The Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ (1962 Roman Calendar)

Q: When is the feast of the Most Precious Blood?

It is kept on 1 July in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a First Class feast. In the modern calendar it is no longer observed as a separate feast.

On the first of July the Church keeps the feast of the Most Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, lifting up her heart in adoration and thanksgiving for the Blood by which mankind was redeemed. As the Apostle teaches, we were not redeemed with corruptible things, as gold and silver, but with the precious Blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled. This feast gathers into one solemn celebration the whole mystery of our redemption, won at so great a price.

The price of our redemption

From the beginning the Church has venerated the Blood of Christ, shed in the circumcision, in the agony of Gethsemane, in the scourging and crowning with thorns, upon the way of the Cross, and at last upon Calvary, where from his pierced side there flowed forth blood and water. It is this Blood that seals the New and Eternal Covenant, that cleanses us from sin, and that is offered anew in the chalice at every Mass, where the faithful drink of the cup of salvation. The Church teaches that a single drop of this Blood, by reason of the dignity of him who shed it, would have sufficed for the redemption of the whole world; yet the Lord, in the abundance of his love, poured it out to the last.

The institution of the feast

Devotion to the Precious Blood, ancient in the Church, was given a feast for the universal Church by Pope Blessed Pius IX in the nineteenth century, in thanksgiving for the deliverance of the Church and as a fruit of growing devotion among the faithful. Pope Saint Pius X assigned it to the first of July, and Pope Pius XI raised it to the rank of a First Class feast, that the whole Church might honour with solemnity the Blood that is her life. So this celebration, though later than many in the calendar, sets forth a mystery as old as the redemption itself.

The collect of the feast addresses the eternal Father, who appointed his only-begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world and willed to be appeased by his Blood, and prays that we may so venerate the price of our salvation, and by its power be so defended from the evils of this present life, that we may rejoice in its everlasting fruit in heaven. In adoring the Precious Blood, the faithful give thanks for the love that did not spare itself, but was poured out to the end for our sake.

The Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, who hast appointed thine only-begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world, and hast willed to be appeased by his Blood: grant, we beseech thee, that we may so venerate the price of our salvation, and by its power be so defended against the evils of this present life, that we may rejoice in its perpetual fruit in heaven.

Omnípotens sempitérne Deus, qui unigénitum Fílium tuum mundi Redemptórem constituísti, ac eius Sánguine placári voluísti: concede, quæsumus, salútis nostræ prétium ita venérari, atque a præséntis vitæ malis eius virtúte deféndi in terris; ut fructu perpétuo lætémur in cælis.

Patronage

This feast honours the Precious Blood of Christ, the price of redemption, and is held in special devotion by religious congregations and faithful dedicated to the mystery of the Blood of the Lord.

In the Modern Calendar

In the modern calendar this feast is no longer kept as a separate celebration; devotion to the Precious Blood is joined to the feast of the Most Sacred Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi).

Common Questions

When is the feast of the Most Precious Blood?

It is kept on 1 July in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a First Class feast. In the modern calendar it is no longer observed as a separate feast.

What does this feast celebrate?

It celebrates the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, shed for the redemption of mankind, by which we are cleansed from sin and the New Covenant is sealed. The same Blood is offered in the chalice at every Mass.

When was the feast established?

Devotion to the Precious Blood is ancient, but the feast was extended to the universal Church by Pope Blessed Pius IX in the nineteenth century, assigned to 1 July by Pope Saint Pius X, and raised to First Class rank by Pope Pius XI.

See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.

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