Stained-glass window from Leicester Cathedral. Photo by Lawrence Lew OP from 2007, CC-BY-NC 2.0, here
The following essay is from the September 1935 issue of the Hungarian Catholic periodical “Örökimádás” (“Eternal Adoration”). “Örökimádás” ran from 1900 until 1944, and the issues can be downloaded in PDF format from the page of the Pázmány Péter Electronic Library. All text formatting has been removed in order to improve legibility.
“Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.” (Prov. 9:5) With these words, the Lord invites us to the banquet of salvation, where He serves us precious food and drink: His own Body and Blood, the Holy Blood He shed for us on the cross.
I. 1. This blood is precious because of its virginal origin; it comes from the mother of beautiful love, who can rightly say: “Like a vine I caused loveliness to bud, and my blossoms became glorious and abundant fruit.” (Sir. 24:17) The fruit of the Blessed Virgin, like the vine, is the bunch of grapes and the wine pressed from it, the Body and Blood of Christ. The noble wine that comes from the flowers of the vine is therefore the precious Blood of Christ taken from the Virgin. The nobility and preciousness of this blood is greatly enhanced by the fact that it originates from a virgin flower, unlike the blood of others, which comes from the corrupt and sinful.
2. This blood is also precious because it is innocent not only in its origin, but also in its essence and nature. “They band together against the life of the righteous, and condemn the innocent to death.” (Ps 93:21) The more innocent the blood, the more precious and dear it is: “You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” (1 Pt 1:18-19)
3. This Blood is precious above all else because it is the Blood of God. “I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD” (Jer. 13:11), that is, I have inseparably united with myself the whole of human nature: soul, body, and blood. “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood” (Hebrews 2:14), Christ himself also shares in them, that is, for the salvation of the human beings of flesh and blood, He took upon Himself human flesh and blood and united it with Himself and exalted it so that it can truly be called the Body and Blood of God. “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of the LORD which he obtained with the blood of his own.” (Acts 20:28). Therefore, the Blood of Christ is the Blood of God and is so precious that a single drop is worth more than the whole world.
II. This Holy Blood has immeasurable value because it is the price of our redemption. And what a ransom!
It is the repayment of a frighteningly large debt. The first man burdened himself with the greatest possible debt, because he had to make amends for himself and for the whole human race, he had to repay what he had stolen, he had to repair what he had ruined when he ate the forbidden fruit. Therefore, he and all his descendants should have gone to hell and remained there until he had paid all his debts, until his sacrifice was sufficient. For justice demands that the satisfaction be commensurate with the magnitude of the sin and the dignity of the offended majesty. Lesser offenses warrant lesser punishment, grester offenses warrant greater punishment, and the most serious offenses warrant the most severe punishment. This is why Old Testament law stipulated that various violations of the law had to be atoned for by sacrificing some kind of animal: killing it and spilling its blood. However, for greater sins or simple murder, the murderer himself had to be put to death and his blood shed. “If any one sins unwittingly in any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and does any one of them […] then let him offer for the sin which he has committed a young bull without blemish to the LORD for a sin offering.” (Lev. 4:2-3), or a lamb or something similar: kill it and shed its blood. “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” (Hebrews 9:22). And concerning the murderer, the law said: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image.” (Genesis 9:6) “for blood pollutes the land, and no expiation can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of him who shed it.” (Numbers 35:33) It follows from this that for the first man’s so many murders—he killed all men, because through him all men die—and for the infinite Creator’s majesty thus violated, God had to be offered such a precious sacrifice, to kill and shed his blood, which is worth at least as much as all the murdered people put together. But since there was nothing in all creation that could pay such a debt and save mankind from hell, the Son of God had to become a man worth more than all other creatures, to die slain for man’s sin, and shed his blood. […] According to St. Bernard, “the Son of God had to be killed and die so that the balm of His precious Blood could heal our wounds. Realize, Christian soul, how serious are these wounds, for which the Lord Jesus Christ had to die, bleeding from His wounds; if they were not mortal, leading to eternal death, the Son of God would never have died for them.”
III. Love paid this great price of our redemption. “And there are three that give testimony on earth: the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three are one.” (1 Jn 5:8) The Spirit, which He breathed out of His body; the water, which flowed from His side; the Blood, which poured out of His heart: these are the testimonies of the greatest love. “For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plenteous redemption.” (Psalm 129:7) “Redemption through Christ is truly abundant,” says St. Bernard, “for he poured out the stream of His Blood abundantly through the five wounds of His Body, although a single drop would have been enough to redeem humanity. However, He gave abundantly so that the burning fire of his love might be made manifest through the greatness of his sacrifice.” And St. Augustine sighs: “O my soul, how precious you are! You are not redeemed by gold and treasures, but by the Blood of the spotless Lamb. Realize what you are worth; consider what was paid for you. Do not give yourself over to ruin, you for whom Christ shed His Blood.”
IV. And what a great loss we have recovered at the price of this ransom!
1. Our freedom from the slavery of the devil: “For the LORD has ransomed Jacob, and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.” (Jer. 31:11) At the price of Christ’s Blood. “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36). “So he saved them from the hand of the foe” (Ps. 105:10). “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people” (Luke 1:68).
2. This redemption is our ticket into heaven: “he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:12). “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus […] let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (ibid. 10:19,22). According to St. Jerome, “the blood of Christ is the key to paradise. For heaven, which had been closed for so long, was reopened at the time of the Lord’s suffering, when His Blood was shed as the price of redemption.” “But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.” (John 19:34) […] The Holy Blood flowed for the forgiveness of sins, and the water was like a bath of rebirth. For the human race, which was excluded from the heavenly paradise because of its sinfulness and ugliness, needed, in order to return there, to be freed from its debt at the price of Christ’s blood, on the one hand, and to be cleansed of its filth in the water of baptism, on the other.
3. This redemption ultimately means the inheritance of God’s son. “If your brother becomes poor, and sells part of his property, then his next of kin shall come and redeem what his brother has sold.” (Lev. 25:25). This is what Christ accomplished, at the cost of his blood. According to the old law, murderers who were exiled from their homeland could only return after the death of the high priest, and similarly, we too can only return to the lost kingdom of heaven after the death of Christ, the high priest. “I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land.” (Jer. 12:15) “If you have a servant, let him be as yourself, because you have bought him with blood. If you have a servant, treat him as a brother, for as your own soul you will need him.” (Sir. 33:30-31), that is, since you acquired your inheritance, to which he had no access, by blood, as if for him, treat him as your father’s son: share your inheritance with him. Christ shared it with us. The first fortunate servant was the thief on the right, who cried out to Him on the cross: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Christ replied: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:42-43).
After St. Thomas Aquinas: E. J.