Pretiosissimi Sanguinis D. N. I. C.

First, “No! the chastisements of God are not yet at an end; still more sorrowful times are ahead; and divine justice will be placated by the devotion to the Blood of Jesus Christ.”

Second, “The world can still set itself right and always will be able to, because the voice and blood of Christ cry out for pity and mercy … Devotion to the Precious Blood is the devotion of our time … It is a devotion for all souls, for the whole world.”

These two quotations which I have just read seem so alike in thought one might think that they come from the same individual.

In fact they were uttered more than a century apart by two great devotees of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The first comes from St. Gaspar del Bufalo, the world’s greatest apostle of the devotion to the Precious Blood.

St. Gaspar was ordained to the priesthood on July 31, 1808, and from that day until the end of his life he devoted his ministry to promoting this devotion.

He was assisted by the holy Canon Francisco Albertini, who was assigned to the Basilica of St. Nicola in Carcere in Rome where a cloth stained with the blood of Our Lord is kept and venerated.

Together they founded the Confraternity of the Most Precious Blood, to spread the devotion.

Gaspar’s life was a difficult one, exiled when Napolean annexed the papal states, subjected to years of calumniation, and opposition from several popes, he was never able to realize his dream of creating a religious community devoted to the Precious Blood.

Nevertheless, his devotion to the Precious Blood kept him motivated and energized in his apostolic endeavous.

The second quotation comes from none other than Pope St. John XXIII, himself a great devotee of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord.

In his encyclical letter Inde a Primis, he fondly recalled the prayers and devotions to the Precious Blood that took place in his family home.

His devotion led him to elevate the Litany of the Most Precious Blood to the status of an “approved litany” opening it to public recitation in all churches, and attaching special indulgences to it to encourage its use at home.

Pope John was also responsible for adding the words, “Blessed be His Most Precious Blood” to the Divine Praises.

Devotion to the Precious Blood of Our Lord was the font from which these two great saints gained their apostolic zeal. The Precious Blood can and should be the life-giving source of our Christian zeal as well.

ILLUSTRATION: We are washed and fed with Christ’s Blood

Pie Pellicane, Iesu Domine, Me immundum munda tuo sanguine. Cuius una stilla salvum facere Totum mundum quit ab omni scelere.

Many of you may recognize the words which I just recited. They are taken from the beautiful hymn written by St. Thomas Aquinas, Adoro te devote.

Roughly translated they say:

Lord Jesus, good Pelican, wash me clean with your blood, one drop of which can free the entire world of all its sins.

This may seem like an odd image, why does St. Thomas address Our Lord as the “Good Pelican”?

You may have seen the image of the Pelican in sacred art before, and it is a very ancient image used to represent Christ.

It has been believed from ancient times, long before Christ, that when food was scarce, a mother pelican would wound its own side,

in order to nourish its children with its own lifeblood.

Christ does this for us and more.

When Our Lord’s side was pierced with a lance as he hung upon the Cross,

blood and water poured forth, the foundation of the two great Paschal Sacraments,

Baptism and the Holy Eucharist.

At each and every Mass we attend we our nourished by Christ in Holy Communion, as we receive Him, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, contained in the simple form of the Host.

But we are not only nourished with Christ’s Most Precious Blood, we are washed in it.

As St. John says in the Apocalypse, “Christ … hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood”,

and as St. Paul tells us in our Epistle, “How much more shall the blood of Christ … cleanse our conscience from dead works, to serve the living God?”

I’m sure most of us have a healthy devotional life, we have devotions to Our Blessed Mother, devotions to the Holy Ghost, devotions to the Sacred Heart of Christ.

Shouldn’t we be even more devoted to the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord, in which we are not only washed clean of our sins, but nourished by the very life of Christ Himself?

APPLICATION: Increasing our devotion to the Precious Blood

Today’s feast marks the beginning of an entire month which is traditionally dedicated to devotion to the Precious Blood.

There a many ways we can live out this devotion in the days ahead.

Certainly, as I have already mentioned, we can pray the Litany of the Precious Blood each day in our homes, and during our daily prayers.

Another beautiful devotion is the Chaplet of the Precious Blood, in which we meditate on the five occasions when Our Lord’s blood was shed on the Cross.

A simple search online will reveal numerous other possibilities, prayers which we can use, especially during this month, to increase our devotion to the saving blood of Christ.

In that spirit, I would like to conclude today with a Prayer of Consecration to the Most Precious Blood, which I will pray on behalf of us all here today:

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.

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