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THE MONTH OF JULY IS DEDICATED TO
THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF
OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR CHRIST JESUS

The month of July (Overview - Calendar) is dedicated to the Precious Blood. The feast of the Precious Blood of our Lord was instituted in 1849 by Pius IX, but the devotion is as old as Christianity. 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 Precious Blood which we worship is the Blood which the Savior shed for us on Calvary and reassumed at His glorious Resurrection; it is the Blood which courses through the veins of His risen, glorified, living body at the right hand of God the Father in heaven; it is the Blood made present on our altars by the words of Consecration; it is the Blood which merited sanctifying grace for us and through it washes and beautifies our soul and inaugurates the beginning of eternal life in it."

The Old Testament

Cain and Abel are making an offering. Abel's sacrifice is pleasing to God, Cain's is not. This gives rise to the sin of hatred, and fratricide is its resolution. The thirsting earth soaks up Abel's blood as it shouts to heaven for vengeance. This shouting prefigured the scene on Calvary, where Christ's Blood cried to heaven for the redemption of mankind.

Millenia pass, and now we see Israel oppressed by Egypt. God commands the people to kill a lamb and to sprinkle the doorposts with its blood; houses thus besprinkled are spared by the messenger of death. But where the doors are not reddened with the blood of the lamb, all male firstborn from king to slave die. This blood on the doorposts was a type of the Blood of Christ. Can the blood of a lamb save a man? No, but as a figure of the Redeemer's Blood it certainly does. For when the Destroyer sees the thresholds of a human heart marked with Christ's sacred Blood, he must pass by. And another soul is saved.

In a vision the prophet Isaias saw a man treading out grapes (in the Orient, trampling upon grapes in the wine-press was the usual means of extracting the juice). The prophet asked the man: "Why are your garments so red? "The wine-press I have trodden alone," he answers, "because from the nations there is no one with me." The trodder of the wine-press is Christ, His garments crimsoned by the Blood of redemption.

Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

The New Testament

The Church reminds us of the first drops of blood that flowed for our redemption on the day when Jesus was circumcised.

It is night on Mount Olivet, and the moon is shining. We see the holy face crimsoned with blood during the agony in the garden.

Unhappy, despairing Judas casts the blood-money down in the temple. "I have betrayed innocent blood!"

In the scourging chamber we see the Lord in deepest humiliation; under raw strokes the divine Blood spurts out over the floor. Christ is led before Pilate. Pilate shows the blood-covered Body to the crowds: Ecce homo! We go through Jerusalem's streets following the bloody footsteps to Golgotha. Down the beams of the Cross blood trickles. A soldier opens His sacred side.

Water and Blood.

Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Symbols of the Precious Blood

Adam is sleeping an ecstatic sleep. God opens his side, removes a rib and forms Eve, the mother of all the living. But our view transcends this action and in spirit we behold the second, the divine Adam, Christ. He is sleeping the sleep of death. From His opened side blood and water flow, symbols of baptism and the Eucharist, symbols of the second Eve, the Church, the Mother of all the living. Through blood and water Christ willed to redeem God's many children and to lead them to an eternal home.

At Jerusalem a service in Yahweh's honor is taking place on the Day of Atonement. The high priest is making his annual entrance into the holy of holies to sprinkle the blood of bucks and bulls upon the covenant in expiation for the sins of the people. The Church shows us the higher meaning of this rite. Our divine High Priest Christ on the first Good Friday entered that Holy of Holies which is not made with hands nor sprinkled with the blood of bucks and bulls; there He effects, once and for all, with His own Blood man's eternal redemption.

A finale. Holy Church transports us to the end. The heavenly liturgy is in progress. Upon the altar is the Lamb, slain yet alive, crimsoned by His own Blood. Round about stand the countless army of the redeemed in garments washed white in the Blood of the Lamb. Hosts of the blessed are singing the new canticle of redemption: "You have redeemed us out of every tribe and tongue and nation by Your Blood."

Now from vision to present reality. How fortunate we are to have divine Blood so near to us, to offer it to the heavenly Father for the sins of the whole world!

Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Devotion to the Precious Blood

Devotion to the Precious Blood is not a spiritual option, it is a spiritual obligation, and that not only for priests, but for every follower of Christ. I really believe that one of the symptoms of modern society (and I would even include, sadly, modern Catholic society) one of the symptoms of a growing, gnawing secularism is the lessening and the weakening of devotion to the Precious Blood. Devotion, as we know, is a composite of three elements: It is first- veneration, it is secondly- invocation, and it is thirdly- imitation. In other words, devotion to the Precious Blood of Christ, the Lamb of God who was slain, is first of all to be veneration on our part, which is a composite of knowledge, love and adoration. We are to study to come to a deeper understanding of what those two casual words, Precious Blood, really mean.

I found this passage in the oldest document, outside of sacred scripture, from the first century of the Christian era – to be exact, from Pope St. Clement I, dated about A.D. 96. Says Pope Clement: "Let us fix our gaze on the Blood of Christ and realize how truly precious It is, seeing that it was poured out for our salvation and brought the grace of conversion to the whole world."

To understand the meaning of the Precious Blood we must get some comprehension of the gravity of sin, of the awfulness of offending God, because it required the Blood of the Son of God to forgive that sin. We are living in an age in which to sin has become fashionable.

This veneration of the Precious Blood, which is the first element in our devotion to the Precious Blood means that we have a deep sensitivity to the awfulness of sin. Sin must be terrible. It must be awful. It must be the most dreadful thing in the universe. Why? Because it cost the living God in human form the shedding of His Blood.

Lord Jesus, You became Man in order by your Passion and Death and the draining of your Blood on the Cross, might prove to us how much You, our God, love us. Protect us, dear Jesus, from ever running away from the sight of blood. Strengthen our weak human wills so that we will not only not run away from the cross, but welcome every opportunity to shed our blood in spirit in union with your Precious Blood, so that, dying to ourselves in time we might live with You in Eternity. Amen.

Excerpted from The Precious Blood of Christ, Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.

The month of July is dedicated to the Precious Blood of our Redeemer. As we adore His Most Sacred Heart, so we also adore His Most Precious Blood.

The Blood of Christ Jesus is the fountain of our salvation. Each drop that flowed from the wounds of the Savior is a pledge of a repentant man’s salvation. Saint John Chrysostom calls the Precious Blood “the savior of souls”; Saint Thomas Aquinas, “the key to heaven’s treasures”; Saint Ambrose, “pure gold of ineffable worth”; Blessed Apostle Saint 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 forgive sin.

The Precious Blood is a cleansing bath. Unlike all other blood, which stains, the Blood of Jesus offers redemption; an opportunity to wash away the stain of worldly sin. According to the words of Blessed Apostle Saint 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 gain for the souls of men the beautiful dress of innocence, and , once regained through humility and the Sacred Sacrament of Penance.

Would that men on earth honored the Precious Blood in the manner in which they who are in heaven give praise and thanksgiving! They proclaim that without His Sacrifice, 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 through His Most Precious Blood we come to know His love and forgiveness!

Source: Heavenly Friends, by Rosalie Marie Levy ( Saint Paul Editions: Boston, 1984)

PROMISES OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

To Those Who Devotedly Pray the Chaplet of the Precious Blood

I promise to protect any person who devoutly prays this Chaplet against evil attacks.
I will guard his five senses.
I will protect him from sudden death.
Twelve hours before his death, he will drink
My Precious Blood and eat My Body.
Twenty-four hours before his death, I will show him My five wounds that he may feel a deep contrition for all his sins and have a perfect knowledge of them.
Any person who makes a novena with it will get their intentions. His prayer will be answered.
I will perform many wonderful miracles through it.
Through it, I will destroy many secret societies and set free many souls in bondage, by My mercy.
Through it, I will save many souls from Purgatory.
I will teach him My way, he who honors My Precious Blood through this Chaplet.
I will have mercy on them who have mercy on My Precious Wounds and Blood.
Whoever teaches this prayer to another person will have an indulgence of four years.

To Those Who Devotedly Pray the Consolation and Adoration Prayers

My children, I promise to protect anyone who devotedly consoles and adores Me with this prayer against evil attacks. He will not die a sudden death. He will not be burned by fire.
My children, I promise to protect anyone who devotedly consoles and adores Me against the attacks of evil spirits.
Any soldier who prays this prayer before entering a battlefield will not be defeated. No bullet will have any effect on him.
If this prayer is said to a woman in labor, she will have lesser pains and any woman who devotedly says these prayers will deliver safely.
Put this prayer on the head of any child disturbed by evil spirits, My Cherubim will protect him.
I promise to protect any family from lightning and thunder effects, and any house where this prayer is will be protected against storms.
If this prayer is said to the dying before his death, I promise that his soul will not be lost.
Any sinner who consoles and adores Me through this prayer will obtain conversion.
I promise to protect them with My Precious Blood and hide them in My Holy Wounds all who console and adore Me. Poison will have no effect on them. I will guard their five senses.
I promise to baptize aborted children who are killed daily in the world, and put a deep contrition on the hearts of their parents through the power of My Precious Blood.
All who devotedly console and adore Me with this prayer until death will join the heavenly Armies and Choirs. I will give them the Morning Star.

To Those Who Hear or Pray the Anguished Appeals

Children, whenever the Reparation Prayer is said with love, I promise to convert the twelve most hardened sinners in the world.
I will allow my Precious Blood to flow into every soul that hears this prayer said. Their love for Me will grow.
I will forgive the sins of a nation that turns back to Me through this prayer. They will not suffer the weight of the curses due to their sins.

For All Those Who Devoutly Observe the Gethsemane Hours

All who remain in Gethsemane with Me will receive a special grace from Me to withstand hard trials. I promise to sustain them with a special grace of faith and love.
During their hour of trials, I will console them, because they console me, now that I am in agony.
Those who are faithful to this hour will have nothing to fear from the antichrist.

On the Crown of Thorns

I will heal the wounds of their hearts, those who adore My Sacred Head through this Crown.
I will console those who console Me through this Crown.
I will open the ocean of the Divine Mercy on those who adore the wounds of My Sacred Head through this Crown.
All who adore the Most Precious Blood from My Sacred Head through this Crown will receive the grace of Divine Wisdom.
I will guard their five senses.
When you touch this Crown with love, I will allow a drop of My Blood to fall on your head.
I will renew the love of a repented sinner who can mercifully adore My Sacred Head with this Crown.
There is always a sprinkle of My Most Precious Blood wherever this thorn is, I am not far; I am near.
I will crown his head with a victorious crown, anyone who adores the Sacred Wounds and Blood of My Sacred Head through this Crown.
I promise to show them My Sacred Head one day before they die, all who love their crown and adore My Sacred Head through it, so as to have perfect knowledge of their sins and repent.
On 15 September 2001, Our Lady asked her Son Jesus to bless the Crown of Thorns with healing power.

To Those Who Devotedly Venerate The Agonizing Crucifix

To prepare you for the battle, I give you My Agonizing Crucifix. I promise to protect anyone who has this Crucifix against the evil forces.
Through this Crucifix, I will deliver many from captivity.
Whenever you raise this Crucifix against evil power, I will open heaven and let My Precious Blood flow to subdue the evil power.
I will let My Precious Blood flow from all.
My Sacred Wounds and cover all who venerate My Wounds and Blood through this Crucifix.
I promise to protect any house where this.
Crucifix is against any destructive power in the hour of darkness.
I promise to perform numerous miracles through this Crucifix.
I will break their hearts of stone and pour My love on them that venerate My Agonizing Crucifix.
I promise also to draw straying souls closer to Myself through this Crucifix.
Children, in the days of the evil one you will be able to go freely without any harm through this Crucifix.
Finally, Our Lord emphasized; "Children, through this Cross I will conquer. This Cross will soon be a victorious Cross."

NIHIL OBSTAT: Rev. Fr. Stephen Obiukwu, Censor Deputatus, Archdiocese of Onitsha, Nigeria.

IMPRIMATUR: His Excellency Most Rev. Ayo-Maria Atoyebi, O.P., Bishop of Ilorin Diocese, Ilorin, Nigeria.

Chaplet of the Most Precious Blood

Hymn
Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ
Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ
Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ
Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ
Most Precious Blood, save the world.

Invocation of the Holy Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love.
L: Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created.
R: And You shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us Pray
O God, Who did teach the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us by the same Spirit to be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolations, through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

May the Precious Blood that pours out from the Sacred Head of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Temple of Divine Wisdom, Tabernacle of Divine Knowledge and Sunshine of heaven and earth, cover us now and forever. Amen.

CONSECRATION TO THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST

Conscious, merciful Savior, of my nothingness and of Thy sublimity, I cast myself at Thy feet and thank Thee for the many proofs of Thy grace shown unto me, Thy ungrateful creature. I thank Thee especially for delivering me by Thy Precious Blood from the destructive power of Satan. In the presence of my dear Mother Mary, my guardian angel, my patron saint, and of the whole company of heaven, I dedicate myself voluntarily with a sincere heart, O dearest Jesus, to Thy Precious Blood, by which Thou hast redeemed the world from sin, death and hell. I promise Thee, with the help of Thy grace and to the utmost of my strength to stir up and foster devotion to Thy Precious Blood, the price of our redemption, so that Thy adorable Blood may be honored and glorified by all. In this way, I wish to make reparation for my disloyalty towards Thy Precious Blood of love, and to make satisfaction to Thee for the many profanations which men commit against that precious price of their salvation. O would that my own sins, my coldness, and all the acts of disrespect I have ever committed against Thee, O Holy Precious Blood, could be undone. Behold, O dearest Jesus, I offer to Thee the love, honor and adoration, which Thy most Holy Mother, Thy faithful disciples and all the saints have offered to Thy Precious Blood. I ask Thee to forget my earlier faithlessness and coldness, and to forgive all who offend Thee. Sprinkle me, O Divine Savior, and all men with Thy Precious Blood, so that we, O Crucified Love, may love Thee from now on with all our hearts, and worthily honor the price of our salvation. Amen.