Reasons for Devotion to the Precious Blood

1. Ven. Fulton Sheen recommends it as a special defense and offense against devils. “Let me tell you what the most powerful influences are against the demoniac. ….His Precious Blood. We do not have an adequate devotion to the Blood of Christ. But these are the two great arms, the Holy Name of Jesus and invoking the Blood of Christ.”
2.  It carries all the benefits of devotion to the Passion, since they are essentially the same thing. Meditation on the Passion Virtues Gained Through Meditation on the Passion
3. It creates a spirit of reparation and penance in the soul, so necessary for the Christian life and the state of today’s world.
4. It is the secret of our final battle against satan in the last days. “They conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb….”
5. It is the means by which Mary shields our world from the just consequences of our sins.   “I have prevented the coming of calamities by offering Him the sufferings of the Son on the Cross, His Precious Blood, and beloved souls who console Him forming a cohort of victim souls.….Without attaching too much attention to the form, be faithful and fervent in prayer to console the Master.”  —- Our Lady of Akita
6. We unite ourselves to the most powerful prayer of all: the Mass, by offering in spirit what the Mass offers in Sacrament, which is the Blood of the Lamb of God.
7. It is a humbling devotion because in it we focus on what God has done for us, rather than what we have done for Him, and acknowledge that it is His sacrifice alone that gives ours value.    “We love because he first loved us.”         —   1 John 4:19    “The Church has always taught that all our penance without Christ’s passion is not worth a pea.” —St. Thomas More

Virtues Gained Through Meditation on the Passion

• Love: when we see how wonderful Jesus is.
• Gratitude: when we see how greatly we are loved.
• Humility: when we see how our virtue pales in comparison with His.
• Contrition: when we realize what we did to Him.
• Compassion: when we see how greatly He suffers and longs for more Veronicas.
• Self-discipline: when we persevere in meditation.
• True self-esteem: when we realize that to Jesus (whose opinion matters most), we are worth His very life.
• Selflessness: when we see how small our sufferings are compared with His.
• Courage to embrace our cross: when we realize we’re not alone and given but a small load to bear.
• Patience: when we see how Jesus bore such outrages in perfect peace.

This post is dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria.

Meditation on the Passion

• “He who desires”, says St. Bonaventure, “to go on advancing from virtue to virtue, from grace to grace, should meditate continually on the Passion of Jesus.” And he adds that “there is no practice more profitable for the entire sanctification of the soul than the frequent meditation of the sufferings of Jesus Christ.”
• In our meditation, the Passion of Christ comes out of its cold historical frame and stops being a pious consideration, presenting itself before our eyes, as terrible, brutal, savage, bloody… yet full of Love.–St Josemaria Escriva
• One day,” writes Bonaventure, “while Francis was praying… Jesus Christ appeared to him fastened to the cross”  “And the memory of Christ’s passion was so impressed on the innermost recesses of his heart that from that hour, whenever Christ’s crucifixion came to mind, he could scarcely contain his tears and sighs.”
• “Meditate on the Passion of the Redeemer and compassionate Him Who alone suffered intensely. I only suffered a little, because Jesus Christ had suffered for us.”–St Philomena to Sister Luisa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDr4OM72LJ4 Passion of the Christ “My Deliverer” music video

The Office of the Passion http://www.poorclarestmd.org/clareshare/way/office/passion.html

 This is like a shorter, easier, version of the Liturgy of the Hours focused on the Passion of Christ. (See link above.) I expected this 3-minute prayer by St Francis of Assisi to be centered on the Passion narratives of the Gospels. I discovered instead that it was hardly anything more than a collection of seemingly random Psalms. After reciting it a couple times, however, I discovered the beautiful secret behind this prayer. The Psalms selected were those that Jesus was undoubtedly praying on Good Friday. (You hear Jesus quoting a couple of these same Psalms in the movie The Passion of the Christ) Instead of being an outside spectator while meditating on the Gospels, you get to get inside Jesus’ Head while meditating on His prayers in the Psalms. Repeating the words He Himself must have prayed and imagining the emotion behind those words is enough to provoke tears! The Office of the Passion is one of the most creative and moving prayers I’ve ever said. Good job St. Francis!

• St. Augustine also said that a single tear shed at the remembrance of the Passion of Jesus is worth more than a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, or a year of fasting on bread and water.
• But especially I commend earnest mental prayer to you, more particularly such as bears upon the Life and Passion of our Lord. If you contemplate Him frequently in meditation, your whole soul will be filled with Him, you will grow in His Likeness, and your actions will be molded on His. He is the Light of the world; therefore in Him, by Him, and for Him we shall be enlightened and illuminated. –St Francis De Sales_
• “The remembrance of the most holy Passion of Jesus Christ is the door through which the soul enters into intimate union with God, interior recollection and most sublime contemplation…”
• “The Passion of Christ is the greatest and most stupendous work of Divine Love. “The greatest and most overwhelming work of God’s love.”
  “The most holy Passion of Jesus Christ is the most efficacious means to convert obstinate sinners.”– St. Paul of the Cross
  
• “The holy sufferings of Jesus is a sea of sorrows, but it is also a sea of love. Ask the Lord to teach you to fish in this sea. Immerse yourself in it, and, no matter how deeply you go, you will never reach the bottom. Allow yourself to be penetrated with love and sorrow. In this way you will make the sufferings of the gentle Jesus your own. Fish for the pearls of the virtues of Jesus. This holy fishing is done without words.” 8th April, 1758–St Paul of the Cross
• “There is more merit to one hour of meditation on My sorrowful Passion than there is to a whole year of bloody scourging; the contemplation of My Wounds is of great profit to you, and it brings Me great joy.”–Jesus to St Faustina
• The death and passion of Our Lord is the sweetest and most constraining motive that can animate our hearts in this mortal life… so, in the glory of heaven above, next to the Divine goodness known and considered in itself, Our Savior’s death shall most powerfully ravish the blessed spirits in the loving of God–St Francis De Sales-Our Savior’s passion raises men and women from the depths, lifts them up from the earth, and sets them in the heights.–St Maximus of Turin
  

 

This post is dedicated to the Holy Innocents.

My Litany of Love

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 Spirit, have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.

Jesus Most Beautiful, I love You!

Jesus Most Merciful, I love You!

Jesus Truest Love, I love You!

Jesus Most Perfect, I love You!

Jesus Desire of My Heart, I love You!

Jesus Omnipotent, I love You!

Jesus Compassionate, I love You!

Jesus Savior of My Soul, I love You!

Jesus Holiness Itself, I love You!

Jesus Healer of My Heart and Body, I love You!

Jesus Most Humble, I love You!

Jesus Prince Most Charming, I love You!

Jesus My Everything, I love You!

Jesus Beloved Bridegroom of Souls, I love You!

Jesus Wisdom Incarnate, I love You!

Jesus My Comforter, I love You!

Jesus With Me Always, I love You!

Jesus Always Caring, I love You!

Jesus Without Beginning or End, I love You!

Jesus High Priest, I love You!

Jesus So Vulnerable in the Eucharist for My Sake, I love You!

Jesus Dying for Me on the Cross, I love You!

Jesus My Atonement, I love You!

Jesus My Protector, I love You!

Jesus Who Fills Me with Awe, I love You!

Jesus My Lord and My God, I love You!

Jesus My Creator, I love You!

Jesus Giver of All Good Gifts, I love You!

Jesus My Master, I love You!

Jesus My Joy in Life, I love You!

Jesus Prince of Peace, I love You!

Jesus My Essence, I love You!

Jesus My Future, I love You!

Jesus Best Friend Ever, I love You!

Jesus My Love, I love You!

Jesus without Whom I Am Incomplete and Lost, I love You!

Jesus Suffering for My Sake, I love You!

Jesus My Guide and Teacher, I love You!

Jesus Who Gives Your Very Self to Me, I love You!

Jesus My Companion, I love You!

Jesus My Answer, I love You!

Jesus My King, I love You!

Jesus My Helper, I love You!

Jesus Divine Word, I love You!

Jesus Messiah, I love You!

Jesus My Lamb, I love You!

Jesus Most Pure, I love You!

Jesus Most Amazing, I love You!

Jesus Most Adorable, I love You!

Jesus Most Worthy of Love, I love You!

Jesus for Whom I Will Suffer Anything, I love You!

Jesus Son of Mary, I love You!

Jesus My Example in All Things, I love You!

Jesus God in the Flesh, I love You!

Jesus My Very Life, I love You!

Jesus Whom I Adore, I love You!

Jesus Whom I Cherish, I love You!

Jesus Whom I Worship, I love You!

Jesus Son of the Eternal Father, I love You!

Jesus My Hope, I love You!

Jesus Whom I Trust, I love You!

Jesus of Infinite Majesty, I love You!

Jesus My Fulfillment, I love You!

Jesus My Sustenance, I love You!

Jesus My Song, I love You!

Jesus My Delight, I love You!

Jesus My Path, I love You!

Jesus Eternal Truth, I love You!

Jesus My Light, I love You!

Jesus My Refuge and My Hiding Place, I love You!

Jesus Fascination of My Soul, I love You!

Jesus My Rescuer, I love You!

Jesus My Enlightenment, I love You!

Jesus My Treasure, I love You!

Jesus My Support, I love You!

Jesus Upon Whom All Depends, I love You!

Jesus Never Failing, I love You!

Jesus Most Faithful, I love You!

Jesus Burning with Ardent Love for Me, I love You!

Jesus Most Noble, I love You!

Jesus Taking the Form of a Slave, I love You!

Jesus of Constant Strength, I love You!

Jesus My Rest, I love You!

Jesus Source of True Peace, I love You!

Jesus My Advocate, I love You!

Jesus My Righteousness, I love You!

Jesus My God, I adore You! Jesus My God, I adore You! Jesus My God, I adore You!

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, spare us O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Jesus Christ I love You, because You first loved me.

Let us pray: Most Gracious God and Father, through the perfect unmerited love Your Only Begotten Son Jesus has shown for us, grant us for His sake, that we may be able to worthily adore and love Him throughout eternity. May we His precious children never forget His infinite love and mercy toward us. We ask this through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You forever and ever. Amen.

This post is dedicated to the Suffering Savior, King of Martyrs.