The Precious Blood of Jesus Christ
By Fr. Isaiah Schick
On the current Church calendar (beginning in 1970), the Solemnity of Corpus Christi is the feast day of BOTH the Most Holy Body AND Blood of Jesus Christ – but that was not always the case! Prior to the calendar change (from 1849-1969), the first Sunday in July (or after Pope St. Pius X, July 1st) was the Solemnity of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The whole month of July has historically been dedicated to celebrating the gift of his saving Blood poured out for us on the Cross and in the Eucharist (much like May is the month of Mary and June is the month of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus) – and even though the feast day has been combined with Corpus Christi, the month is still dedicated to this beautiful mystery of our salvation! As a way to celebrate the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, I wanted to share with you this prayer written by St. Claude de la Colombière, spiritual director to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (the visionary of the apparitions of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus). It is his “Act of Confidence in Divine Mercy”, and I can think of no better way to celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus than to ask for and accept the great gift of his mercy, which he won for us by the shedding of his blood!
Lord, behold a soul that is in the world so that Thou may exercise Thine admirable mercy to make it shine before heaven and earth. Others glorify Thee by showing, through fidelity and constancy, the power of Thy grace and how sweet and generous Thou art to those who are faithful to Thee. As for me, I will glorify Thee by manifesting how good Thou art to sinners. In me, Thou will show that Thy mercy is superior to all our malice, that nothing can exhaust it, and that no relapse, however shameful and culpable it may be, should make a sinner lose hope in Thy forgiveness. My beloved Redeemer, I have offended Thee gravely. But it would be worse still if I add to my offenses the horrible outrage of thinking that Thou art not so good as to forgive me. In vain Thine enemy–who is also mine–sets new snares for me daily. He may cause me to cast away everything except the hope I have in Thy mercy. Even though I fall a hundred times, and my sins were a hundred times more horrible than what they are, I will always continue to hope in Thee. Amen.