Today is, in the traditional calendar, the Feast of the Most Precious Blood, and also the feast of title of the mother church for the English Catholic community, Westminster Cathedral.
Although the feast originated in the fifteenth or sixteenth century in Spain and then spread to Italy - whence came in the eighteenth century the wonderful hymn translated as Glory be to Jesus - it was only in 1849 that Pope Pius IX, whilst in exile at Gaeta, extended it to the whole Church.
The website OnePeterFive has a history of the feast and the slight modifications to its date in the earlier twentieth century. This an be read at Forgotten Customs of the Precious Blood
Wikipedia also has an illustrated history of the observance, which is available online at Feast_of_the_Most_Precious_Blood
Although removed from the General Calendar for the new Missal in 1969 it is still celebrated in the 1962 Missal and calendar by Traditional groups and by institutions under its patronage.
2 comments:
My Latin Mass parish here in Pittsburgh is the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Parish.
Happy patronage feast to you and your fellow members of the community
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