Precious Blood Unites Mankind IN THREE OFFICIAL decisions, each of tremen­ shedding symbolizes the giving of life, of one’s all. blood in the struggle with sin” (Heb. xii, 4). Unless and L e a r n t dous significance for the Church’s worship, Pope That is exactly what Christ did when he poured out we resist “unto blood,” with our utmost efforts, we P. 0. Box 1620. Denver, Colorado John XXIU'called attention to the devotion to the His Blood for us. are not worthy of the Blood shed for us by Christ. Fh'ecious Blood. Only the smallest drop would have more than 'The knowledge that the Precious Blood was shed How M any Popos? He approved a hew litany for the feast, issued sufficed to wash away all the sins of the world. But not only for me but for my neighbor should cause Q. At the time of the election of our late Holy Father, he an Apostolic Letter on the devotion, and.inserted the Our Lord, by a most painful death, gave, torrents of me to have a lively sense of charity. was referred to as the 262nd Pope. His predecessor, Pius XII, invocation, “Blessed be His most Precious Blood” His Blood, as it painfully oozed from the lashes on This charity will include the corporal and spirit­ was also called the 262nd Pope. Now the late Pope John into the Divine Praises. ■ His back, the marks of thorns on His head, and the ual works of mercy, but especially those acts of char­ has been called the 261st Pope and his successor is to be Devotion to the Precious Blood was very close to nails driven into His wrist. He did this to show us ity that enable my neighbor to sanctify his soul. the 262nd Pope. How explain this discrepancy? A. The Pontifical Yearbook (1963) has abandoned the great heart of the late Pontiff. how great His love was and how horrible sin is. for the present any attempt to number the Popes. It In his Apostolic letter promoting the devo^on, the WE LIVE in a time, a world, and a country be­ gives as its reason the present impossibility of de­ Pope made a sharp distinction between devotions that IMMEDIATELY the thought comes to us: Could deviled with race conflict. A whole heresy has sprung termining the validity of two names, Dioscorus, who are fundamental and more likely to promote holiness this Blood of infinite price have been shed in vain up regarding the purity of “blood” as a symbol of died in 503, some 22 days after his election, and Leo and those that are relative, superficial, or transient. for me? The Precious Blood actually becomes fruit­ one’s “race,” and its supposed superiority. The devotion to the Precious Blood, he made clear, less for the sinner at the time he commits his mortal The Precious Blood reminds us that we have all VIII, who would be an invalid Pope if the deposition is for everybody all the time. sin. one common blood in the Mystical Body, the divine- of his predecessor, John XII, was illegitimate. Just as the revulsion against the waste of the human family of Christ, that is the Precious Blood If Leo VIII (963-965) was a valid Pope, the next Pope, Benedict V (964-966) was invalid. Moreover, in BEING, so central to the mystery of the Redemp­ Precious Blood should spur us to repentance, so it of the Savior, which was shed for our common des­ tion, the Precious Blood of Our Lord shed for our should impel us to avoid sin at all costs. tiny, and which we drink at every Communion. 1961, the Vatican dropped the name of Stephen II from the list because he died before his consecration sins fires the imagination with new fervor. We should be reminded of the words of the Letter No disunion can rend those who have assimilated (752). Until and unless all questions of validity are Blood is the very life-stuff of the body; hence its to the Hebrews: “You have not yet resisted unto the mystery of the Most Precious Blood. finally settled, we shall never know with certainty the exact number of Popes. At various stages in the past 20 centuries, dif­ ferent writers have compiled lists of the Popes until their day, relying on such authorities as were acces­ sible to them. But there were differences among the catalogues on which they relied, sometimes because of copyists’ errors and at other times because of a lack of historical precision. In 1947, Vatican scholars published the result of a comprehensive study of all ancient lists, eliminating inaccuracies wherever they had crept in. This work is still going forward. i>i;cL/\u/u lo.v Two main defects can derange the list of Pon­ ui- ' \i>i.pf,xi)v;Nct; tiffs: First, there may be a confusion of names, a confusion that is compounded by an attempt to fit two names into the Papal list where only one be­ Two Feast Days Exemplify longs. Thus in 1939 the Pontifical Yearbook listed Cle- tus as the third Pope and Anacletus as the fifth. It now recognizes that 'Anacletus and Cletus were the Mystery of the Incarnation same name. Thus the name of Anacletus was retained as the third Pope and Evaristus (97-105) became the TWO FEASTS occurring close to­ natures, the act of consecration makes fifth. present the whole Christ, Body and gether exemplify in a peculiar way the The historical difficulty, already mentioned, of de­ Soul, Divinity and Humanity. nature of the Incarnation. They are the termining the validity of certain Popes, is a more Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Any part of Christ’s Body could be serious defect. But this does not at all invalidate the Jesus, June 21, and the Feast of the adored; yet only a special reason war­ fact that there has never been a break in the con­ Precious Blood, July 1. rants such an adoration. That reason tinuity of the Papal line, any more than the Hayes- exists in the Sacred Heart and the Tilden conflict of 1876 spoiled the succession of our To explain why the Church adores Most Precious Blood. Presidents. not only the Body of Christ, as'Hn the Eucharist, but also physical parts The material object of both devo­ Beffer Marry Than Burn of that Body, is to unfold the whole tions is a human heart and human Q. What is the meaniag of the statement of St. Paul philosophy and theology of both crea­ blood, insofar as they belong to the (I Cor. vil, 8-9): “I say to the unmarried . if they do not have selfcontrol, let them marry, for it is better to marry tion and Redemption. Word of God. But the formal object, the motive for adoration, is, in the case than to bum.” What happens when a person cannot marry Man is not a body alone, nor a soul of A e Heart, the love of Jesus, which and yet has no self-control? Some men would die before 40 if they had to practice seif-controi. alone. He is a composite of body and ^ Heart manifests, and in the case of A. It is the men who do not practice self-control soul. The soul informs every part of the ^ e Blood, the price of man’s redemp­ who die before 40. St. Paul does not mean that anyone body, and every part of the body tion, which it symbolizes so truly. actually lacks self-control but simply that for some forms one person. Thus it is said, not people marriage is to be advised as a remedy for that my hand writes or my feet run, WE MAY consider, writes Father concupiscence as well as other reasons. With will but that I write or run. Joseph Roling, C.PP.S., in his contri­ power, common sense, idealism, and the grace given bution to The Precious Blood Devotion Because Christ has only one Person (Messenger Press, Carthagena, Ohio), by prayer, everyone who is not deranged has self- (although a human nature, a human control. three aspects of the work of Redemp­ operation, a human will, and a human tion: The plea that sexual continence injures health is soul), it can be said that every part of not made by any reputable physician or psychiatrist. His body, being united in ineffable and First the price which the Redeemer The pamphlet of the U.S. ^ b lic Health Service, unique hypostatic union with the Per­ paid; second, why He paid it; and Keeping Fit, sensibly shows that all unmanageable son of the Word of God, is divine and, third, what He procured for it. sexual desires can be avoided by guarding against therefore, worthy of adoration. We can lewd thoughts or pictures. The well-known psycholo­ The second aspect is symbolized by say this because the Body cannot be gist, William McDougal, states: “A strong man (mor­ the Sacred Heart, which symbolizes really separated from the Divinity of ally strong) can live and live well without love and Christ’s love for men. The first and Christ. indulgence of the sex tendency.” Such testimonies third aspects are more fittingly ex­ Self-ivtdent Trufhs could fill three of these columns. pressed by the Precious Blood. Perhaps no other political document in his­ mind and plans of the founding fathers of THUS WHEN THE Host is conse­ tory so closely conforms to the basic truths America.