The month of July is dedicated to The
Precious Blood of Jesus. The entire month falls within
the liturgical season of Ordinary
Time, which is represented by the liturgical color green.
This symbol of hope is the color of the sprouting seed and arouses
in the faithful the hope of reaping the eternal harvest of heaven,
especially the hope of a glorious resurrection. It is used in the
offices and Masses of Ordinary Time.
The feast of the Precious Blood of our Lord was
instituted in 1849 by Pius IX, but the devotion is as old as Christianity.
The early Fathers say that the Church was born from the pierced
side of Christ, and that the sacraments were brought forth
through His Blood.
"The Precious Blood which we worship is the Blood which the
Savior shed for us on Calvary and re-assumed at His glorious
Resurrection; it is the Blood which courses through the veins
of His risen, glorified, living body at the right hand of God
the Father in heaven; it is the Blood made present on our altars
by the words of Consecration; it is the Blood which merited
sanctifying grace for us and through it washes and beautifies
our soul and inaugurates the beginning of eternal life in it."
Devotion to the Precious Blood is not a spiritual option, it is a
spiritual obligation, not only for priests, but for every
follower of Christ. To understand the meaning of the Precious Blood we must get some
comprehension of the gravity of sin, of the awfulness of offending God,
because it required the Blood of the Son of God to forgive that sin.
Let us Pray
Lord Jesus, You became Man in order by your Passion and Death and
the draining of your Blood on the Cross, might prove to us how
much You, our God, love us. Protect us, dear Jesus, from ever
running away from the sight of blood. Strengthen our weak human
wills so that we will not only not run away from the cross, but
welcome every opportunity to shed our blood in spirit in union with
your Precious Blood, so that, dying to ourselves in time we might
live with You in Eternity. Amen
