Feast of the Precious Blood

 

Today is the Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  The liturgical color is red.

Propers for today's mass can be found at Usus Antiquior here.

It is interesting to review the scriptures on which the theology of the Precious Blood is based:

1 John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light, as he also is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

Hebrews 9:12  "Neither by the blood of goats, or of calves, but by his own blood, entered once into the holies, having obtained eternal redemption."

Ephesians 1:7 "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins, according to the riches of his grace"

Romans 5:9 "Christ died for us; much more therefore, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from wrath through him."

1 Peter 1:18-19 "Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver, from your vain conversation of the tradition of your fathers But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled."

Rev. 12:11 "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of the testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death."

Image:  This 17th century drawing of the Blood of Christ by Italian Baroque artist Gian Loreno Bernini is pen on paper and measures 15.1 inches by 9.7 inches.  It is found in Teyler's Museum, Netherlands. The image shows Our Lady gathering Christ's blood and offering it to the Father. Bernini had another artist paint a large canvas of the image based on Bernini's own drawing which Bernini then had placed at the foot of his bed so he could meditate on it, including while he was dying.

Precious Blood Art Series: Cabrera

 

 

This 18th century artwork is The Allegory of the Precious Blood  by Mexican Baroque artist Miguel Cabrera.  It can be found in the Templo de San Francisco Javier in Tepotzotlan, Mexico. 

This extremely large artwork is oil on canvas  It is 23 feet 9 inches tall and  17 feet 7 inches wide.

The image depicts Our Lord as the fountain of salvation and His Precious Blood as providing a river of redemption.  The banner refers to Psalm 130:7 stating that with Him there is plentiful redemption.  On the left one sees Our Lady and St. Peter guiding and protecting a soul on its way toward salvation. The lower portion shows souls in purgatory.

Precious Blood Art Series: Crivelli

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This is Carlo Crivelli's St Francis with the Blood of Christ. It is from the late 15th century and is a small tempera on gold panel (roughly 8 by 6-1/2 inches).  It is believed to have been used as a private devotional object by a Franciscan friar.  One can see many instruments of Christ's Passion in various locations in the artwork.

This painting can be found in the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan, Italy.