Blood of Christ, also known as the Most Precious Blood, in

Christian theology Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Ch ...

refers to the physical

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

actually shed by

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

primarily on the

Cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

, and the

salvation Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

which

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

teaches was accomplished thereby, or the

sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol ...

al blood (wine) present in the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

or Lord's Supper, which some Christian denominations believe to be the same blood of Christ shed on the Cross. The

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

, the

Oriental Orthodox church The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 50 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches adhere to the Nicene Christian tradition. Oriental Orthodoxy is ...

es, the Assyrian and Ancient Churches of the East, and

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

s, together with

high church A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

s, know this as the

real presence of Christ in the Eucharist The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, sometimes shortened Real Presence'','' is the Christian doctrine that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist, not merely symbolically or metaphorically, but in a true, real and substantial way. T ...

. The Catholic Church uses the term ''

transubstantiation Transubstantiation (; Greek language, Greek: μετουσίωσις ''metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of sacramental bread, bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and ...

'' to describe the change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. The Eastern Orthodox Churches used the same term to describe the change, as in the decrees of the 1672 Synod of Jerusalem, and the Catechism of St. Philaret (Drozdov) of Moscow. The Lutheran churches follow the teaching of

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

in defining the presence of Christ in the eucharistic elements as

sacramental union Sacramental union (Latin: ''unio sacramentalis''; Martin Luther's German: ''Sacramentliche Einigkeit'';''Weimar Ausgabe'' 26, 442.23; ''Luther's Works'' 37, 299-300. German: ''sakramentalische Vereinigung'') is the Lutheran theological doctrine o ...

(often misconstrued as

consubstantiation Consubstantiation is a Christian theological doctrine that (like transubstantiation) describes the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It holds that during the sacrament, the substance of the body and blood of Christ are present along ...

), meaning that the fundamental "substance" of the body and blood of Christ are literally present the substance of the bread and wine, which remain present. Lutherans too believe in and teach the Real Presence. Other

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

churches reject the idea of the Real Presence; they observe eucharistic rites as simply memorials.

History

In the early Church, the

faithful Faithful may refer to: Film and television * ''Faithful'' (1910 film), an American comedy short directed by D. W. Griffith * ''Faithful'' (1936 film), a British musical drama directed by Paul L. Stein * ''Faithful'' (1996 film), an American cr ...

received the Eucharist in the form of

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

bread and wine. Saint Maximus explains that in the Old Law the flesh of the

sacrificial Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an Offering (Christianity), offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since an ...

victim was shared with the people, but the blood of the sacrifice was merely poured out on the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

. Under the New Law, however, Jesus's blood was the drink shared by all of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

. St.

Justin Martyr Justin, known posthumously as Justin Martyr (; ), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and Philosophy, philosopher. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue did survive. The ''First Apolog ...

, an early

Church Father The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...

of the 2nd century, speaks of the Eucharist as the same body and blood of Christ that was present in his

Incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It is the Conception (biology), conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic form of a god. It is used t ...

. The tradition continued in the Church in the East to commingle the species of bread and wine, whereas in the West, the Church had the practice of communion under the species of bread and wine separately as the custom, with only a small fraction of bread placed in the

chalice A chalice (from Latin 'cup', taken from the Ancient Greek () 'cup') is a drinking cup raised on a stem with a foot or base. Although it is a technical archaeological term, in modern parlance the word is now used almost exclusively for the ...

. In the West, the communion at the chalice was made less and less efficient, as the dangers of the spread of disease and danger of spillage (which would potentially be

sacrilegious Sacrilege is the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object, site or person. This can take the form of irreverence to sacred persons, places, and things. When the sacrilegious offence is verbal, it is called blasphemy, and when physical ...

) were considered enough of a reason to remove the chalice from common communion altogether, or giving it on only special occasions. However, it was always consecrated and drunk by the priest, regardless of whether or not the

laity In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all Church membership, members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-Ordination, ordained members of religious orders, e ...

partook. This was one of the issues debated during the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

. As a consequence, the Catholic Church first wanted to eliminate ambiguity, reaffirming that Christ was present both as body and as blood equally under both species of bread and wine. As time went on, the chalice was made more available to the laity. After the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, the Catholic Church gave a full permission for all to receive communion from the chalice at every

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

involving a congregation, at the discretion of the priest.

Theology

Catholic

The

teaches that the bread and wine, through transubstantiation, become the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ—in other words, the whole Christ—when consecrated. Devotion to the Precious Blood was a special phenomenon of

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

piety in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, that gave rise to the iconic image of

Grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uni ...

as the "

Fountain of Life The Fountain of Life, or in its earlier form the Fountain of Living Waters, is a Christian iconography symbol associated with baptism and/or eucharist, first appearing in the 5th century in illuminated manuscripts and later in other art forms suc ...

," filled with blood, pouring from the wounded "

Lamb of God Lamb of God (; , ) is a Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/John#1:29, John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, " ...

" or the

Holy Wounds In Catholic tradition, the Five Holy Wounds, also known as the Five Sacred Wounds or the Five Precious Wounds, are the five piercing wounds that Jesus Christ suffered during his crucifixion. The wounds have been the focus of particular devotion ...

of Christ. The image, which was the subject of numerous

Flemish painting Flemish painting flourished from the early 15th century until the 17th century, gradually becoming distinct from the painting of the rest of the Low Countries, especially the modern Netherlands. In the early period, up to about 1520, the painti ...

s, was in part spurred by the renowned relic of the Precious Blood, which had been noted in

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

at least since the twelfth century, and which gave rise, from the late thirteenth century, to the observances, particular to Bruges, of the procession of the "Saint Sang" from its chapel. Various prayers are part of the Catholic devotion to the Precious Blood. Those that mention the Blood include the

Anima Christi The "Anima Christi" (Latin for ‘Soul of Christ’) is a Catholic prayer to Jesus of medieval origin. History For many years the prayer was popularly believed to have been composed by Saint Ignatius of Loyola, as he puts it at the beginning ...

, the Chaplet of Mercy of the Holy Wounds of Jesus, and the

Chaplet of Divine Mercy Chaplet may refer to: * Chaplet (headgear), a wreath or garland for the head * Chaplet (prayer), a string of prayer beads and the associated prayer * Chaplet (metallurgy), a metal form to hold a core in place See also * Wreath (attire) A wr ...

Eastern Orthodox

The

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

teach that what is received in Holy Communion is the actual Resurrected Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. In the West, the

Words of Institution The Words of Institution, also called the Words of Consecration, are words echoing those of Jesus himself at his Last Supper that, when consecrating bread and wine, Christian eucharistic liturgies include in a narrative of that event. Eucharistic ...

are considered to be the moment at which the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. But for the Eastern Orthodox there is no one defined moment; rather, all that Orthodox theology states is that by the end of the

Epiklesis The epiclesis (also spelled epiklesis; from , ) refers to the invocation of one or several gods. In ancient Greek religion, the epiclesis was the epithet used as the surname given to a deity in religious contexts. The term was borrowed into the Ch ...

, the change has been completed. The Eastern Orthodox also do not use the Latin theological term

Transubstantiation Transubstantiation (; Greek language, Greek: μετουσίωσις ''metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of sacramental bread, bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and ...

to define the conversion from bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, they use the word

metousiosis ''Metousiosis'' is a Greek term () that means a change of ''ousia'' (, "essence, inner reality"). History The declaration of the 1672 Synod of Jerusalem is quoted by J.M. Neale (''History of Eastern Church'', Parker, Oxford and London, 185 ...

without the precise theological elaboration that accompanies the term transubstantiation.

Devotion

In the Eastern Orthodox churches, and those

Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

which follow the

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...

, there is no individual devotion to the Blood of Christ separate from the

Body of Christ In Christian theology, the term Body of Christ () has two main but separate meanings: it may refer to Jesus Christ's words over the bread at the celebration of the Jewish feast of Passover that "This is my body" in (see Last Supper), or it ...

, or separated from the reception of

Holy Communion The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

. When receiving Holy Communion, the clergy (deacons, priests and bishops) will receive the Body of Christ separately from the Blood of Christ. Then, the remaining portions of the consecrated Lamb (Host) is divided up and placed in the

and both the Body and Blood of Christ are communicated to the faithful using a

liturgical spoon The Spoon (, ''Kochliárion''; Slavonic: Лжица, ''Lzhítza'') is a liturgical implement used to distribute Holy Communion to the laity during the Divine Liturgy in some Eastern Christian rites. It is also called a cochlear, Latin for "spoo ...

(see also

Intinction Intinction is the Eucharistic practice of partly dipping the consecrated bread, or ''host'', into the consecrated wine before consumption by the communicant. Western Christianity Intinction is a method of administering Holy Communion in many West ...

Christian Fundamentalism

Some

Christian Fundamentalists Christian fundamentalism, also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity, is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism. In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and ...

teach that after Jesus' resurrection, he took his blood into heaven and sprinkled it into a literal heavenly

mercy seat According to the Hebrew Bible, the ''kaporet'' ( ''kapōreṯ'') or mercy seat was the gold lid placed on the Ark of the Covenant, with two cherubim at the ends to cover and create the space in which Yahweh appeared and dwelled. This was connecte ...

as a part of his priestly work. According to this doctrine,Jesus carried His blood into heaven, this act being an essential component of His redemptive work for humanity. Proponents of this view often interpret John 20:17—where Jesus tells Mary Magdalene not to touch Him—as indicating that He had not yet completed the task of sprinkling His blood on the heavenly mercy seat. Some Fundamentalists such as

Robert Thieme Robert Bunger Thieme, Jr. (April 1, 1918 – August 16, 2009) was pastor of Berachah Church, a nondenominational Christian church in Houston, Texas, from 1950 to 2003. Affectionately called "the Colonel" by his congregation, he was a dispensatio ...

argued that the "blood of Christ" as mentioned in the bible is a mere metaphor for his death, arguing that the real blood of Christ has no significance in the atonement. Because this position was not held by other faculty members of Dallas theological seminary it caused a local controversy.

John Walvoord John Flipse Walvoord (May 1, 1910 – December 20, 2002) was a Christian theologian, pastor, and president of Dallas Theological Seminary from 1952 to 1986. He authored over 30 books, focusing primarily on eschatology and theology, including '' ...

said to him that Christ had to shed his blood to fulfill scriptures such as ''1 Peter 1:18-19'' and ''Hebrews'' 9'':22'' while Robert G. Walter went somewhat farther than Walvoord, arguing that Thieme was outside Christian orthodoxy.

Artistic depictions

The blood shed by Christ was a common theme in early modern Italian art. Paintings of Christ depicted on the cross and as the

Man of Sorrows Man of Sorrows, a biblical term, is paramount among the prefigurations of the Messiah identified by the Bible in the passages of Isaiah 53 ('' Servant songs'') in the Hebrew Bible. It is also an iconic devotional image that shows Christ, usual ...

have consistently been some of the bloodiest images in Christian art. The blood of Christ was a compelling artistic symbol of his incarnation and sacrifice. As a theme for contemplation, it provided worshippers with a means to articulate their devotion.

Relics of the Blood around the world

References

External links

Litany to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ God
at

EWTN The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) is an American basic cable television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic programming. It is the largest Catholic television network in America, and is purported to be "the world's larges ...

(also available i
Latin

Missionaries of the Precious Blood
{{Authority control Biblical phrases Sacramental theology Christian terminology

Relics associated with Jesus