From 1849 until 1969 the General Roman Calendar hosted the annual Feast of the Most Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in July. It was initiated by Pope Blessed Pius IX, in thanksgiving for his safe return from exile to Rome and the Papal States, after a violent insurrection there. During the liturgical reforms mandated by Pope Saint Pius X, the feast was transferred to July 1st. In many dioceses and in some religious congregations, there was a second annual commemoration of the Most Precious Blood celebrated on the Friday following the 4th Sunday of Lent. The bishops of the United States mandated this Lenten observance throughout the nation during the Fourth Provincial Council of Baltimore, in 1840.
And so it stood until the reforms of 1969, when both commemorations were suppressed on the General Roman Calendar, because, in the words of those charged with the reform, “the Most Precious Blood of Christ the Redeemer is already venerated in the solemnities of the Passion, of Corpus Christi, of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and in the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.”
Happily, the Mass of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ is now found among the “Votive Masses” (number 7) in the current Roman Missal (Third Typical Edition) and can be offered by the priest-celebrant on days on which it is not impeded (e.g., by feasts and solemnities, etc.). Lay people can respectfully request that this Mass be utilized by priests for the edification of the faithful, especially during the month of July, which by tradition is dedicated to the Precious Blood.
Another way to foster this devotion to the Precious Blood of Our Savior is by means of praying the Litany of the Precious Blood of Jesus, which was approved and promulgated by Pope Saint John XXIII in 1960. It is one of the six litanies listed in the 2004 Enchiridion Indulgentiarum for which a partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who piously pray it.
It can be found here: https://www.usccb.org/prayers/litany-most-precious-blood and in many other places.
Let us pray.
O God, who by the Precious Blood of your Only Begotten Son
have redeemed the whole world,
preserve in us the work of your mercy,
so that, ever honoring the mystery of our salvation,
we may merit to obtain its fruits.
Through Christ our Lord.
R/. Amen.
