Month of the Precious Blood (July 14)
July 14, 2026
Day 14
A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. (Ephesians 2:13-16)
RESPONSORY
You who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. -- For he is our peace, who has made both one.
So that he might create in himself one new humanity -- For he is our peace, who has made both one.
From the letters of Saint Maria De Mattias (+1866)
The blood of Jesus is all our hope and all our good. May our hearts never withdraw from that perennial fountain flowing from the loving wound of the side of our most loving Spouse Jesus Crucified! Here all our poor labors borne for love of him will be sweetened. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus Crucified and we can be sure he will not let us perish, provided we are faithful to him. Oh! What a beautiful honor is ours to serve God, to think always of God, to love God, to suffer in order to please God; in short, to live entirely in God. This he permits us in his infinite goodness. I say, he permits us, poor creatures … to be elevated to union with him; nay more, he even commands it. How must not these reflections encourage the soul! She would never depart from the feet of her Lord in order to hear his most loving voice calling her to unite herself ever more to him. She does not tire of always blessing, loving, praising and thanking him with all her heart. She seeks nothing else but to give him pleasure. Her Lord’s good pleasure constitutes all her delight, and if she obtains that, she is rich and filled with so much consolation that she does not know how to express it. Courage, therefore, and confidence in God, that, should everything else be wanting, it matters nothing, provided we enjoy the grace of our beloved Spouse, Jesus Crucified. Let us pray very much for the Church and ardently love Jesus, our Savior, who founded it with his Precious Blood.
Let us have faith in the most holy word of Jesus, who assures us that he will hear those who invoke him. We wish nothing else except his glory and the salvation of souls which cost his Blood; and therefore, let us hope firmly, for all our confidence lies in the merits of the Divine Redeemer who looks upon his spouse, the Holy Church, with tender love. And, if he now chastises her, he does so to purify her in order to make him dearer to his loving eyes. The design of our Lord Jesus Christ is to reunite all peoples in his Church, and therefore the chastisement is being felt everywhere. Oh! What a triumph! Oh! What a triumph! Let us pray, let us pray, let us pray.…The Blood of Jesus is our only hope and our only Good—this Blood, shed with so much pain and so much love for our eternal salvation. Let our hearts be filled with courage, fearing nothing, not even death, so that at every moment the Precious Blood be glorified, loved and blessed by all!
Let us summon our spirit to union with God, in whom we shall find the person of his most holy Son given to us with infinite love, clothed with human flesh and covered with wounds and Blood, inviting us to contemplate him with fixed attention so that our hearts might respond to the delicacy of his most tender love. Jesus loves us without any merit on our part. Let us love him very much because he is worthy of being loved. Let us love him also for the great gift of the redemption and for the Blood he willed to shed for us. Let our only thought be to bring all, as far as is possible, to the knowledge of Jesus, our Crucified Love, who is covered with blood and wounds for our salvation. Do not become disheartened. Courage and great confidence in the Blessed God. Much prayer. Jesus died for love of us; the merits of his sufferings are ours. Do not fear, my daughter. A loving glance at Jesus Crucified, and then take courage to labor for the school, for the salvation of souls, for the glory of his Precious Blood…. We shall pass through many tribulations in order to enter Heaven. Great confidence in the Precious Blood of Jesus. Let us ask God to make us understand the great value of sufferings. Suffering is dear to a soul that loves Jesus Christ, and it always seems to her that she does not suffer for Him who suffered so much and died crucified for love of us.
Musical Selection
Collect
O God,
who made of one blood all races and nations of earth,
and sent your Son Jesus Christ
to preach peace to those who are far off
and to those who are near:
Pour out your Spirit on the whole creation,
bring the nations of the world into your fellowship,
and hasten the coming of your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Worship)