MONTH OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS - TWENTY EIGHTH DAY

         REDEEMED IN THY BLOOD

The transfiguring of all glorified bodies into the likeness of the Body of Jesus is due to the merits of the Precious Blood. Oh! what honor, what glory, what ecstasy of joy to belong to that interminable array, that countless phalanx of patriarchs and prophets, apostles and martyrs, virgins and confessors, of holy souls and glorified bodies, after the final judgment leaving this earth for ever, the place of their trials and struggles, singing paeans of praise, and following our Lord and His Blessed Mother and the angels into everlasting happiness! St. John saw this final triumph of the Precious Blood when he wrote: Thou hast redeemed us, Lord God, in thy blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation; and thou hast made us to become a kingdom unto our God (Apoc. V, 9). This is the burden of the song of triumph of the elect in Heaven: Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord God, in thy blood. They have become kings, because they have conquered the world and hell, or the kingdom of Satan, and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb (Apoc. XII, 1); and they refer all the glory of heaven to the merits of the Blood of the Lamb. The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power, and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and benediction. Devotion to the Precious Blood will burst forth in all its glory in Heaven from harp and golden vials and in new canticles and with loud voices and the number of them was thousands of thousands (Apoc. V, 8, 9, 11). Glory be to the Blood of Jesus now and forever and throughout all ages, for it was not shed in vain! I saw great multitudes which no man could number. These are the fruits of the Precious Blood, these bear witness to its infinite mercies. Of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and in the sight of the Lamb, but now they shall all speak one language, because as priests they all sing the praises of the Lamb in the Church of the New Jerusalem. Clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. White is the emblem of purity and holiness; palms are the signs of victory. But all the palms that the Blessed carry in their hands grew along the stream of the Precious Blood; all the crowns that adorn their heads were made from the Cross saturated with the Precious Blood; all the glory in which the elect shine in Heaven and all the happiness in which they live, is a reflection of the Precious Blood. And he said to me: These are they who are come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Apoc. VII, 14). St. John here bears testimony that no one enters Heaven unless he has come out of great tribulation here on earth; in other words, without cross, no crown. We often hear persons re mark: No one knows how much I suffer. Ah, your sufferings are not only known and under stood in Heaven, but they are openly proclaimed as the cause of your joy. These are they who are come out of great tribulation. But we must also observe what follows: And have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb. This they have done by the laver of holy Baptism, then by the Sacrament of Penance, and the garments thus made white they have beautified still more by frequent Holy Communion and the reception of the other sacraments. Therefore, continues the ancient speaking to St. John in Heaven, they are before the throne of God. The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne, shall rule them, and shall lead them to the fountains of the waters of life, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Here on earth they sat and wept when they remembered Sion. Near the stream flowing from the Seven Bloodsheddings they wept over their sins when they recalled the love of their Redeemer in His Sacred Passion. Now they shall drink from the torrent of delights flowing from the fountains of salvation.

And the city hath no need of the sun, nor of the moon, to shine in it. For the glory of God hath enlightened it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof (Apoc. XXI, 23). 

Having seen the bride of the Lamb which is the throng of the elect, St. John then describes the holy city and the Lamb that rules it. There must be a particular significance attached to the word Lamb in this passage, writes Mgr. Adalbert Huhn, that St. John did not simply mention Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as forming the centre of light of the heavenly Jerusalem.  The Lamb that was slain, that died and rose again as the lion of the tribe of Juda with the marks of death in His Five Wounds radiant with glory, the Lamb as the symbol of life and death, as the emblem of the Precious Blood standing- for victim and victory, this is the deep meaning underlying the word Lamb in Scripture. Isaias speaks of the Saviour not only as a lamb that shall be dumb before his shearer , but also as a conqueror, send forth, O Lord, the Lamb, the ruler of the earth. St. John the Baptist points out our Saviour by the name of Lamb; Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. 

But how does the Lamb take away the sins of the world? By His Blood. This is he that came by water and blood, Jesus Christ (I John V, 6). Our holy mother, the Church, always in closest touch with the Scriptures, has taken this name from the lips of the great prophet Isaias and from the two Johns, so near and dear to our Lord, and with this endearing name addresses her divine Spouse at Mass before Communion: Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, give us peace, or grant them eternal rest. It is also the appellation we give our Lord in all the litanies. The Lamb of God, of His own free will shedding His Blood for us, is the greatest proof of God's love and mercy for us; the Lamb of God enthroned upon our altars with the holy and ever memorable Wounds characteristic of His death will forever occupy the throne of the Most High in Heaven as the greatest living memorial of the Holy Trinity for mankind redeemed. 
The Five Wounds are our Lord’s greatest ornaments in Heaven and like five brilliant suns they illuminate the eternal mansions. 
Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. There they shall find the Holy Grail, the living Chalice of the Precious Blood that fills the earth with grace, hearts with peace and consolation, the graves with hope, and heaven with glory.