One Minute Reflection – 3 July – Feast of St Thomas Apostle – Readings: Ephesians 2: 19-22, Psalms 117: 1bc, 2, John 20: 24-29
“Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” – John 20:29
REFLECTION – “There was a wonderful providence behind these words of the Saviour and they can be of very great help to us. They show, once again, how much He cares for our souls, for He is good and as Scripture says: “He wants everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth” (1Tm 2,4).
Even so, this saying of His may surprise us. As always, Christ had to be patient with Thomas, when he said he would not believe and, with the other disciples too, when they thought they were seeing a ghost! Because of His desire to convince the whole world, He most willingly showed them the marks of the nails and the wound in His side; – because He wished those, who sought this evidence, as a support for their faith, to have no possible reason for doubt – He even took food, although He had no need for it (Lk 24,41)…
But when anyone accepts what he has not seen, believing on the word of his teacher, the faith, by which he honours the One his teacher proclaims to him, is worthy of great praise. Blessed, therefore, is everyone who believes the message of the holy Apostles who, as Saint Luke says, were eyewitnesses of Christ’s actions and “ministers of the word” (Lk 1,2). If we desire eternal life and long for a dwelling place in heaven, we must listen to them.” – St Cyril of Alexandria (380-444), Bishop, Father and Doctor of the Church – Commentary on Saint John’s gospel, 12, 22
PRAYER – Father, let our celebration on the feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle, be the source of his unfailing help and protection. Fill us with Your life-giving grace through our faith in Your Son, Jesus the Christ, whom Thomas acknowledged to be his Lord and his God. We make our prayer, through our Lord Jesus in union with the Holy Spirit, one God with You, forever and ever, amen.
Quote/s of the Day – 3 July – Feast of St Thomas Apostle – Readings: Ephesians 2: 19-22, Psalms 117: 1bc, 2, John 20: 24-29
Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
John 20:28-29
“For by your doubting, I am taught to believe, by your forked-tongue, that revealed the Wound on the Divine Body that was pierced, I harvest the fruit for myself, without pain!”
St John Chrysostom (347-407) Father and Doctor
“I believe though I do not comprehend and I hold by faith, what I cannot grasp with the mind.”
St Bernard (1090-1153) Mellifluous Doctor
“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”
“Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth, by command of the will, moved by God through grace.”
St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor Angelicus/Doctor Communis
When the promise of the Redeemer to come was made to our first parents in the Garden of Eden after their fall, the shadow of the Precious Blood fell upon the world and reconciled it with God. The curse that had been incurred lost its fatal power to destroy. The anger of God had been appeased and He looked upon the earth through the medium of the Blood of His only-begotten Son, that was to be shed for sin, and for its sake offered forgiveness and mercy to the sinners who repented of their sin. So may He extend to me the forgiveness and mercy that I need far more than did Adam and Eve, for I have sinned far more deeply and often than they.
As the ages rolled on, the same shadow, sheltering men from God’s fierce anger, still rested on the earth. In its sweet shade rested Abraham and all the patriarchs, Samuel and all the prophets, through its influence sinners found mercy and saints obtained graces innumerable. If it did so much for the heathen world, what must it not do for Catholics! Grant, O Lord, that now and ever I may sit under His shadow Whom I have desired!
All through the four thousand years before Christ came, the tradition of the necessity of the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins was almost universal. The Jewish sacrifices were expressly ordained to keep up the memory of it. In heathen countries the blood of victims was almost everywhere offered. God never leaves Himself without a witness even among those who have departed far from Him. Admire His goodness in so doing.
8 The voice of my beloved, behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills. 9 My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart. Behold he standeth behind our wall, looking through the windows, looking through the lattices. 10 Behold my beloved speaketh to me: Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come. 11 For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone. 12 The flowers have appeared in our land, the time of pruning is come: the voice of the turtle is heard in our land: 13 The fig tree hath put forth her green figs: the vines in flower yield their sweet smell. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come: 14 My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall, shew me thy face, let thy voice sound in my ears: for thy voice is sweet, and thy face comely.
Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke 1,39-47.
39 And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda. 40 And she entered into the house of Zachary and saluted Elizabeth. 41 And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. 42 And she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord. 46 And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Our Lady of the Walnut Our Lady of Madhu Our Lady of Montallegro Our Lady of the Grove Our Lady of the Leśniów Spring Our Lady of the Visitation Our Lady of the Way of Leon Our Lady of Vaussivieres
Notre Dame de la Visitation / Our Lady of the Visitation, Lescure, Valuéjols, Cantal, Auvergne, France (1717) – Commemorated on the Fourth Sunday of June, 2 July :
At around 19 years old, Shepherd Jean Paillé was devoted to the Virgin Mary, and would daily lead his flock, from his little village in central France ,to a wayside Cross on a bluff, where he would kneel to say the Rosary. On 2 July, 1717, his prayers at the Cross were met by an apparition of the Virgin herself, who asked that a Church be built on that spot, leaving behind a small Statuette of herself at the foot of the Cross. She returned several times with the same request. Finally, Jean answered, “But no one will believe me.”“Keep telling the people of Lescure,” she said “and eventually they will listen.” Both were right. When the shepherd mustered the courage to tell the villagers about his visions, they ridiculed him as a simpleton. So he built a small Shrine in the holy place himself, of dry stone, placing the Statuette inside it.
When bad weather threatened, Jean would go there to pray for help. Seeing those prayers answered, the villagers began to believe in his communication with the Virgin and decided to build her a Church in the village. Jean argued that the Holy Virgin wanted her Church on the promontory but wanting the convenience of building and having it in town, the people built the new Church in Lescure and installed the Statuette there. But, the next day, it had returned to the bluff. Jean was suspected of moving it but the same thing kept happening, even with the shepherd under watch, so finally everyone agreed, that Heaven wanted the Virgin’s Chapel to be on the heights and not in the town. This time Jean Paillé himself organised the work. Building materials poured in, which oxen carried up the hill as easily if they were made of feathers.
In 1724, some 3,000 pilgrims camped in the open air to witness the Consecration of the new Church. The Bishop’s delegate dedicated the Sanctuary to Our Lady of the Visitation, in memory of the first apparition date, 2 July, then the Catholic Feast of the Visitation, commemorating the visit of Mary, pregnant with Jesus, to her cousin Elizabeth, pregnant with John the Baptist. In recent years, the Feast of the Visitation has been moved to 31 May and the Solemnity of Our Lady of Lescure to the last Sunday in June.
She is invoked against illness, of the sick and for cures. Notre-Dame de Lescure, santé des infirmes, priez pour nous. Our Lady of Lescure, health of the sick, pray for us.
Bl Giovanni da Fabriano Becchetti St Jacques Fermin Bl Jarich of Mariengaarde St Jéroche St Lidanus of Sezze St Martinian of Rome St Monegundis St Oudoceus
Martyred Soldiers of Rome – 3 saints: Three soldiers who were converted at the martyrdom of Saint Paul the Apostle. Then they were martyred, as well. We known nothing else about them but their names – Acestes, Longinus and Megistus. Martyred c68 in Rome, Italy
Martyrs in Carthage by Hunneric – 7 saints: A group of seven Christians tortured and murdered in the persecutions of the Arian Vandal king Hunneric for remaining loyal to the teachings of orthodox Christianity. They were some of the many who died for the faith during a period of active Arian heresy. – Boniface, Liberatus, Maximus, Rogatus, Rusticus, Septimus and Servus.
Martyrs of Campania – 10 saints: A group of ten Christians marytred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. The only details about them to have survived are their names – Ariston, Crescention, Eutychian, Felicissimus, Felix, Justus, Marcia, Symphorosa, Urban and Vitalis. Martyred in 284 in Campania, Italy.
Martyrs of Seoul – 8 saints: Additional Memorial – 20 September as part of the Martyrs of Korea.
A group of eight Christians who were martyred together as part of the lengthy persecutions in Korea. • Agatha Han Sin-ae • Antonius Yi Hyeon • Bibiana Mun Yeong-in • Columba Gang Wan-suk • Ignatius Choe In-cheol • Iuliana Gim Yeon-i • Matthaeus Gim Hyeon-u • Susanna Gang Gyeong-bok They were martyred on 2 July 1801 at the Small West Gate, Seoul, South Korea. Beatified on 15 August 2014 by Pope Francis.
Saint Martinian of Rome was a member of the Praetorian Guard, the soldiers tasked with guarding the emperor. Assigned as the warden of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the Mamertine Prison, the apostles converted him after a spring flowed miraculously in the prison. Peter then baptized him in these miraculous waters, which then led to Martinian’s own imprisonment within that very prison.
During his imprisonment, Martinian experienced visions and spiritual encounters that strengthened his resolve. Saint John the Baptist appeared to him, encouraging him in his suffering and reaffirming his faith. This spiritual encounter bolstered Martinian’s courage and determination to face martyrdom rather than renounce Christianity.
By order of the emperor Nero, Martinian was then tortured and beheaded. After his martyrdom with Paul, Lucina, a sympathizer, buried him in her own cemetery along the Aurelian Way. Pope Paschal I (817–824) translated the bones of the martyr to a chapel in the old Basilica of St. Peter. They still rest under the altar dedicated to him (and his fellow martyr, Processus) in the south transept of the present St. Peter’s Basilica.
Our Morning Offering – 2 July – “Month of the Precious Blood”
O God, Be With Us By St Benedict (c 480-547)
O God, from Whom to be turned, is to fall, to Whom to be turned, is to rise and in Whom to stand, is to abide forever, grant us in all our duties, Your help, in all our perplexities, Your guidance, in all our dangers, Your protection, and in all our sorrows, Your peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
One Minute Reflection – 2 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Genesis 23: 1-4, 19; 24: 1-8, 62-67, Psalms 106: 1b-2, 3-4a, 4b-5, Matthew 9: 9-13
“It is not the healthy who are in need of the physician but those who are sick” – Matthew 9:12
REFLECTION – “And by this I wish to know if you love the Lord God and me, His servant and yours – if you have acted in this manner – that is, there should not be any brother in the world, however much he may have possibly sinned, who, after he has looked into your eyes, would go away without having received your mercy, if he is looking for mercy. And if he were not to seek mercy, you should ask him if he wants mercy. And if he should sin thereafter, a thousand times, before your very eyes, love him more than me, so that you may draw him back to the Lord. Always be merciful to such as these …
If anyone of the brothers, at the instigation of the enemy, should sin mortally, he is bound by obedience to have recourse to his guardian. And all the brothers who might know that he has sinned are not to bring shame upon him or speak ill of him but let them show great mercy toward him and keep most secret, the sin of their brother; “because it is not the healthy who are in need of the physician, but those who are sick” (Mt 9:12) … And let the Custodian mercifully take care of him, as he would like to be taken care of, if he were in a similar position.
And if this brother falls into some venial sin, let him confess this to a brother who is a Priest. And if there is no Priest at hand, let him confess to his brother, until he has contact with a Priest who will absolve him canonically. And the brothers should have no power to enjoin any other penance, except this: “Go and sin no more!” (Jn 8:11). – St Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) Founder of the Friars Minor – Letter to a Minister of the Franciscan Order.
PRAYER – Lord Jesus Christ You showed Your great mercy to Matthew the tax-gatherer, by calling him to become Your Apostle. Supported by the intercession of the Your Mother and oursby and the prayers and example of Your Saints, may we always answer Your call, obey Your commandments, fulfil Your Will and thus live in close union with You. We make our prayer, in union with God our Father and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.
Quote/s of the Day – 2 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Genesis 23: 1-4, 19; 24: 1-8, 62-67, Psalms 106: 1b-2, 3-4a, 4b-5, Matthew 9: 9-13
“It is not the healthy who are in need of the physician but those who are sick”
Matthew 9:12
“… Veiled in a human body, He was able to communicate with humans. He who wanted to assist the guilty hides the fact that He is a Judge. He who did not deny dignity to faithful servants, conceals his Lordship. He who desired the weak to be embraced by a parent’s love, covers His Majesty.”
St Peter Chrysologus (c 400-450) “Doctor of Homilies” Father and Doctor of the Church
” Indeed, the instant you say: “I have sinned against the Lord”, the response is given you: “Your sins are forgiven” (Mt 9:2). … Only do not keep away, or distance yourself, from He who has chosen you to sing and pray but all your life long, remain close to Him, either through pure confidence, or by a holy audacity and courageous confession.”
John of Karpathos (7th Century) Bishop
“My beloved Redeemer, how much did it cost You to raise me from the ruin, which I brought on myself through my sins? What can I do without Your grace? I can do nothing but pray that You will help me but even this prayer comes from the merits of Your suffering and death! O my Jesus, help me!”
St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Most zealous Doctor
“Lord Jesus Christ,Son of God, Have Mercy on me, a sinner.”
St Peter tells us (1 St Pet. i. 20) that the Precious Blood of Christ was ‘foreknown before the foundation of the world.’ From all eternity God had decreed that the Precious Blood of the Word made Man should be shed for us. Even before man had sinned, God had provided a remedy, and had determined that if man should rebel against the sovereignty of God, He would not cast the rebel off, but would redeem him from sin, even at such a price as this! How can we sufficiently admire the love and mercy of God, thus counteracting the effect of sin even before it was committed?
God’s foreknowledge of what was to happen did not effect the perfect freedom of the human will, any more than the presence of a spectator affects the freedom of those whose actions he watches. God determined that the Precious Blood should be spilt because He foreknew that man would sin, and He foreknew that man would sin because in His omniscience He foresaw that man acting freely would use his free will to disobey. Make an act of faith in man’s freedom and God’s foreknowledge.
When God looks forward to my life, what does He forsee? That depends on myself and my voluntary choice of good or of evil. What return does He look forward to from me for the inestimable gift of the Precious Blood? Am I going to grieve and wound Him Who from all eternity decreed that His Precious Blood should be shed to win for me the kingdom of heaven?
Saint Nicasius of Jerusalem, was born around 1135 in Sicily, Italy. The son of Roberto de Burgio and his wife Aldegonda, Nicasius descended from the Saracens on his father’s side and from the Normans on the mother’s. He joined the Knights Hospitaller with his brother, Ferrandino, and in 1185 they answered the call of Roger de Moulins and travelled to the Holy Land.
The Order of Saint John of Jerusalem (now known as the Order of Malta) was a monastic community founded to care for the sick and pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. With the creation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Order added a military side to its religious character, because it now had to defend pilgrims and the sick, together with the Holy Places and all of Christianity, as well as care for them. Care for the sick and pilgrims, commitment to Christian solidarity, justice and peace according to evangelical teaching, and the defense of the Christian faith were the basis of the Order. Nicasio and his brother took the three monastic vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience.
As a captain, Nicasius fought in the defense of Acre, and during the battle he was captured by the Saracens. They demanded that he renounce his Christian faith and convert to Islam. But he remained steadfast and refused to renounce Christianity, choosing martyrdom over apostasy. He was decapitated in the presence of Saladin himself.
Saint Nicasius is particularly venerated in Caccamo, Italy. Numerous miracles were obtained there through the intercession of this glorious martyr, amongst them deliverances from the plague in 1575 and 1624. Saint Nicasius is invoked to free supplicants from terror, from infectious diseases, from maladies of the throat, neck, and lymph glands, and for the healing of scrofula.
Our Morning Offering – 1 July – “The Feast and Month of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus”
Salvete Christi vulnera Hail, Holy Wounds of Jesus, Hail! Anonymous Latin Hymn, 17th Century
Hail, holy Wounds of Jesus, hail, Sweet pledges of the saving Rood, Whence flow the streams that never fail, The purple streams of His dear Blood.
Brighter than brightest stars ye show, Than sweetest rose your scent more rare, No Indian gem may match Your glow, No honey’s taste with Yours compare.
Portals ye are to that dear home Wherein our wearied souls may hide, Whereto no angry foe can come, The Heart of Jesus crucified.
What countless stripes our Jesus bore, All naked left in Pilate’s hall! From His torn flesh flow red a shower Did round His sacred person fall!
His beauteous brow, oh, shame and grief, By the sharp thorny crown is riven; Through hands and feet, without relief, The cruel nails are rudely driven.
But when for our poor sakes He died, A willing Priest by love subdued, The soldier’s lance transfixed His side, Forth flowed the Water and the Blood.
In full atonement of our guilt, Careless of self, the Saviour trod Even till His Hearts best Blood was spilt The wine-press of the wrath of God.
Come, bathe you in the healing flood, All ye who mourn, by sin opprest; Your only hope is Jesus’ Blood, His Sacred Heart your only rest.
All praise to Him, the Eternal Son, At God’s right hand enthroned above, Whose Blood our full redemption won, Whose Spirit seals the gift of love.
Office Hymn at Lauds on the Feast of the Most Precious Blood. (The Hymn is also used for Lauds on the Friday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent, for the Office of the Instruments of the Passion.) Translated by – Henry Nutcombe Oxenham (1829-1888) for whom I find little information.
One Minute Reflection – 1 July – “The Feast and Month of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus” – Hebrews 9:11-15, John 19:30-35 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“But one of the soldiers opened His side with a lance and immediately there came forth, Blood and water.” – John 19:34
REFLECTION – “Take thought now, redeemed man and consider how great and worthy is He, Who hangs on the Cross for you… Arise, then, beloved of Christ! Imitate the dove ‘that nests in a hole in the cliff’ (Jr 48:28), keeping watch at the entrance ‘like the sparrow that finds a home’(Ps 84:4). There, like the turtledove, hide your little ones, the fruit of your chaste love. Press your lips to the Fountain, draw water from the wells of your Saviour; for this is the spring flowing out of the middle of paradise, dividing into four rivers, inundating devout hearts, watering the whole earth and making it fertile.
Run with eager desire to this Source of Life and Light, all you who are vowed to God’s service. Come, whoever you may be and cry out to Him, with all the strength of your heart. O indescribable Beauty of the most high God and purest Radiance of Eternal Light! Life that gives all life, Light that is the Source of every other light, preserving, in everlasting splendour, the myriad flames that have shone before the throne of Your Divinity from the dawn of time!
Eternal and inaccessible Fountain, clear and sweet stream, flowing from a hidden spring, unseen by mortal eye! None can fathom Your depths nor survey Your boundaries, none can measure Your breadth, nothing can sully Your purity. From You flows ‘the river which gladdens the city of God’ (Ps 46:5) and makes us cry out with joy and thanksgiving, in hymns of praise to You, for we know, by our own experience, that ‘with You is the Source of Life and in Your Light we see light’ (Ps 36:10).” – St Bonaventure (1221-1274) Doctor of the Church (The Tree of Life, 29-30, 47, – Breviary)
PRAYER – Almighty, eternal God, Who made Thine Only-begotten Son the Redeemer of the world and, willed to be reconciled by His Blood, grant us, we beseech Thee, so to worship in this Sacred rite the price of our salvation and to be so protected, by its power against the evils of the present life on earth, that we may enjoy its everlasting fruit in Heaven. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
Aspiration:Precious Blood, ocean of Divine Mercy, Flow upon us.
Quote/s of the Day – 1 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Genesis 22: 1b-19 Psalms 115: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9,: Matthew 9: 1-8
And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: “Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee.”
Matthew 9:2
“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he hath sent.”
John 6:29
“Let us become like Christ, since Christ became like us. He assumed the worse, that He might give us the better; He became poor, that we through His poverty, might be rich.”
St Gregory of Nazianzen (330-390) Father and Doctor of the Church
“Have faith and the One you cannot see, is with you.”
St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of the Church
“Be joyful and keep your faith and your creed.”
St David of Wales (c 542-c 601) Bishop
“Rest is in Him alone. Man knows no peace in the world but he has no disturbance when he is with God.”
St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Mellifluous Doctor
Why is the blood of Jesus called the Precious Blood? Because it was the blood of God Himself veiled under the form of man, and therefore every drop of it as it flowed through His sacred veins deserved our supreme homage, as being united to His divinity. Hence we can adore the Precious Blood as we adore the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and all else which belongs to the Sacred Humanity, with the supreme homage which belongs to God alone.
We also term it the Precious Blood inasmuch as it was the blood of One Who was not only full of grace, but was Himself the Source of all grace, so that the grace that dwelt with Him was infinite, and the grace that manifested itself through the veil of flesh had no bounds or limits, save those that the mere fact of His human nature carried with it. If, therefore, the blood of the saints is counted as most precious, if we treasure a piece of cloth stained with their blood, how much more is the blood of the King of saints precious beyond all price!
The Precious Blood is also precious on account of its effects. One drop of it was sufficient to not only cleanse the world from sin, but to earn all possible graces for all the millions who have ever lived on earth. How infinite then must be its preciousness! What has it not done for man! What has it not done for me! It has washed me clean and made me pure, in spite of all my sins. O Jesus! give me an ever increasing devotion to the Precious Blood!
1 July The Feast and the Month of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Epistle to the Hebrews 9,11-15
11 But Christ, being come an high Priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hand, that is, not of this creation: 12 Neither by the blood of goats or of calves, but by his own blood, entered once into the Holies, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and of oxen, and the ashes of an heifer, being sprinkled, sanctify such as are defiled, to the cleansing of the flesh: 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who by the Holy Ghost offered himself unspotted unto God, cleanse our conscience from dead works, to serve the living God? 15 And therefore he is the mediator of the new testament: that by means of his death for the redemption of those transgressions which were under the former testament, they that are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Holy Gospel according to Saint John 19,30-35
30 Jesus therefore, when he had taken the vinegar, said: It is consummated. And bowing his head, he gave up the ghost. 31 Then the Jews (because it was the parasceve), that the bodies might not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day (for that was a great sabbath day), besought Pilate that their legs might be broken: and that they might be taken away. 32 The soldiers therefore came: and they broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with him. 33 But after they were come to Jesus, when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers with a spear opened his side: and immediately there came out blood and water. 35 And he that saw it hath given testimony: and his testimony is true. And he knoweth that he saith true: that you also may believe.
Saint Bonaventure (1221-1274)
Franciscan, Doctor of the Church
The Mystical Vine
They have not only pierced his hands and his feet but his side as well, and have opened up the inmost part of his most holy heart, already wounded by the lance of love. Oh how good and how pleasant it is to dwell in this heart! O my good Jesus, your heart is a true treasure, a pearl of great price which we found when we dug in the field of your body (cf Mt 13,44-45). Would anyone toss it aside? Rather will I give all I have in exchange, I will give up all my thoughts and desires to buy it, tossing all my preoccupations into the heart of my Lord Jesus and, undoubtedly, that heart will sustain me.
In his book, The Precious Blood, Father Frederick William Faber CO (1814-1863), calls St Paul ,the Doctor of the Precious Blood owing to his evident fondness of preaching on Ithis subject in his Epistles (Romans 3:25; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 9:12 et al).
He recounts that the lives of the Saints are replete with devotion to the Precious Blood making special mention of St John Chrysostom, St Augustine, St Gertrude and St Catherine of Siena, the last whom he considered the Prophetess of the Precious Blood for putting emphasis on It as the solution to the ills of her times.
Constant Prayer to the Precious Blood of Jesus By St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)
Precious Blood, Ocean of Divine Mercy, Flow upon us! Precious Blood, Most Pure Offering, Procure us every grace! Precious Blood, Hope and Refuge of sinners, Atone for us! Precious Blood, Delight of holy souls, Draw us! Amen
Father Faber also remarks that the Precious Blood makes us appreciate more, Christ’s redemption of mankind, His sacrifice and Passion. It makes us comprehend too, the beautiful doctrine and the august realities of the Blessed Sacrament, as we kneel in front of the Tabernacle, in humble adoration.
Over time, the Church gave Her blessing to the devotion by approving societies like the Missionaries of the Precious Blood; enriching confraternities like that of St Nicholas in Carcere, in Rome and that of the London Oratory; attaching Indulgences to prayers and Scapulars in honour of the Precious Blood and instituting commemorative Feasts of the Precious Blood, Friday after the fourth Sunday in Lent and, since Pius IX, the first Sunday of July. St Pius X assigned the date of 1 July to this Feast.
AnaStpaul 
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