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Day 6

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (6:53-58)

[Jesus said,] ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live for ever.’

RESPONSORY

And while they were at supper, Jesus, taking a cup, gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, “All of you drink of this.” -- “For this is my blood of the new covenant.”

Which is being shed for many for the forgiveness of sins. – “For this is my blood of the new covenant.”

From the writings of St. Mary Magdalene de’Pazzi (+1607)

O Lord, the soul’s mouth….lovingly tastes you; it savours the purity of the divine essence and of your humanity and attains to such a knowledge of your purity that that which used to seem virtue to it, now seems like a shortcoming both in itself and in others. Receiving the Holy Sacraments which draw strength from your Blood and from your Passion, and of the Blood that was shed therein. We savour this most fully when we receive the holy Sacrament of your Body and Blood, for there more than anywhere else this sweetness and grace are found hidden, when the Sacrament is really received with purity and honesty. Let whoever wishes to taste of your gentleness and sweetness approach this Blood and there he will find all rest and consolation. The soul will be washed with this Blood, cleansed in this Blood, nourished by this Blood.

O Word Made Flesh and slain Lamb, You have given Your blood for humans, I mean for Your spouse, the Church! Please make this blood penetrate the heart of my most dear Father, the minister of that blood, so that in offering anew that blood and nourishing himself by it continually he may be able to make its power known and understood! If in the Old Testament the blood of irrational creatures, offered by other creatures, had the power of purifying and cleansing in part-- how much more will this blood, which is not the blood of a mere creature, but of God and of man, have the power of purifying hearts and making that work understood! For, this work has to proceed from and be accomplished in virtue of that blood!

O my beloved Spouse and loving Word, you engender the Body of the holy Church in a way which you alone know and understand…By means of your Blood, you make a well-organized, well-formed body of which you are the head. The angels delight in its beauty, the archangels admire it, the seraphim are enraptured by it, all the angelic spirits marvel at it, and all the souls of the blessed in heaven rejoice in it. the Blessed Trinity takes delight in it in a manner beyond our comprehension.

Musical Selection

Collect

O God,

for your own glory and the salvation of the human race

you appointed Christ as eternal high priest;

grant that by sharing in his memorial

the people he purchased for you by his blood

may know the power of his cross and resurrection.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever. Amen. (Votive Mass of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest)

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