Attend Mass
The feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord, were removed from the calendar in the 1960s.
If you would like to attend a traditional Mass for the feast, find a Traditional Latin Mass near you (click here to explore).
Read The Precious Blood by Fr. Frederick William Faber, D.D.
Fr. Frederick William Faber says of his book The Precious Blood: “Therefore I have written this little Book. I have tried to tell you all I know about the Precious Blood, all that many years of hard study and much thought have enabled me to learn; and I have tried to tell it you as easily and as simply as I could. I thought I could not please you better than by this. I thought I could not show my gratitude to our Blessed Redeemer better than by striving to increase a devotion whieh he himself, by his blessing on the Confraternity, has shown to be so pleasing to him. I believed we could not repay the paternal kindness of the Sovereign Pontiff, our Father and Founder, who bas enriched us with Indulgences, in a manner more welcome to himself than by an effort to propagato the devotion to the Precious Blood, in whose honor he has established a new feast in the Church of God. I know that I could not please myself better, than by magnifying the Precious Blood, which of all the glorious objects of Catholic devotion has been for years the dearest to my heart. Accept, then, this little but loving gift. Let it stand as a memorial of my love of you, of your love of Jesus, of the filial devotion of both of us to the Holy Father, and of our united thanksgivings to our Blessed Savior for his goodness to our Confraternity, and for our salvation through his Blood.”
Pray the Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus
There are five litanies approved for public worship: the Sacred Heart, the Precious Blood, the Saints, the Blessed Virgin, and St. Joseph. Others may be used in private devotion.
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 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 takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Jesus!
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Jesus!
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Jesus!
Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord, in Thy Blood. 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. Amen.
Pray and reflect on the Seven Blood-Sheddings of our Lord
Fr. Johann Evalgelist Zollner (1883) relates the following history for this importance feast day:
On this day, the Church celebrates the feast of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. This feast, which had been celebrated in some dioceses since the fifteenth century, on Monday after Trinity Sunday, was extended by Pope Pius IX over the whole Christian world, and its celebration prescribed for the first Sunday of July. The time of persecution and suffering had already begun for the Sovereign Pontiff. Compelled by a revolution to leave Rome, he repaired to Gaeta, in the kingdom of Naples, where he lived in exile for seventeen months, till April 1850. Here it was that on the tenth day of August 1849, he instituted the feast of the Precious Blood.
That most sacred 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, which speaketh better than Abel’s. 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 precious blood be the subject of our present meditation.
- The first shedding of blood was at His Circumcision
- The shedding of blood in the garden of Olives
- Jesus is scourged. The four Evangelists narrate that Jesus was scourged
- Jesus shed His blood the fourth time, when he was crowned with thorns
- Jesus shed his blood the fifth time, carrying the cross
- Jesus shed his blood the sixth time, when He was crucified
- The seventh and last time Jesus shed His blood was when His side was opened
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 holy communion.
Pray Novena to the Precious Blood
Say once a day for 9 days
By the Voice of Thy Blood, O Jesus! I would press Thee, solicit Thee, importune Thee, though Thou seemest to reject my supplications. I will not leave Thy bleeding feet until Thou hearest me. Too many graces, too many mercies have come from Thy Blood, for me not to hope, even to the end in its efficacy.
Then, O Jesus! by the Precious Blood seven times shed for the welfare of men, by each drop of that Sacred Price of our redemption, by the tears of Thy Immaculate Mother, I conjure Thee, I supplicate Thee, hear my earnest prayer.
(Mention your intentions here)
O Thou, who during all the days of Thy mortal life, consoled so many sufferings, healed so many infirmities, raised so often a sinking courage; Thou will not fail to have pity on a soul who cries to Thee from the depths of her anguish! Oh, no, it is impossible! Another sigh from my heart, and from the wound in Thine own, there will flow to me, upon a wave of Thy merciful Blood, the grace so ardently desired. O Jesus, Jesus! hasten the moment when Thou wilt change my tears into joy, my sighs into thanksgivings.
Holy Mary, Source of the Divine Blood! I conjure Thee not to lose this occasion of glorifying the Blood which made Thee Immaculate. Amen.