Precious Blood Gems (May)
May 31, 2026
Fr. John Colacino C.PP.S.
May 1. The world can still set itself right and always will be able to, because the voice and blood of Christ cry out for pity and mercy.  St. Gaspar del Bufalo
 
May 2. We feed as on the food of life, we constantly refresh our souls with his precious blood, as from a fountain. Yet we are always thirsting, burning to be satisfied. St. Athanasius of Alexandria
 
May 3. Christ declared the cup, which is of the same creation as ourselves, to be his blood, and taught that it was the new offering of the new covenant. It is this  offering which the Church has received from the Apostles and which, throughout the whole world, it offers to the God who gives us food, as the first fruits of his own gifts under the new covenant. St. Irenaeus of Lyons
 
May 4. O sweet, rose-red blood of Jesus, ennoble my blood and change it into Your own blood, and let this be done to me according to Your good pleasure. St. Faustina Mary Kowalska
 
May 5. All men are our brothers whether they are Catholic or not. But of course the tie that binds Catholics is closer, the tie of grace. We partake of the same food, Christ. We put off the old man and put on Christ. The same blood flows through our veins, Christ’s. Servant of God Dorothy day
 
May 6. May your image engraved upon my soul, Giver of life, not be effaced.  May the mark of your blood not be erased from my soul’s altar bearing your seal. St. Gregory of Narek
 
May 7. Purified by his blood, I desire that with my last breath I might call upon Jesus crucified, in whose precious blood I fully trust, immersing all my faults in it that they might be cancelled, and all my good works, that they might become worthy of eternal life.  St. Rose Venerini
 
May 8. Ah, sweet Blood, that raises the dead! You give life, you dissolve the shadows that darken the minds of reasonable creatures, and gives us light! St. Catherine of Siena
 
May 9. How shall my heart be disposed? It must be pure and simple like that of a child. Then I shall be filled with the Holy Spirit and inflamed with divine love. You are a divine Spouse; as your spouse I will sacrifice myself for others to make your precious blood fruitful. Bl. Maria Teresa Gerhardinger
 
May 10  Seal up, O Christ, your words in my soul, that it may not sin against you.  Gather up the blood you shed for me, and pour it into my heart; let my love be wholly yours in return for all you suffered for me.  St. John of Avila
 
May 11  Wash thee in Christ's blood, which hath this might  That being red, it dyes red souls to white. John Donne
 
May 12. When I was sick in the flesh, the Savior was sent to me in the likeness of sinful flesh, fulfilling such a dispensation, to redeem me from slavery, from corruption, and from death. And he became to me righteousness, and sanctification, and salvation. Righteousness, by setting me free from sin through faith in him. Sanctification, in having set me free through water and the Spirit and his Word. And salvation, his blood being the ransom of the true Lamb, having given himself up on my behalf. An expiatory sacrifice for the cleansing of the world, for the reconciliation of all things in heaven as well as on earth, the mystery hidden before the ages and generations, fulfilled at the ordained time. St. Epiphanius of Salamis
 
May 13. How much blood has been unjustly shed in the world! How much violence, how much disdain for human life! Humanity today, often wounded by hatred and violence, needs, more than ever to experience the efficacy of the redeeming blood of Christ. That blood, which was not shed in vain, carries within it the power of God's love and the pledge of hope, redemption, reconciliation. Pope St. John Paul II
 
May 14 (Ascension)  The precious plenty of his precious blood ascended into heaven in the blessed body of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it is flowing there in him, praying to the Father for us, and this is and will be so long as we have need. And furthermore, it flows in all heaven, rejoicing in the salvation of all mankind which is and will be there, and the filling up the number which is lacking. Bl. Julian of Norwich 
 
May 15. If we discount the value of any sacrament we must discount the value of all, since it is the same power that acts in each of them, it is the immolation of the same Lamb, it is the same death and the same blood that gives each of them its efficacy. Nicholas Cabasilas
 
May 16.  It was only at the cost of His bloodstained immolation and untold sufferings that Christ Jesus merited for us this wonderful grace of being united so closely to Himself in that He nourishes us with His Sacred Body, and gives us His Precious Blood to drink. Bl. Columba Marmion
 
May 17. Since the beginnings of Christianity, the mystery of the Blood of Christ has fascinated many people…. the Blood of Christ is the source of salvation for the world. God chose the sign of blood, because no other sign is so eloquent to express the supreme love of life given for others. Pope Francis
 
May 18  Out of love the Lord took us to himself; because he loved us and it was God’s will, our Lord Jesus Christ gave his life’s blood for us – he gave his body for our body, his soul for our soul. Pope St. Clement I 
 
May 19. Should those who defile their lives after baptism lose hope? No. Let them therefore run to the blood of the Lamb, not so that they may be wetted in it by the water of baptism again, but that they may be washed from the stains of their sins by a fountain of tears. Bl. Alcuin of York
 
May 20. We judge it most timely to call our beloved children’s attention to the unbreakable bond which must exist between the devotions to the Most Holy Name and Most Sacred Heart of Jesus — already so widespread among Christians — and devotion to the incarnate Word’s Most Precious Blood, “shed for many, to the remission of sins.” Pope St. John XXIII
 
May 21  There is an immortal soul within you made to the image of God, a soul redeemed at the price of the very blood of Jesus, more precious in the eyes of God than all the riches and all the kingdoms of this earth. St. Eugene de Mazenod
 
May 22  O Lord, we cannot go to the pool of Siloe to which you sent the blind man. But we have the chalice of Your Precious Blood, filled with life and light. The purer we are, the more we receive.  St. Ephrem the Syrian
 
May 23  For the Israelites water flowed from the rock, for you blood flowed from Christ; water satisfied them for a time, the blood satiates you for eternity. St. Ambrose of Milan
 
May 24. (Pentecost) You repose, Holy Spirit, in creatures who dispose themselves so that, by receiving your gifts, they may in purity receive your own image in themselves. You repose in those who receive in themselves the effect of the blood of the Word, and make themselves worthy dwelling-places for you. St. Mary Magdalene of the Incarnate Word de’Pazzi
 
May 25.  It was Mary who gave Christ the Immaculate Body, which he took to the Father on the cross and the altar of the world. She gave him blood for the Calvary Sacrifice and the chalices. Bl. Stefan WyszyƄski
 

May 26   If a person finds it very hard to forgive injuries, let him look at a Crucifix, and think that Christ shed all his blood for him, and not only forgave his enemies, but even prayed his heavenly Father to forgive them also. St. Philip Neri 

May 27. When I had arisen for prayer, Christ appeared to me on the cross and he called me and told me to put my mouth on the wound on his side and it seemed to me as if I were drinking and being purified by the blood flowing from it. St. Angela of Foligno

 
May 28  As king Christ grants to his people a kingdom; as High Priest he washes away their sins by the sacrifice of his own blood. He names them a ‘royal priesthood’ as a reminder to hope for an eternal kingdom, and to offer to God without ceasing the sacrifice of a sinless life. St. Bede the Venerable
 
May 29. Just as Moses made the Old Testament sacred with the blood of calves, so too Christ the Lord took the New Testament, of which He is the Mediator, and made it sacred through His own blood, in instituting the mystery of the Eucharist. Pope St. Paul VI
 
May 30  Let us join to the abundant, precious, and real shedding of the blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ the humble, mystical shedding of our blood flowing from our hearts in time of suffering. And this blood of ours, poor, insignificant and wretched as it is, will become rich, abundant, and precious in the eyes of God. St. Joseph Marello
 
May 31. Mary owes all to the Precious Blood, to whom the Precious Blood owes its very self. Yet the river is greater than its fountain. The Precious Blood is greater than Mary; nay, it is greater by a whole infinity, because the waters of the Godhead have assumed its uncommingled stream unto themselves. But Mary is seated on her throne to exalt the Precious Blood. Her power is used to spread His empire. Her prayers dispense the graces that He has merited for us, and Her holiness, which delights the heavens, is a monument and a trophy raised to the glory of this victorious Blood. Fr. Frederick Faber

 

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