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Saint Junipero Serra

"Twenty-five leagues from Monterey he (Junipero) came upon a little stream which watered a lovely oak-studded valley inclosed by rugged mountains. The beauty of this wild and lonely place charmed him. He decided to found the mission here. The bells were accordingly unpacked and suspended from the branch of a great oak. Junipero seized the ropes and shouted with a kind of delirious rapture, "Hear, Gentiles, come, come, to the Holy Church, come, come, to receive the faith of Jesus Christ."

One of the friars, Fray Miguel Pieras, remonstrated with him. "Why do you tire yourself in this way?" he demanded. "There are no Indians in sight; it is a waste of time to ring the bells.""I would like these bells to be heard by all the world," exclaimed Junípero, " or at least by all the Gentiles who live in the mountains."  Junípero Serra; the Man and His Work By Abigail Hetzel Fitch

"With no less carefulness did this servant of God try to draw his children toward the worship of the most Holy Sacrament. He instructed them to prepare and decorate arches in the road where the procession of Corpus Christi would pass. Four chapels were placed along the way with their respective altars where our Crucified Lord might rest, and after the singing in each one of them of the corresponding anthem, verse and prayer, an Indian stood up (generally a little boy) and recited a praise to the Divine Sacrament, of which two were in Spanish and two in the Pame dialect, which were very touching and increased the devotion of all. When they had returned to the church a Mass was sung and a sermon preached on this most Holy Mystery. With the same carefulness he consecrated himself to encourage in all devotion to our Lady Mary, and especially to her Most Immaculate Conception, preparing for this celebration with a Novena at which all the people were present. On the great day of the feast Mass was sung, a sermon was preached, and afterwards they chanted The Joys of the Most Immaculate Conception. Every Sunday afternoon they recited the Crown of Our Mother of Mercy, finishing it with a Hymn of Praise and the Hymn of Joy, which were sung. In order to make this the more attractive the Venerable Father had had sent out from Mexico a sculptured image of our most Sweet Lady which was put upon a platform and taken out in procession through the town every Saturday night, the illumination being made with lanterns, and with the accompaniment of the singing of the Rosary. After coming back again into the church they sang the hymn, “Tota pulchra es Maria," which our beloved servant translated into Spanish and which the Indians learned by heart and chanted with great solemnity, producing in all who heard it the greatest tenderness, especially that verse which says: "Thou art the honor of our people" and by means of which a most ardent devotion was kindled toward our Most Merciful Mother.

In the same way he tried to impress upon their plastic hearts devotion to Saint Michael, Archangel, to the Most Holy Patriarch, Saint Joseph; to our Holy Father, Saint Francis, and to the other Saints in such a fashion that the whole people were as well instructed as if they were Spaniards and had been brought up Catholics, all this being due to the very fervent zeal of our Venerable Fr. Junípero. In view of the most laborious service of this model Prelate his subordinates were set to imitate him, as well as were also the friars of the other four Missions, and through these means the whole of the five towns became as thoroughly Christian as if they had always been such." Francisco Palou's Life and Apostolic Labors of the Venerable Father Junípero By Francisco Palóu 1913

Devotion: Precious Blood

Virtue: Simplicity

Offerings to the Divine Incarnate Word of His own Most Precious Blood (Extracted from those made by S. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi when in a state of rapture. Confraternity of the Precious Blood)

• O most Holy Word! I offer Thee Thy priests, and in their behalf I offer thee whatever is most dear to Thee in heaven and on earth, in union with all Thy Most Precious Blood: and I pray Thee to enable them fitly to conceive of the high degree to which they are exalted, and to hold in extreme abhorrence whatever can dishonor their dignity or contaminate their lives.
  
  O most Loving Word! I offer Thee the Virgins consecrated to Thee, and in their behalf I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood which Thou didst sweat in Thine Agony, in the garden. I place these doves in their own nest, and these lilies in their garden, Thy most amiable Heart; and I pray Thee to make them know the height of the vocation to which Thou hast called them, and faithfully correspond to Thy love.
  
  O Eternal Word! I offer Thee all the faithful sons of Holy Church, Thy Spouse, members of that body of which Thou art the Head; and I offer Thee in their behalf the Most Precious Blood which Thou didst shed in Thy scourging: I pray Thee to cause them to remember the solemn renouncement of the world, the flesh, and the devil, which they made in baptism; and that they may lead such lives as will not bring discredit on the faith which they profess.
  
  O Divine Word! I offer Thee all poor sinners, and in their behalf I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood and Water which issued from Thy sacred Side when pierced by the lance. I pray Thee to wash the stains from their souls in this Blood and Water, and to grant that, with a timely repentance, they may, by returning love for love, make up for the sins they have committed against Thee.
  
  O Eternal Word! I offer to Thee all heretics, and in their behalf I offer Thee that Most Precious Blood which Thou didst shed from Thy Body, all wounded as it was, when Thou wast stripped to be crucified. I entreat Thee to have compassion on these poor sheep, which, separated from Thy fold, are on the way to lose themselves in the paths of error and obstinacy; and place them in the bosom of Thy Church, where alone truth and safety are found.
  
  O Divine Word! I offer Thee all infidels, and in their behalf I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood which Thou didst shed from Thy sacred Head when crowned with thorns. I beseech Thee to remember that these souls also are the work of Thy Hands. Enlighten them, that they may know their true and only God, and their Savior; that they too may be made partakers of the grace of the Sacraments, and of our common redemption.
  
  Eternal Father! I offer Thee the intense pains which Thy only-begotten Son did suffer, during the three hours that he was nailed to the Cross for love of us; particularly when, in the intensity of His grief and abandonment, He exclaimed, " My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken me?" I offer them to Thee in behalf of all those in their agony, together with the Blood that flowed from His five wounds; that they, by the power of this Blood, may be fortified and defended against all temptations, and may reach the port of eternal bliss.
  
  O most merciful Word! I offer to Thee all the holy souls in Purgatory, and in then- behalf I offer Thee Thy most Precious Blood. I beseech Thee to grant that this sacred fount of comfort may incessantly flow to mitigate their pains, and to hasten their release, that so they may quickly come to be united with Thee in that glory to which they are destined. Amen.
  
  O Eternal Father! I offer Thee the love which Jesus Christ, Thy Son, testified towards the human race during the whole course of His Passion, and especially in the pain which He endured in the hiding of the Beatific Vision from the lower part of His nature. I pray Thee that Thy complacency in this love may so delight Thee, that Thou mayest mercifully vouchsafe to overlook the many offenses committed against Thee in the world at this time.
  
  Seven Glorias in honor of the Most Precious Blood.

On Promoting Devotion to the Most Precious Blood, Pope John XXIII - 1960 

"It is supremely important that the Church’s liturgy fully conform to Catholic belief (“the law for prayer is the law for faith”[3]), and that only those devotional forms be sanctioned which well up from the unsullied springs of true faith."

"(...) worship achieves its normal fulfillment in sacramental communion with the same Blood, indissolubly united with Christ’s Eucharistic Body. In intimate association with the celebrant the faithful can then truly make his sentiments at communion their own: “I will take the chalice of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. . . The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul for everlasting life. Amen.” Thus as often as they come worthily to this holy table they will receive more abundant fruits of the redemption and resurrection and eternal life won for all men by the Blood Christ shed “through the Holy Spirit.”[13] Nourished by his Body and Blood, sharing the divine strength that has sustained count less martyrs, they will stand up to the slings and arrows of each day’s fortunes — even if need be to martyrdom itself for the sake of Christian virtue and the kingdom of God. Theirs will be the experience of that burning love which made St. John Chrysostom cry out:

Let us, then, come back from that table like lions breathing out fire, thus becoming terrifying to the Devil, and remaining mindful of our Head and of the love he has shown for us. . . This Blood, when worthily received, drives away demons and puts them at a distance from us, and even summons to us angels and the Lord of angels. . . This Blood, poured out in abundance, has washed the whole world clean. . . This is the price of the world; by it Christ purchased the Church… This thought will check in us unruly passions. How long, in truth, shall we be attached to present things? How long shall we remain asleep? How long shall we not take thought for our own salvation? Let us remember what privileges God has bestowed on us, let us give thanks, let us glorify him, not only by faith, but also by our very works. [14]

If only Christians would reflect more frequently on the fatherly warning of the first pope: “Look anxiously, then, to the ordering of your lives while your stay on earth lasts.

You know well enough that your ransom was not paid in earthly currency, silver or gold; it was paid in the precious blood of Christ; no lamb was ever so pure, so spotless a victim.”[15] If only they would lend a more eager ear to the apostle of the Gentiles: “A great price was paid to ransom you; glorify God by making your bodies the shrines of his presence.”[16] Their upright lives would then be the shining ex ample they ought to be; Christ’s Church would far more effectively fulfill its mission to men. God wants all men to be saved,[17] for he has willed that they should all be ransomed by the Blood of his only-begotten Son; he calls them all to be members of the one Mystical Body whose head is Christ. If only men would be more responsive to these promptings of his grace, how much the bonds of brotherly love among individuals and peoples and nations would be strengthened. Life in society would be so much more peaceable, so much worthier of God and the human nature created in his image and likeness.[18]"