Anonymous - Devotion to the Precious Blood

Devotion to the
Precious
Blood

Including Prayers
to the Precious
Blood

Originally published by the Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration, Clyde, Missouri. 6th Edition, 1926.

ISBN: 978-0-89555-880-0

Cover image: detail of The Crucifixion stained glass window. Photo 1995 by Alan Brown, Bardstown, Kentucky.

TAN Books
Charlotte, North Carolina
www.TANBooks.com

2012

The Sacred Heart is the Divine Chalice overflowing with the Precious Blood for the relief of the souls in Purgatory.

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; because thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God, in thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.

Apocalypse 5:9

Father, if thou wilt, remove this chalice from me: but yet not my will, but thine be done. And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony, he prayed the longer. And his sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground.

Luke 22:42-44

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.

John 19:33-34

Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins.

Matthew 26:27-28

Contents

O Jesu Lord,

Unclean I am, but cleanse me

in Thy Blood,

Of which a single drop

for sinners spilt,

Can purge the entire world

from all its guilt.

From the Adoro Te Devote

Chapter 1

Devotion to the Precious Blood

V ENERATION of the Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is a devotion as old as our Holy Faith. This Precious Blood, by which mankind was to be redeemed, was alluded to immediately after the Fall of our first parents in the Garden of Paradise.

God Himself ordained the burnt offerings and sacrifices of propitiation of the pre-Christian era, whereby, for four thousand years, the blood of animals was to be shed and offered as a sign of the honor due to Him.

The object of these sacrifices was likewise to keep alive and to transmit to posterity the faith in the promised Messias who was to redeem the world by the shedding of His Blood, to implant love for the Anointed One in the hearts of His chosen people, and to enliven their hope.

The Precious Blood of our Redeemer was prefigured by the innocent blood of Abel, by the sacrifices of Isaac and Melchisedech, by the Paschal Lamb (the blood of which was sprinkled on the doorposts of the ancient Israelites on the night before they left Egypt), by the blood of innocent animals in the Old Covenant, and by many other customs practiced by the Israelite people. The propheciesand the prophets to whom God showed in spirit when, where and in what manner it was to be shedhad reference to this Blood which Our Lord would shed in His Passion to redeem us. This is the Blood of the New and Eternal Testament, from which all the Sacraments derive their efficacy, from which all graces proceed, and from which, like heavenly dew, all graces are ever descending upon the children of God.

The Precious Blood is being daily consecrated and offered by priests in the Mass, and it is at all times venerated by the faithful in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. In Holy Communion, all receive the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ as a pledge of life eternal. True Catholics must venerate the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ unto the End of the World.

Venerators of the Precious Blood

Who have been the great venerators of the Precious Blood? St. Peter said to the Christians, You were not redeemed with corruptible things, as gold or silver... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled. (1 Peter 1:18-19). In his epistles, St. Paul wrote most beautifully on the Precious Blood. To the Colossians he writes: And through him to reconcile all things unto himself, making peace through the blood of his cross... (Colossians 1:20). St. John the Evangelist magnificently extols the Precious Blood; and in the Apocalypse, when he beholds the great multitude standing before the throne of God, he tells us: These are they who are come out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Apocalypse 7:14). St. Augustine was accustomed to turn his eyes toward the bleeding wounds of Jesus and say: Lord, Thou bearest me, written in Thy hands, in ineffaceable characters, which are Thy most holy wounds; and to inspire me with confidence, Thou gently sayest: I have written thee in My hands with the marks of My most holy wounds... Therefore will I ever say to Thee: Read, Lord Jesus, read that handwriting and save me through Thy Precious Blood.

Toward two devotions St. Augustine was powerfully drawn; for two objects he had the deepest reverence: Our bleeding, crucified Saviour, and Mary nourishing her Divine Child. He was accustomed to say: Each time when I behold my Crucified God, I am filled with confidence and love, but I must confess that I experience the same sentiments, in the same degree, when I contemplate the thrice-blessed breasts which gave nourishment to the Son of God. Placed between these two heavenly objects, I indeed know not to which I should turn first, for I am powerfully drawn by the Blood of the Son of God and by the milk of His Virgin Mother.

St. Gertrudes writings are replete with most beautiful sentiments concerning the Precious Blood. To St. Mechtilde Our Lord once revealed Himself on the altar, His hands extended and Blood streaming from His wounds. I show these bleeding wounds, said Jesus, to My Father, to appease His wrath. He pardons when He sees the Blood. Let sinners but look upon Me, and they will be moved to repentance, confidence and love.

St. Catherine of Siena and St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi practiced a very special devotion to the Precious Blood. Whenever St. Catherine of Siena, who was one of the most eminent and heroic characters in the history of the Church during the fourteenth century, thought of the Precious Blood of Jesus, the tongue of the timid virgin became eloquent, and fearlessly she stepped before kings and popes and by her zeal exercised a lasting influence on the developments of her time. Her numerous letters to bishops, cardinals and popes always began with the words: I address you in the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ.

How to Offer the Precious Blood
To the Eternal Father

One of the best means of participating in the graces and blessings of the Precious Blood is to offer it to the Eternal Father. An offering, says Father Faber, is more than a prayer. In prayer, we are the recipients, but when we make an offering, God deigns to accept something from us. St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi exclaimed on one occasion when in ecstasy: Every time a creature offers up this Blood by which he was redeemed, he offers a gift of infinite worth, which can be equaled by no other! God revealed to this sainted Carmelite nun the practice of making this offering when He complained to her that so little effort is made in this world to