Virgo Potens

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus~ July 5th “We also find in this thought a fresh proof of Mary’s unblemished purity. It is repugnant to our reverence for the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity to imagine Him dwelling in a womb that had ever been defiled with sin, and much more to suppose that the Precious Blood that flowed in His veins and was the price of our redemption did not come from a source as pure as God could make it.” [—Clarke, S.J.] ~ Rev. M. F. Walz, C. PP. S., Why Is Thy Apparel Red? or Glories of the Precious Blood (1914).

ON DEVOTION to the MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD (continued) Here, then, are a few simple points upon which you may enlarge at your leisure. 1. Incomparable excellence of the Precious Blood. The Precious Blood is incomparably excellent; first, because of the exquisitely pure created nature which, in union with our Lord’s Body and Soul, it constituted, and now, in His glorified state, inseparably constitutes. Jesus came as a Lamb without spot, to take away the sins of the world. He assumed our flesh and blood, but He assumed it free from the corruption of the fall, and of an Immaculate Virgin Mother, purer than the very angels. Words cannot express, nor heart conceive, the perfection of the human nature thus assumed. ~ Edward Caswall, Confraternity Manual of the Precious Blood (1861)

A Christian is never alone. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. ON DEVOTION to the MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD Remember, Christian soul, that our Lord Jesus Christ shed His life-blood upon the Cross for you and all mankind; thus making atonement for our sins, and opening to us the gates of Paradise. To this all-precious Blood the tenderest devotion of our hearts is due; and we cannot, therefore, be too earnest in obtaining a clear idea of the doctrine which Holy Church sets before us concerning it. ~ Edward Caswall, Confraternity Manual of the Precious Blood (1861)

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 4th Is hope sweet where despair had almost begun to reign? Is it a joy to be emancipated from a shameful slavery, or set free from a noxious dungeon? Is it gladness to be raised as if by miracle from a bed of feebleness and suffering, to sudden health and instantaneous vigour? Then what a gladness must salvation be! For, as there is no earthly misery like sin, so is there no deliverance like that with which Jesus makes us free. Words will not tell it. Thought only can think it, and it must be thought out of an enlightened mind and a burning heart, dwelt on for a long, long while. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus~ July 4th “The Precious Blood of Jesus flowing through His veins while an infant in His Holy Mother’s womb was derived from Mary. He lived with her life. She furnished from her immaculate body the Precious Blood that Jesus shed for us. How close must have been the union of Jesus and Mary! Can we wonder at her surpassing holiness, when she not only carried her God within her womb, but furnished the very Body with which His Humanity clothed itself.” [—Clarke, S.J.] ~ Rev. M. F. Walz, C. PP. S., Why Is Thy Apparel Red? or Glories of the Precious Blood (1914).

2 of 2 Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 3rd Neither may we look for deliverance direct from the patience and compassion of God Himself; for in the abyss of His wisdom it has been decreed, that without shedding of blood there shall be no remission of sin. It is from the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ alone that our salvation comes. Out of the immensity of its merits, out of the inexhaustible treasures of its satisfactions, because of the resistless power of its beauty over the justice and the wrath of God, because of that dear combination of its priceless worth and its benignant prodigality, we miserable sinners are raised out of the depths of our wretchedness, and restored to the peace and favour of our Heavenly Father. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

1 of 2 Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 3rd What then must a life of such sin be? What must be a death in sin? What the irrevocable eternity of unrestricted sin? From all this horror whither shall we look for deliverance? Not to ourselves; for we know the practical infinity of our weakness, and the incorrigible vitality of our corruption. Not to any earthly power; for it has no jurisdiction here. Not to philosophy, literature, or science; for in this case they are but sorry and unhelpful matters. Not to any saint however holy, nor to any angel, however mighty; for the least sin is a bigger mountain than they have faculties to move. Not to the crowned queen of God’s creation, the glorious and the sinless Mary; for even her holiness cannot satisfy for sin, nor the whiteness of her purity take out its deadly stain. (continued)

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus~ July 3rd But the highest glory of the Precious Blood, as well as the greatest of the riches of His grace, is the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary together with her consummate sanctity and exalted dignity. “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” And Mary said : “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to Thy word.” And the Word was made flesh. “Bright as the blood of Adam, when the breath of God sent it sparkling through his veins, pure as the flesh of Eve, while standing yet in the mould of the Almighty’s hands, as they drew it from the side of the slumbering man, were the blood and the flesh, which the Spirit of God formed into the glorious humanity, that Mary gave to Jesus.”—Wiseman. ~ Rev. M. F. Walz, C. PP. S., Why Is Thy Apparel Red? or Glories of the Precious Blood (1914).

2 of 2 July 2nd ~ The Visitation of Our Blessed Lady Traditional And she cried out with a loud voice, and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord. And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name. And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him. He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy: As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever. And Mary abode with her about three months; and she returned to her own house. Douay-Rheims Bible, Luke 1: 46- 56 ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧

2 of 2 July 2nd ~ The Visitation of Our Blessed Lady Traditional And she cried out with a loud voice, and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord. And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name. And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him. He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy: As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever. And Mary abode with her about three months; and she returned to her own house. Douay-Rheims Bible, Luke 1: 46- 56 ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧

2 of 2 July 2nd ~ The Visitation of Our Blessed Lady And she cried out with a loud voice, and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord. And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name. And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him. He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy: As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever. And Mary abode with her about three months; and she returned to her own house. Douay-Rheims Bible, Luke 1: 46- 56 ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧

1 of 2 July 2nd ~ The VISITATION of OUR BLESSED LADY Traditional The Feast of the Visitation was instituted for the whole world in the year 1389 by Pope Urban VI. It recalls the visit of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. The circumstances of her visit are described in today’s Gospel [Luke 1, 39-47] especially the sanctification of St. John the Baptist in his mother’s womb. (St. Joseph Daily Missal, (1956)) ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda. And she entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: (continued)

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 2nd "Thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins." Who else but Jesus can do this, and what else even from Him do we require but this; for in this lies all things which we can desire? Of all miseries the bondage of sin is the most miserable. It is worse than sorrow, worse than pain. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

2 of 2 Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 2nd The Son of God then seeks a mother here on earth. He asks for blood from the veins of a daughter of Adam that he might belong to the human race. “Therefore because the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner hath been partaker of the same” (Heb. II, 14). The great Archangel Gabriel is sent as heavenly envoy to convey the message of this astounding mystery, and to whom ? To a maiden who in the eyes of the world is simply the bride of a poor laboring man. “Who is as the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high and looketh down on the low things in heaven and in earth? (Ps. 112.) But she was a virgin without spot, whom He has enriched with every grace, and whose soul is a reflection of the Divine Purity. The Holy Ghost infused more divine love and sanctity in Mary’s heart than in the whole world of angels and men. The Blessed Virgin Mary is elevated to the dignity of Mother of God, not on account of personal merits of her own, but solely through the merits of the Precious Blood as the fountain of the plenitude of graces in Mary. “ln whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. I, 7). ~ Rev. M. F. Walz, C. PP. S., Why Is Thy Apparel Red? or Glories of the Precious Blood (1914)

1 of 2 Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus~ July 2nd Fallen man must be restored to the image of God, and for this purpose the Son of God “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man” (Phil. II, 7). But in the eternal wisdom of God it is decreed, that without the effusion of blood there was to be no remission of sin, no restoration of man to the sonship of God. Blood had been flowing over four thousand years at the express command of God as an acceptable homage to the Deity as well as an act of thanksgiving and expiation, but only as a type of the Blood of the Lamb of God; for nothing will appease the Divinity but a Divine Victim. (continued below)

Sang précieux de notre Rédempteur, c’est par vous que nos àmes seront sauvées. Precious Blood of our Saviour, it is through Thee that our souls will be saved. Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 1st It is from the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ alone that our salvation comes. Out of the immensity of its merits, out of the inexhaustible treasures of its satisfactions, because of the resistless power of its beauty over the justice and the wrath of God, because of that dear combination of its priceless worth and its benignant prodigality, we miserable sinners are raised out of the depths of our wretchedness, and restored to the peace and favour of our Heavenly Father. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

3 of 3 Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus~ July 1st We all deserved the same fate, but we poor mortals were “bought with a great price.” “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undented, foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but manifested in the last times for you” (I Peter I, 18-20). When God said to the serpent in the garden of Eden, “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed,” may we not conclude that He referred to the redeeming Blood of Jesus assumed from the Immaculate Virgin Mary? “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb” (Apoc. XII, 10, 11). Is not then the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary the morning star, and the Precious Blood of her Divine Son the aurora, of a new spiritual day ? These are the two sweet recollections we love to entertain of paradise lost, the memories of which shed a tender luster over this accursed earth: the Virgin promised four thousand years before her birth, and the “Lamb slain from the beginning of the world;” one is the hope of the elect, and the other the salvation of the just.* ———- *It may be remarked here that the Immaculate Conception was declared a dogma of faith only five years after the feast of the Precious Blood was extended to the universal Church in 1849. The most ancient church in Rome bearing the title of the Immaculate Conception, and built by the celebrated Belisarius in the 6th century, is now in charge of the Missionary Fathers of the Precious Blood. This church is now called S. Maria in Trivio, and contains the relics of Bl. Caspar del Bufalo, the holy Founder of the Community of the Precious Blood. ~ Rev. M. F. Walz, C. PP. S., Why Is Thy Apparel Red? or Glories of the Precious Blood (1914).

2 of 2 Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus~ July 1st MORNING STAR AND AURORA THE human race has existed here on earth about 6,000 years, but it is not quite 2,000 years that heaven is open to man. What had closed it upon us? Sin. And what has re-opened the heavenly paradise to us? The Precious Blood of our dying Saviour on the Cross. The fallen angels did not receive the promise of a Redeemer and cannot avail themselves of the merits of the Precious Blood. They are lost forever. (continued below)

❀•°❀°•❀•°❀°•❀ •°❀°•❀ 1 of 3 Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 1st PREFACE ST. CATHERINE of Siena bids us fill our memory with thoughts of the Precious Blood of Jesus. This the writer has attempted to do in the following pages. Those who thirst for the love of God and for the salvation of souls, yet feel oppressed by the consequences of their sins, and are diffident about the efficacy of their prayers, will find in the devotion to the Blood of our Redeemer a source of consolation and encouragement altogether too little known and appreciated. The Church elevates the chalice every morning at Mass for our adoration and as a propitiation for our sins, and her liturgical prayers are replete with invocations to the Precious Blood, to awaken our confidence in this Blood of the Atonement. “Having therefore, brethren, a confidence in the entering into the holies by the blood of Christ” (Heb. X, 19). Our Eucharistic Lord is glorified in the Blessed Sacrament by the devotion to His Divine Blood, trampled under foot in the Passion, but now acclaimed with joy by us, the chosen people of the New Law, as the Price of our Redemption. His Blood be upon us and upon our children for the sanctification of our souls ! THE AUTHOR. Patronage of St. Francis Xavier March 12, 1914 ❀•°❀°•❀•°❀°•❀ •°❀°•❀ (continued below)

We therefore pray Thee, help Thy servants: whom Thou has redeemed with Thy Precious Blood. (Ambrosian Hymn). “The chastisements of God are not yet at an end; still more sorrowful times are ahead; and divine justice will be placated by the devotion to the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ.” ~ St. Gaspar del Bufalo