Monday, September 05, 2005

Litany of the Most Precious Blood

Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Christ, hear us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven,
have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit,
have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
have mercy on us.


Blood of Christ,
only-begotten Son of the eternal Father,

save us.
Blood of Christ,
Incarnate Word or God,

save us.
Blood of Christ,
of the New and Eternal Testament,

save us.

Blood of Christ,
falling upon the earth in Agony,

save us.
Blood of Christ,
shed profusely in the Scourging,

save us.
Blood of Christ,
flowing forth in the Crowning with Thorns,

save us.


Blood of Christ,
poured out on the Cross,
save us.
Blood of Christ,
price of our salvation,
save us.
Blood of Christ,
without which there is no forgiveness,

save us.

Blood of Christ,
Eucharistic drink and refreshment of souls,

save us.
Blood of Christ,
stream of mercy,

save us.
Blood of Christ,
victor over demons,

save us.


Blood of Christ,
courage of Martyrs,

save us.
Blood of Christ,
strength of Confessors,
save us.
Blood of Christ,
bringing forth Virgins,
save us.

Blood of Christ,
help of those in peril,
save us.
Blood of Christ,
relief of the burdened,

save us.
Blood of Christ,
solace in sorrow,

save us.


Blood of Christ,
hope of the penitent,

save us.
Blood of Christ,
consolation of the dying,

save us.
Blood of Christ,
peace and tenderness of hearts,

save us.

Blood of Christ,
pledge of eternal life,

save us.
Blood of Christ,
freeing souls from purgatory,

save us.
Blood of Christ,
most worthy of all glory and honor,

save us.


Lamb of God,
who taketh away the sins of the world,
spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God,
who taketh away the sins of the world,
graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God,
who taketh away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us, O Lord.


Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord, in Thy Blood.
And made us, for our God, a kingdom.


Let us pray;

Almighty and eternal God,
Thou hast appointed Thine only-begotten Son
the Redeemer of the world
and willed to be appeased by his blood.
Grant, we beg of Thee,
that we may worthily adore
this price of our salvation
and through its power
be safeguarded from the evils of the present life
so that we may rejoice in its fruits forever in heaven.
Through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.


(Latin text, etc. available here.)

Saturday, September 03, 2005

A Ladder

"Because reflection
upon the nature of things
does not reach its ideal state
unless
the life concerned with
behavior precedes it,
Ecclesiastes is rightly placed
after Proverbs.

"And since we do not gaze
upon the object
of our heavenly contemplation
unless we first
disdainfully look away
from those things
slipping away below,
the Song of Songs is rightly placed
after Ecclesiastes.

"To be sure, one first
reforms his behavior;

after a while
he reflects upon all things present
as if they were not present;

third,
he gazes upon pure things
with heavenly and interior keenness of heart.

"And so it is
as though a kind of ladder
leading to the contemplation of God
is constructed with these books as its rungs.

"Thus,
after someone has suitably discharged
honorable things in the world
and then disdainfully looked away from them,
he may behold the profound depths of God
to the utmost."

From "On the Song of Songs"
by Pope St. Gregory the Great