Chaplet of the Precious Blood.
This chaplet is composed of seven mysteries, in which we meditate upon the seven times in which Jesus Christ for love of us shed blood from His most innocent body; at each mystery, except the last, we are to say five Our Fathers and one Glory be to the Father, thus making up the number of thirty-three Our Fathers in remembrance of the thirty-three years during which the precious blood of Jesus flowed in His veins, before it was all poured out for our salvation. The Chaplet ends with the devout prayer, “O most precious blood, etc.”
The Chaplet.
V. Incline unto my aid, O God.
R. O Lord, make haste to help me.
V. Glory be to the Father, etc.
R. As it was, etc.
First Mystery.
The first time our loving Saviour shed His precious blood for us was on the eighth day after His birth, when He was circumcised in order to accomplish the Law of Moses. While, then, we reflect that Jesus did this to satisfy the justice of God for our dissolute lives, let us excite ourselves to true sorrow for them, and promise, with the help of His all-powerful grace, to be henceforth truly chaste in body and in soul.