Sunday, 1 July, 2012
Solemnity of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus celebrated in Gethsemane
Sunday, July first, in the Basilica of the Agony on the Mount of Olives, celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus.
In the presence of some hundred faithful, the Custos of the Holy Land, Brother Pierbattista Pizzaballa, flanked by the Custodial Vicar, Brother Artemio Vitores, and Brother Ignacio Ceja Jiménez , Provincial of the Saint Francis and Saint James Province in Mexico, as well as many concelebrants, commemorated the Most Precious Blood of Jesus.
Two meaningful gestures: At the beginning of the Mass, the scattering of rose petals on the Stone of the Agony, in memory of the drops of blood the Lord shed, and during the homily, a collection from the old and new veins of Scripture of the salvific significance of the Alliance with God sealed with spilt blood.
Every year In Jerusalem and in the Holy Land the solemnity is celebrated, signifying the universal redemptive effect of the Most Precious Blood.
Christianity is the religion of the Blood of Christ: sanctification, grace and glory. The Church testifies to the history of the Most Precious Blood through preaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments.
In the light of Mary, the Most Precious Blood becomes even more precious, because only in her is its complete redemptive effect achieved.
Devotion to the Most Precious Blood has many ancient origins. Saint Paul is considered the true Doctor of the Most Precious Blood, but his example was followed by many others, in particular Saint Catherine of Siena, prophetess of the Most Precious Blood, and Saint Gaspar del Bufalo.