Hearts pump blood. The blood that the Sacred Heart pumps must therefore be…precious? Welcome to this week’s Sacred Heart Friday and today I’ll talk a little about the Precious Blood of Jesus. Why? Because it’s July and this month is dedicated to the Precious Blood!
The Devotion to the Precious Blood of Christ is an old one. It is said to have dated to the Circumcision of Our Lord, when according to approved private revelations, Mary collected the blood Jesus had spilled.
One moving scene in Mel Gibson’s epic film, “The Passion of the Christ” depicted Mary and Mary Magdalene taking rags and cleaning up Jesus’ blood after His scourging at the pillar. It gained greater attention in the 16th Century in Spain and shortly afterwards in Italy. The Feast of the Most Precious Blood was July 2nd, but it was removed from the Roman liturgical calendar in 1970. Nowadays, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi is referred to as the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, so it was essentially combined into that.
The Blood of Christ is ‘precious’ because it is Jesus’ offered His own blood to pay for the redemption of humanity. Jesus shed His very blood for the sake of all humanity, atoning for humanity’s sins. The devotion to the Most Precious Blood is yet another one dedicate to repentance and reparation, much like the Holy Face devotion, the Sacred Heart and the Fatima Message.
The Precious Blood is the symbol of God’s mercy, as it was spilled to pay for our sins. It is part of the Eucharist (whether you partake of the wine at Mass or not, its redemptive and spiritual significance is in the Bread as well). Here’s a good meditative practice: imagine yourself swimming in the blood-red sea of God’s mercy. I got that imagery from reading Divine Mercy in My Soul, the spiritual journal of St. Faustina Kowalska.
I’ll post more in the coming Fridays about the Precious Blood.
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