Feast in the General Roman Calendar from 1849 to 1969
The
Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
was in the
General Roman Calendar
from 1849 to 1969. It was focused on the
Blood of Christ
and its salvific nature.
History
[
edit
]
The feast, celebrated in Spain in the 16th century, was later introduced to Italy by
Gaspar del Bufalo
.
[1]
For many
dioceses
, there were two days to which the
office
of the
Precious Blood
was assigned, the office for both being the same. The reason was that the office was at first granted only to the
Fathers of the Most Precious Blood
. Later, as one of the offices of the Fridays of
Lent
, it was assigned to the Friday after the fourth Sunday in Lent (
Laetare Sunday
) in some dioceses, including, by decision of the
Fourth Provincial Council of Baltimore
(1840), those in the
United States
.
[2]
When
Pope Pius IX
went into exile at
Gaeta
in the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
(1849), he had as his companion
Giovanni Merlini
, the third
superior general
of the Fathers of the Most Precious Blood. After they had arrived at Gaeta, Merlini suggested that the pope make a vow to extend the feast of the Precious Blood to the entire church, if he would again recover possession of the
Papal States
. The pope took the matter into consideration, but a few days later, on 30 June 1849, the day the French army conquered Rome and the insurgents of the
Roman Republic
capitulated, he sent Joseph Stella to Merlini with the message: "The pope does not deem it expedient to bind himself by a vow; instead His Holiness is pleased to extend the feast immediately to all
Christendom
."
[2]
On 10 August of the same year, Pope Pius officially included the Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the
General Roman Calendar
, for celebration on the first Sunday in July, that is the first Sunday after 30 June, which is the anniversary of the liberation of the city of Rome from the insurgents.
[3]
[4]
In reducing the number of feasts fixed for Sundays,
Pope Pius X
assigned the date of 1 July to this feast. In 1933,
Pope Pius XI
raised the feast to the rank of
Double of the 1st Class
to mark the 1,900th anniversary of Jesus's passion.
[4]
In
Pope John XXIII
's 1960 revision of the General Roman Calendar, it was made a Class I Feast (see
General Roman Calendar of 1960
).
The feast was removed from the
General Roman calendar
in 1969, "because the Most Precious Blood of Christ the Redeemer is already venerated in the solemnities of the Passion, of
Corpus Christi
, of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus
, and in the feast of the
Exaltation of the Holy Cross
. But the Mass of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ is placed among the
Votive Masses
".
[3]
The feast nonetheless continues to be celebrated as a solemnity in calendars of some religious orders such as the
Missionaries of the Precious Blood
, the
Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ
, and the
Adorers of the Blood of Christ
.
[5]
Furthermore, it is celebrated by parishes and communities that observe the 1962 Calendar.
The whole month of July is still kept dedicated to the Most Precious Blood.
[6]
Significance
[
edit
]
In Catholic belief, the
Blood of Christ
is precious because it is Christ's own great ransom paid for the redemption of mankind. In this belief, as there was to be no remission of sin without the shedding of blood, the "
Incarnate Word
" not only offered his life for the salvation of the world, but he offered to give up his life by a bloody death, and to hang bloodless, soulless and dead upon the
Cross
for the salvation of humanity. Jesus is said to have given his life ? his blood ? for the sake of all humanity, atoning for every form of human
sin
.
[7]
The devotion to the Most Precious Blood is thus understood to be a call to
repentance
and
reparation
.
[8]
Liturgy
[
edit
]
The
collect
for the
Votive Mass
of the Precious Blood is as follows:
"O God, who by the Precious Blood of your Only Begotten Son have redeemed the whole world, preserve in us the work of your mercy, so that ever honouring the mystery of our salvation, we may merit to obtain its fruits. Through Our Lord …
[9]
The readings are taken from Exodus 24, 3?8 and John 19, 31?37 (the
Descent from the Cross
). The hymn at
Lauds
is the
Salvete Christi Vulnera
("Hail, Ye Wounds of Christ") which is dated to at least 1798.
[10]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Lives of the Saints," by Omer Englebert, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1994, p. 254,
ISBN
1-56619-516-0
(casebound)
- ^
a
b
Muller, Ulrich.
Feast of the Most Precious Blood
. The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 21 December 2019]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
public domain
.
- ^
a
b
Calendarium Romanum
(Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1969), p. 128
- ^
a
b
"The Saint Andrew Daily Missal, with Vespers for Sundays and Feasts," by Gaspar LeFebvre, Saint Paul, MN: The E. M. Lohmann Co., 1952, p. 1409
- ^
"Fest des kostbaren Blutes Christi - Okumenisches Heiligenlexikon"
.
- ^
Kosloski, Philip (1 July 2019).
"Here's why July is dedicated to the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ"
.
Aleteia
. Retrieved
29 June
2022
.
- ^
"Lives of the Saints, For Every Day of the Year," edited by Hugo Hoever, New York: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1955, p. 251
- ^
"Lives of the Saints, For Every Day of the Year", p. 252
- ^
Roman Missal, Votive Masses, 7
- ^
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913).
"Salvete Christi Vulnera"
.
Catholic Encyclopedia
. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
:
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "
Feast of the Most Precious Blood
".
Catholic Encyclopedia
. New York: Robert Appleton Company.