honor and praise and thanksgiving! They proclaim that this Blood purchased the glory which they enjoy. Without It, they would have remained slaves of Satan and outcasts from the eternal mansions of God.

Let us profess that we owe to the Sacred Blood of Jesus all that we have in this life, and that to His Blood we shall owe all that we shall enjoy in a better and eternal life to come. If we consider this truth always, it will sustain and strengthen us in fulfilling our daily duty, amidst the many crosses, toils and disappointments which God wills to bless us with.

For herein is the strongest evidence of the infinite love of Jesus Christ, who not only once - but seven times, shed His Precious Blood amidst the most cruel sufferings for our salvation. Let this seven-fold shedding of the Most Precious Blood be the subject of our thoughts often; especially during the days of July. With this intention, we provide these beautiful meditations for assistance and inspiration:

Christ's First Shedding of Blood - The Circumcision

Jesus shed His blood the first time when He was circumcised. According, to the law of Moses, every Israelite male child was to be circumcised eight days after his birth. This circumcision was a sign of the covenant which God had made with the children of Israel. The circumcised belonged only to the people of Israel, and partook of the graces which God bestowed on this people; they were also obliged to observe the law of Moses.

Out of obedience to the laws, Jesus permitted Himself to be presented in the temple, to be circumcised, but thereby He had a far higher purpose; He wished to indicate the mystery that He would redeem us by the shedding of His precious blood.

When our Savior was born in Bethlehem, the holy angels announced Him as our Redeemer, without intimating, however, in what manner He was to redeem the world. Eight days later Jesus Himself revealed this mystery of blood by His circumcision. As a rosy morn announces an evening rain, so this rosy morn of circumcision means nothing else than that in the evening of His life His blood was to flow, like rain, from all the veins of His sacred body.

This first shedding of the precious blood is an exhortation to us to serve Jesus from our earliest childhood. When He shed His blood as a mere infant, is it not becoming that we should devote to His service the years of our childhood? But, alas! how many of us have urgent reasons to exclaim with David: "The sins of my youth and my ignorance do not remember." - Ps. 24: 7

Think of the years of your childhood; did you not pass them in levity? Did not some of you suffer shipwreck of your innocence and commit grievous sins in those years. Call to mind the years of your youth. Did you not commit sins then, which perhaps on your death-bed will lie on your conscience as a heavy load? Let us then repent of the many sins of our childhood and youth and let us at least henceforth lead a penitent life. You, Catholic parents, possess a special means of atoning for the sins of your youth by educating your children in the fear and love of God.

The Agony of Jesus in the Garden

The Evangelist says: "And being in an agony, He prayed the longer And His sweat became as drops of blood trickling down upon the ground." - Luke, 22: 43. 44

The love of Jesus was so great that He would not wait for the scourges, thorns and nails, but, as the myrrh sends forth its precious oil through the foliage before its bark is cut, so His infinite love and His desire to redeem us urged Him to shed for us His innocent blood in the garden of Olives as a sacrifice of propitiation.

This shedding of blood in the garden of Olives was the most painful of all His sufferings; for it was not caused by external, bodily wounds, but by internal sufferings, by the agony of His soul. Jesus anticipated in it His entire Passion, which was vividly represented before His eyes. He trembled at the thought of the loss of so many souls for whom He foresaw He would die in vain; who might be saved, but will not. When the death agony is very severe, you notice with heartfelt compassion, large drops of sweat on the brow and face of the dying. But there was never heard of a dying man who sweat drops of blood. Our Savior alone exhibited this sign of mortal anguish at the moment when He commenced His sacred Passion.

A legend says that on every place where a drop of Jesus's blood trickled down, a flower sprang up. Spiritually explained, this legend is literally true. Meditation on our Savior's shedding blood in the garden is the fruitful seed of virtue. Can you be so cruel as to offend Jesus again by sins, when you remember His sadness of spirit and His agony caused by your sins, which was so vehement that he sweat blood? Or can you be indifferent to your own salvation and persevere in an impenitent spirit when you reflect that the remembrance of His sacred Passion being fruitless in regard to many sinners because of their obduracy, made the Son of God sweat blood?

Jesus is Scourged at the Pillar

Thus St. Matthew says that ''Pilate having scourged Jesus, delivered Him to the Jews to be crucified. The Jews were forbidden by law to inflict more than forty stripes. The Romans had no number of stripes fixed by law. That Jesus was scourged after the manner of the Romans is evident from the fact that it was a Roman judge that passed sentence upon Him, as also from the words of Jesus: "They shall deliver the Son of Man to the Gentiles to be mocked, and to be scourged, and to be crucified." - Matt. 20: 19

This punishment, as inflicted by the Romans, was one of excessive cruelty. Many expired before it was finished. As Pilate by the punishment of scourging intended to move the Jews to compassion, it is to be inferred that it was inflicted on Jesus with the utmost cruelty. The prophets who saw in spirit our scourged Savior, say of Him that "from the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein; wounds and bruises and swelling sores." - Isaiah,1:6. They say there was no beauty in Him, nor comeliness; that they thought Him, as it were, a leper, and as one struck by God. - Is. 53: 2-5

Our Savior was so cruelly scourged that even Pilate, the heartless Gentile, cried out at the pitiable sight: "Ecce Homo" - Behold the Man.

St. Bridget, when a child of ten years, saw in a vision our Savior in the act of being scourged. The good child, moved to compassion, said: "Who has disfigured you thus?" Jesus answered: "Not the Jews only have done it, but all those who despise my love."

And who are these? Especially those Catholics who do not endeavor to restrain the passions of their flesh. If your conscience reproaches you with having scourged your Redeemer anew by committing such heinous sins, repair the outrage by a virtuous and penitential life. "Let not sin therefore, reign in your mortal body so as to obey the lusts thereof," (Rom. 6: 12); on the contrary, "mortify your members which are upon the earth," (Col. 3: 5); and make no provision for the flesh in its concupiscence. - Rom. 13: 14

Jesus is Crowned with Thorns

The Evangelist, St. Matthew, relates this cruel coronation, in the following manner: "Then the soldiers of the governor, taking Jesus into the hall, gathered together unto Him the whole band, and stripping Him, they put a scarlet cloak about Him. And plaiting a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand. And bowing the knee before Him, they mocked Him saying: Hail, king of the Jews. And spitting upon Him, they took the reed and struck His head." - Matt. 27: 27-30.

The adorable head of Jesus had thus its own sufferings. The coronation was as ignominious as it was painful; ignominious, because in order to jeer at His pretensions, they put a crown of thorns upon His head; painful, because of the many wounds the thorns made in His head.

The coronation is to us an earnest exhortation to banish all proud and ambitious thoughts from our minds. Jesus crowned with thorns says to us: "Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart." - Matt. 11: 29

"Far be it from me," said St. Elizabeth of Hungary, "that I, poor creature that I am, should appear with a bright crown upon my head before my God and Savior, who, being King of heaven and earth, wore a crown of thorns."

Jesus Carries His Cross

We cannot doubt that Jesus shed blood when He carried the cross. When He took the Cross upon his shoulders, He was already bruised, and full of wounds, which, being fresh, bled continually; He also fell several times under the heavy weight of the Cross, whereby He received new wounds, out of which blood flowed; He was also struck by the soldiers and executioners, and this could not be done without shedding blood.

The precious blood which Jesus shed when carrying the Cross, points out to us the way that leads to heaven. It is no other way than that which He trod before us; the way of the Cross. Jesus Himself declares: "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." - Matt. 16: 24

Both the sinner and the just man must tread this bloody way; the sinner, because without mortification he is not able to overcome his passions and do penance; the just man, because without self-denial it is impossible to resist the many temptations with which all are assailed, to make progress in virtue, and to persevere in justice to the end. Let us follow Jesus on the way of the Cross, let us suffer with Him, that we may be glorified with Him. - Rom. 8: 7

Jesus is Crucified

St. John (19: 18) says: "Bearing His own cross, he went forth to that place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him." Having arrived at the place of execution, the soldiers stripped off His clothes, and crucified Him, by piercing His hands and feet with heavy nails, and fastening them to the wood of the cross. Who is able to describe the torments of our dear Lord, when He was nailed to the cross and hung thereon, supported by His own wounds? How truly can He cry out with the Prophet: "O all ye that pass by the way, attend and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow." - Lam. 1: 12

Cast one glance at your crucified Redeemer and take to heart the words of St. Bernard:

"I need no other evidence to convince me how grievous an evil sin must be. I know sufficiently from the nature of the medicine; the nature of my wound, and the remedy being so painful, I clearly see how dangerous my disease was. God Himself, the holy and innocent God, would suffer in His human nature for the sins that we regard so little; for the guilty pleasures we enjoy so easily, God Himself would die the death, the most ignominious death, of the Cross."

O let us make the resolution, never again to offend God by a mortal sin.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is Pierced

"When the soldiers came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs, but one of the soldiers opened His side with a spear and immediately there came out blood and water." - John, 19: 33, 34

Blood and water came out as an evidence that these were the last drops of the Sacred Blood. Thus it is literally true, that our Redeemer shed the last drop of His blood for us. We are reminded of this infinite charity by the separate consecration of bread and wine in holy Mass, for after the Elevation the Body and the Blood of Christ appear separated, the sacred species being separated on the altar.

By the shedding of the precious blood from the wound of the Sacred Heart, our Savior gave us the last proof of His infinite love. Let us return the love of Jesus by devoting to Him all the affections of our heart. Let us give Him a proof of our love by fulfilling His divine will and fearing nothing so much as to offend Him.

"He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me." - John, 14: 21.

Conclusion

Thus Jesus shed His precious blood seven times, and the price of these seven sheddings of blood is found in the seven Sacraments, by which we are cleansed from sin and sanctified.

These seven sheddings of blood remind us also of the three Theological and the four Cardinal virtues; also of the seven virtues opposed to the seven deadly or capital sins, which are infused into us by baptism; also of the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, which we receive in confirmation, and finally of the seven days of the week, which we should dedicate to the service of God.

The covenant between God and the Israelites was sealed with blood. The new covenant was sealed with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

The covenant between God and men is sealed again as many times as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered to God. Assist, whenever you can, at the tremendous Sacrifice of the Mass, and frequently receive Our Lord in holy communion.