Meyerscough. Angelita, ASC., "Blood of Christ, Core of Maria's Spirituality" in The Apostolic Spirituality of Maria De Mattias, Rome, Italy, 1982. pp 250-269.

Paper presented by Angelita Meyerscough, ASC at the ASC Spirituality and History Programs, 1979 - 1982. The paper traces the faith-journey of Maria De Mattias and addresses such questions as "What place does the mystery of the Blood of Christ have in the spirituality of Maria De Mattias? How does it enter into the workings of the Holy spirit in fashioning her in the living image of Jesus? Is attraction to the Blood of Christ a basic charism that the Spirit gave to Maria and continues and will continue to give to all of us? (p 250)

I. BLOOD OF CHRIST: HEART OF MARIA DE MATTIAS' SPIRITUALITY

Sr. Angelita Myerscough, asc
(Paper delivered at the Conference of ASC Spirituality and History Programs (1979-1982)

The question before us today is this: What place does they mystery of the Blood of Christ have in the spirituality of Maria De Mattias? How does it enter into the working of the Holy Spirit in fashioning her in the living image of Jesus? Is attraction to the Blood of Christ a basic charism that the Spirit gave to Maria and continues and will continue to give to all of us Adorers?

I am convinced that the reply is a resounding YES, for the evidence is strong that Maria's attraction to the precious Blood gave the special quality to her faith vision and her way of responding in love that distinguish her spirituality. To put it negatively: If we were to blot out from the life of Maria De Mattias practically all there is that indicates this great and central passion of her life, then hers would be a different kind of spirituality!

What we will do in reflecting on this topic is to look first and very briefly at the evidence for the centrality of this mystery in Maria's life, and then we will review the influences through which God gave this charism to Maria, both at the beginning and later on throughout her life. We will spend some time examining more fully how the mystery of the Blood of Christ focused Maria's faith-vision, and how this charism shaped the quality of her response-in-love as she lived out her discipleship of the Lord Jesus. Finally, we will ask ourselves whether this charism was given also to the followers of Maria and how this gift challenges us Adorers of today and those of tomorrow.

II. WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE THAT IN FACT ATTRACTION TO THE BLOOD OF CHRIST IS AT THE HEART OF BLESSED MARIA'S SPIRITUALITY?

First, there is the evidence that comes from those in the Church, in the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, who examined her way of holiness very carefully during the process that led to her beatification. In all the documents of the Church that concern Blessed Maria's cause, there is a constant affirmation that this mystery was central to her life and holiness. For example, in 1936 when Pope Pius XI formally declared the heroicity of Maria's virtues, the OSSERVATORE ROMANO of February 17 had this headline spread across the from page: "THE HOLY FATHER REAFFIRMS THE HIGH DIGNITY OF SOULS REDEEMED BY THE DIVINE BLOOD." The text of the decree states that Maria's special gift was love for "the great, infinite price, the great and precious atonement, before which the Church itself focuses her spirit and intensifies its adoration when it exclaims, "We beseech you, O Lord, help your servants whom you have redeemed in your precious Blood??" 1

The liturgy for Maria's feast also underscores the centrality of the Precious Blood in her life, and this is another way in which the Church, in an official way, affirms that the Lord gave her this special charism.

Secondly, we find in her writings that Maria constantly refers to the Blood of Jesus. Though she was usually "in a hurry" when she wrote, she always took prayer of praise "Viva il divin Sangue" (which we might translate into English as "Glory to the divine Blood" or, if you will, "Cheers for the precious Blood.")

Thirdly, there were Maria's special devotions to the Blood of Christ, in forms that were meaningful to the people of her time and place. Among the sisters, pupils and all the people where she and her companions ministered, they promoted the devotions of the chaplet of the precious Blood, the seven offerings, the observance of the month of the precious Blood, adoration periods and celebration of the feast. The aspect of devotion to Mary that Blessed Maria stressed most was that to our Lady of sorrows, which underscores the relationship of Mary to the mystery of the precious Blood, and when Maria preached to the people, her favorite topic was the passion of Jesus or the sorrows of Mary.

The Fourth and most obvious indication of Blessed Maria's special charism of attraction to the Blood of Christ is that she gave this title to the congregation that she founded, and for which she spent her whole life! It was not by chance or on the spur of the moment that this decision was made by Maria. Rather, it was a conscious expression of a whole program of life. In a letter she wrote to Bishop Lais when arrangements were being made for her to go as teacher to Acuto, she outlines her plans and states clearly that she wanted the institute she was going to found to have the title of the most precious Blood. 2

On July 5, 1835, Maria De Mattias and Anna Farrotti, her first companion teacher in Acuto, had a formal meeting to establish the congregation officially. In their minutes (of which we still have the original), we read how they decided to "found this institute under the standard of the divine Blood, uniting to the purposes of the institute." According to the minutes, Maria explained the idea and Anna agree. The minutes continue: "From such thoughts and resolves" they came to the title "which they ought to adopt and give to the institute, and so it was given the name: "Institute of the Adorers of the Divine Blood." 3

The preliminary 1838 Rule, which Maria wrote, shows the challenge implicit in the title when it says: "The name which we have of Adorers of the Divine Blood reminds us that we should be ready to give our life so that this divine Blood will be adored and blessed by all, and that it will bear fruit in the salvation of all. So far as we are able, we will try with the help of divine grace to be concerned about the holiness of each person and also our own." In the longer Constitution of 1857, Maria and Merlini reiterated a similar, ever stronger emphasis.

These indications make it quite clear that at the heart of Maria's charism is a strong attraction to the mystery of the Blood of Christ. She herself seems to sum up her convictions in a letter she wrote to Bishop Trucchi in 1850, at a time when he was angry with her because he wanted her to close her communities in other dioceses, and Maria felt she could not do this. Maria wrote:
God wants the most precious Blood to be in the hearts of all, he wants it offered, he wants adoration, he wants it applied to the souls of our neighbor. For this purpose he inspires bishops to propagate this Institute in their dioceses, and young women to join us - God wants to make use of this great new work of the Adorers to promote the glories of this divine Blood, for the salvation of many souls (L258).

III. HOW DID THE MYSTERY OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST FOCUS MARIA'S FAITH-VISION?

One thing was very clear: Jesus Crucified was the center of Maria's life. He was her all, her only desire, her only love. Maria's spirituality was strongly Christocentric. She never expressed in any systematic way her perceptions of the mystery of God's goodness, revealed in the Blood of Jesus that so attracted her. But in her letters, spontaneous as they are, we can discover her teaching on the mystery of the precious Blood and how she understood it in her heart, how it was the center of her life of faith. What emerges from her letters can be expressed as a three-dimensional perception, like a three-sided prism through which she saw all reality. In the first place, Maria recognized in Jesus' giving his Blood for us nineteen centuries ago a sign of his total, self-giving, merciful love. A second side of this prism was Maria's perception of the power of the precious Blood at work in the "today" of salvation history. The third was the eschatological reality of the Blood of Jesus in unending glory. We look at each of these three aspects more closely.

THE PRECIOUS BLOOD AS SYMBOL OF LOVE

What comes out most clearly in Maria's letters is that the principal stress for her was the love that impelled Jesus to give his Blood for our redemption. In Jesus' suffering and dying for us, Maria recognized the revelation of God's immense, gratuitous, tender love for us sinful human persons. This is evident in so many places in Maria's correspondence. I would like to share just four citations. They were written a century and more ago, but I believe they have a message for Maria's daughters today.

The first one was written to Sister Francesca Monti at Orte on July 29, 1856:
My daughter, let us summon our heart to union with God in whom we will find the person of his most holy Son given to us with measureless love, clothed with human flesh and covered with wounds and Blood, inviting us to contemplate him with fixed attention so that our hearts might respond to the delicacy of his tender love (unedited letter).

The next one comes from a letter to Sister Anna Maria Polidori at Carpineto. In this you can see how Maria immediately moves from what God has done for us to apostolic response.
Take courage, my daughter, let us animate ourselves to suffer willingly for love of Jesus who gave his Blood for us with so much love. Let us work to win souls for heaven (L 704).

Our third text expresses similar concepts and emphasizes the gratuity of God's love.
Jesus loves us without any merit at all on our part. Let's love him very much for he is worthy of being loved. Let us love him for the great good of redemption and for the Blood which he willed to pour out for love of us (L 543).

The fourth passage is from a letter Maria wrote to a sister to sustain her at a time of discouragement.
The Blood of Jesus is our only hope and our only good - this Blood shed for our salvation, with so much pain and with such great love. Blessed be my Lord Jesus Christ who was willing to die amid those terrible sufferings and shed his Blood to the very last drop for love of me (L 355).

Besides passages like these, you can recognize Maria's faith-perception of God's love revealed in the Blood of Jesus from the loving, spontaneous ways she refers to Jesus as "our crucified Love", "our most amiable Redeemer", "Our beloved spouse" and similar expressions that came straight from her heart. Christ's self-giving love was the inspiration for the short formula that summed up her response: "Always, always with Jesus; God always in view, Jesus in practice, our life in sacrifice" (L240).

THE POWER OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS IN THE "TODAY" OF SALVATION HISTORY

The love that impelled Jesus to die for us nineteen centuries ago remains and is touching us in this moment of salvation history. Jesus is now redeeming us by the power of his Blood. This is the second dimension of Maria's faith focused in the precious Blood that comes through to us as we reflect on her letters. As she writes "in a hurry" we find her making comments about the Blood of Jesus as "means of our salvation", and "trusting in the precious Blood." From it come, she says, "blessings of true peace" for individuals and for the world. She urges the sisters to pray so that all would "experience the fruits of the precious Blood" when the whole world would have become one fold with one shepherd. The people among whom she and her companions minister are "souls redeemed by the Blood of Jesus". God wants the Blood of Jesus, she affirms, "to be in the hearts of all; he wants it to be applied to souls of our dear neighbor."

Maria De Mattias saw God's whole plan of salvation rooted in the precious Blood, every aspect of life, including material things. Maria recognized on-going salvation history not only as a liberation from sin and communication of grace but also as establishing, in this very process, a beautiful order. She expresses this only once, but the full significance of that statement becomes evident when we read her letters in that light. The occasion for Maria's making the statement was the need for more space so that good could be accomplished for the people of Acuto, especially through retreats for women. At the order of Bishop Annovazzi, Maria had moved from the large seminary where she had done very much good for the people for two years, and was now living in very tight quarters. She tells the bishop an idea she has for getting more rooms so that the retreat for the women could be held, and says that she and the sisters desire this so that there can be realized "in these present times that beautiful order of things which the great Son of God came to establish upon earth through his divine Blood" (L16).

Throughout life, Maria had to be concerned about material things. For her, their use or non-use was always in view of realizing that beautiful order, or to put it another way, whether it would promote the "glory of the divine Blood." This was what she would weigh in the balance in deciding to build or not, to open a school or not, to make a particular trip or not, to send a sister to a particular community or not.

Temporal blessings were among the things that Maria hoped for through the Blood of Jesus, too. As we read her letter, we may be surprised, for example, to find her encouraging sisters to trust in the Blood of Jesus for financial help, for such homey things as getting a much-needed bake oven or a straw mattress, as well as for good health so they could go on with their ministry. Two passages from the testimony in Maria's process bring out this perception of Maria's. One sister testifies:
One day there was no food at all for the community and the sisters said to the superior "What well we do, because there's nothing to eat?" Maria answered, "Have confidence in God, go to church and pray to the precious Blood and you will see that Providence will not fail us." While the sisters were praying, they heard someone knock, and there was a person with an envelope containing I don't remember how many scudi. So there was something for dinner that day and the next day too.
The other incident had at center stage Sr. Marina Necci.
One day the superior said that she absolutely needed a mule for the motherhouse. This would cost forty scudi, so they should pray to the precious Blood for a miracle. Sr. Marina didn't believe in miracles like that, and she objected to the superior, "Now are you really asking even a thing like forty scudi from the precious Blood? Must I believe things like this?" The superior chuckled bit. One day a man from Filettino showed up at the convent door saying he wanted to talk with the superior. Maria said to call Sr. Marina to go to the parlor to see what the man wanted.
He didn't really want to talk with anyone else, so Maria finally came down, but wanted Sr. Marina with her. Then the man said to Maria when she came in: "I brought you the forty scudi that you were wanting." Maria hesitated and said that yes, she needed forty scudi, but not as a loan because she could not be able to pay them back. And the man said that was what he had intended. As it turned out, the man did not even know the foundress, 7 much less her particular need at that time.

Everything, even money for a lowly beast of burden, was a part of that "beautiful order of things." In the Church, Maria knew, Jesus is effectively present today, here, dynamically communicating to us by the power of his Blood, his gifts of forgiveness, strength, hope, the light of his Word, his love.

Blessed Maria desired that she herself and her sisters live day by day in the all-embracing reality of the precious Blood. She expressed this to Sr. Luisa Lauretti when she was serving as local superior at the Acuto mother house. "Pray for me", Maria wrote, "so that I will have the same grace that with all my heart I wish you, that is, that Sr. Luisa Lauretti will no longer live enclosed in herself, but that those who see her will know that she is totally lost in God and in his divine Blood." 8

THE ESCHATOLOGICAL GLORY OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD

The third side of the prism of Maria's faith-vision of the Blood of Jesus, we learn from the spontaneous expressions in her letters, especially when she was telling about the death of one of the sisters. She never used the word "eschatological", of course, but what she was perceiving is what we mean by that term. Maria De Mattias was aware that we are people who are journeying. We are on the move toward the future which is God himself. In a perspective similar to that of the Apocalypse, Maria thought of heaven in terms of the glory of the Lamb standing as if slain, where those who have been redeemed in his Blood sing forever in praise and thanks.

This is the glimpse of Maria's faith-vision that comes through to us in a letter she wrote to Carolina Signoretti in October, 1865, in which she is communicating news of the death of a sister. The letter begins: "The number of our sisters is increasing who are in the presence of the divine Lamb in the blessedness of eternity: A little further, she encourages Carolina and herself also to be ready for the call of their Beloved "to be admitted and united with the others singing the canticle of praise and thanks to the divine Lamb for all eternity," She adds, "this is what I desire for all" (L328).

Years earlier, during the very painful experiences written to Berenice, trying to give her courage: "Be strong in the vocation you have chosen, which will one day reunite all of us in heaven with Jesus our Spouse carrying the palm of victory in our hands and singing the glories of the divine blood." (L328).

Finally, it is within this esthagological perspective of the precious Blood that Maria envisaged the congregation:
What a beautiful consolation it is to see the spouses of the divine Lamb, the Adorers of the most Precious Blood, guided by only one will (God's will), all one in heart and soul, united together, making the heavens resound with a hymn of thanksgiving to the infinite goodness of God, while at the same time they offer the Blood of his Son for the reconciliation of heaven with earth, and of earth with heaven" (L255).

To sum up: we have seen how the mystery of the Blood of Christ focused Maria's faith-vision. Above all, it was her attraction to the mystery of the Blood of redemption that influenced who God was for her, how she perceived God himself. Her God was the good God, a God who is all mercy, a God who is Goodness. "We serve a God who is so good and who loves us tenderly" (L536). For Maria, sin was so evil because it was an offense against this good God. Church, sacraments, apostolic ministry, her call to religious life - Maria perceived all in this light. To her each human person was precious because redeemed in the Blood of Jesus. Her love for Mary most holy is influenced in this direction, so that she principally loved Mary in her association with the mystery of redemption. Humility, patience, charity, were important for our foundress because these virtues make us more lie Jesus in the mystery of his redeeming love. God's great gift of faith for Maria De Mattias was this vision of the all-embracing central reality of the Blood of Jesus That faith vision is expressed very beautifully in the opening sentences of the 1897 Constitution, in which the thought of both Maria and her director Merlini is well synthesized.

To reveal his infinite love for us in consequence of his great mercy, Jesus Christ our divine Redeemer consented to shed his precious Blood for us, in the midst of suffering and humiliation, as the price of our salvation and glory.

Yes, he gave it all, he gave it for all, and he, does not cease to give it. Like a fountain, or rather like a life-giving river accessible to all, it flows on and out to all the children of Adam, going with them abundantly at every moment of their mortal life in order to sanctify them and bring them to eternal happiness. Now this our lowly congregation that lives and labors under the glorious title of the most precious Blood of Jesus Christ, must be patterned and shaped into a living image of that divine charity with which this divine Blood was shed and of which it was and is sign, expression, measure and pledge. 9

IV. HOW DID THE CHARISM OF LOVE FOR THE PRECIOUS BLOOD INFLUENCE THE QUALITY OF MARIA'S DISCIPLESHIP OF THE LORD JESUS?

How was Maria's response to the call of Jesus oriented by the faith-vision that God had given her? This is the very core of what spirituality is all about.

The passage from the original 1857 Constitution shows very clearly that Maria's response was essentially love: charity, all charity for God and others. Maria's was a response of apostolic love, and it was a response of loving adoration. Love impelled her to accept even with joy a very full sharing in Jesus' own cross. This meaning of spirituality of the Blood of Christ for Maria comes through very succinctly in a letter she wrote to the Adorers at Gurtweil (German) in 1860. We can hear it as a message for each of us from Blessed Maria
With all the love of my heart, I congratulate you my dear daughters, for the noble and generous offering you have made to God in continuing adoration of the most precious Blood of the Immaculate Lamb, Jesus crucified. I am so happy because of the unity among us. May God in his goodness give you every blessing in abundance, and especially that of persevering faithfully in accepting and sustaining those labors and crosses that will make us more like our crucified Love, keeping us strong in faithful adoration of the Precious Blood and in the holy work of saving souls for heaven so that we will be reunited in the glory of paradise to enjoy the fruits of the precious Blood in the company of our venerable founder Gaspar del Bufalo. This is what I hope for. I will never forget you, as I ask the divine Lamb Jesus to keep us always united in the bonds of perfect love (L 675).

I would like to add just one more passage from a letter of Maria's to Merlini in which she is giving an account of her life of prayer. This brief idea of how she prayed gives at least some insight into the intensity of her response-in-love to the mystery of the Blood of Jesus. Her prayer:
"O my Jesus, for the sake of your passion, for the sake of your Blood that you shed for me and for the whole human race, make me find in everything how to please you," and at this point I can't hold back the tears, and I go on saying, "Oh my beloved God, my soul is in love with you, I love you. Come, yes, take possession of my whole being, what is inside me and what is around me?" (L 69)

V. HOW DID THE LORD CONTINUE TO NURTURE THIS CHARISM IN MARIA THROUGH THE GIFTS OF PRAYER THAT HE GAVE HER?

This is not the time to explore Maria's life of prayer at length. We mentioned earlier such prayer forms as the chaplet, the seven offerings, ejaculations, hymns, hour of adoration, and celebration of the month and feast of the precious Blood. These were very much a part of Maria's prayer and that of her sisters and they shared them with the people wherever they ministered among them. By no means, however, were these prayer formulas the heart of Maria's charism. They had their importance, however, for these forms of devotion were a means that the Spirit used to nurture in her heart and mind and memory the charism of attraction to the mystery of the Blood of Christ. Maria also loved to read the writings of other another great mystic of the precious Blood, St. Catherine of Siena. Her long hours of contemplative prayer were centered in the love God revealed to us in the great sign of Jesus? Blood.

Here all we want to do is to reflect a bit on her prayer inasmuch as it was through prayer that God continued to give to Maria the special charism of attraction to the mystery of the Precious Blood.

I think also that all of, as we read Maria's letters, have noticed her love for the sacraments. Maria understood how Christ is present, touching us personally in the saving power of his Blood, as we come to be healed, strengthened, enlightened and united to him in celebrating the sacraments. Above all, God continued to give Maria the charism of love for the precious Blood through the sacrament of the Eucharist.

She strongly believed in the power of intercession during Mass. In writing to priests and bishops she often asked them to pray for her or to pray about a situation during the Eucharistic celebration. One example from a letter to Merlini:
About the problem of a house we still haven't managed to find anything and I ask you to recommend this intention to the Lord during the holy sacrifice of the Mass. For charity's sake, don't forget it, because time is running out and souls are in need of help. (L 41)

Witnesses in Maria's process say that during Mass, she was totally absorbed in God. One old gentleman, who as a boy in Acuto had often noticed Maria's profound recollection at the Eucharist, testified that he would tell himself and sometimes the other fellows also that was the way everybody should behave when they received Jesus in Communion. 10 Father Necci stated that Maria, with great confidence in the precious Blood, would sometimes ask him to place her heart in the chalice during Mass. 11

At a time when Communion was received rarely, once or twice a year even by good Catholics, our Maria had a strong sense of the immense value of the Eucharist and desired frequent, even daily Communion for herself and her sisters. At Vallecorsa, Merlini as her spiritual director had allowed her this privilege. During the early months at Acuto she felt very keenly the deprivation of this daily meeting with the Lord in his Eucharistic presence. When she travelled, Maria would fast, hoping that she might reach some church in time for Communion. This meant that sometimes she travelled till noontime without eating or drinking, longing or her Eucharistic Lord.

She encouraged the sisters to seek permission for daily Communion, and told them that, if the confessor hesitated, they should explain that without daily Communion they simply could not dare to go on with their difficulty ministry. 13 With an insight that was far ahead of her times and which was also rooted in apostolic tradition, she recognized that Communion is a means both for union with the Lord and with others. It was thus expressed in the 1857 Constitution:
The sisters will have at heart to receive Communion as frequently as possible, even daily, since this will very much help them to live united with that divine Lord who is our All. United with Jesus they will be more easily united among themselves with the bonds of mutual charity. 14

Of Maria's own redemptive encounters with the Lord in the Eucharist we know something from her intimate letters of spiritual direction, where we learn that the Lord granted her profound experience of the mystery of his Blood at the time of holy communion. In a letter of early September 1855, for example, she tries to explain what happened:
After Communion on august 29 she saw her beloved Jesus, and he ravished her heart, she could not say a word. She was bathed in sweat and her eyes were filled with tears. Then she felt these words which she was able to pronounce: "What return shall I make to the Lord for all that he has done for me? I will take the chalice of salvation and I will call upon the name of the Lord." (L 420)

Our foundress had a great appreciation of the prolongation of the Eucharistic celebration in the presence of the Lord reserved in the blessed Sacrament, and this also was an aspect of her love for the precious Blood. She took pains to have the privilege of reserving the Eucharist at the motherhouse chapel, and spent as much time there as she possibly could. From his personal observation of Maria before the Lord's Eucharistic presence Father Necci affirmed: "Before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament she became immobile. She would have wished to be there all the time to adore him." 15

Sometimes Maria rose two or three hours early in the morning for prayer when she knew she would be very busy during the day. As she prayed in the Eucharistic presence, the Lord continued to gift her with the charism of attraction to his precious Blood, sometimes by mystical graces. On August 28, 1855, according to her own statement to Merlini, this is what happened:
Yesterday while she was before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, she was seized by fears. She kept saying, "O my Jesus, I do want to be here at your feet." But her human nature was very weak and she was hardly able to hold on. She kept saying, "O my God, help me." Then deep in her heart she heard these words: "Behold my wounds, behold my Blood." And suddenly her heart was like spirited away, and she burst into tears.
Significantly, Maria adds something that shows the inseparable unity of her whole life with her prayer:
Then she had new strength, and she could go ahead with her work, and difficulties returned without her losing peace (L419).

Maria De Mattias also deeply appreciated the saving presence of Jesus in the sacrament of reconciliation, where she felt the purifying, healing power of the precious Blood. 16 For herself, for the sisters and for the people, she urged frequent confession, and was very energetic in making arrangements for additional confessors needed at times when she preached to the people during special celebrations such as those during the month of the precious Blood or during retreats. 17

During all of Maria's life, the Holy spirit continued to draw her to contemplation of the mystery of the passion and death of Jesus, from her first mystical encounters in the De Mattias home in Vallecorsa until her final hours on earth at the house on Via Rasella in Rome. The mosaic of our chapel at the Generalate, with Maria in adoring contemplation, totally immersed in the Lord Jesus crucified, reflects this gifting of the Spirit.

Maria had a special predilection for the image of Jesus on the cross as a help in contemplation, both at times of prayer and while she was at work. You will have noticed as you read her letters how she encouraged the sisters so often to glance up at Jesus crucified, to fix their gaze on the adorable wounds of our Redeemer, or simply to look at Jesus on the cross and then be at peace. Her own prayer was often a quiet wordless presence before the cross. She said often, "The crucifix is my strength" (L 310) In a letter to Merlini written at a time of nearly insurmountable difficulties she says:
I have turned my gaze toward my crucified Lord and placed myself in his hands, and all my confidence is in his infinite goodness and in his Blood. 18

There is much more to be said on Maria's prayer, very much. What has been shared here gives an idea of how God continued to draw Maria deeper into the mystery of his precious Blood as he poured into her heart the charism of adoring, redeeming love.

VI. DID THE LORD GIVE THIS CHARISM OF ATTRACTION TO THE BLOOD OF CHRIST TO MARIA'S COMPANIONS ALSO? HAS HE GIVEN IT TO ALL ADORERS? DOES HE CONTINUE TO GIVE IT TO ADORERS TODAY?

The response to these questions is quite obvious. Though no one has made a careful study yet of the evidence for this special charism among Maria's early companions, her correspondence with them makes it clear that she took it for granted. She formed them in a deep and tender love for Jesus crucified and oriented their lives toward this great mystery. The testimony they give in Maria's process shows that many of them notably shared her love for this mystery. Their life of prayer also characterized by special attraction. It is evident also in the way at least some of the early sisters faced death, as we can learn from letters that Maria wrote to communicate the news that another sister had died. One example is Sister Filomena Ducci, who died on February 17, 1864. Of her Maria wrote:
As she was approaching death, she was always asking for the Passion of her crucified Spouse to be read for her. She continually asked, "Please do me this kindness, read me the Passion of Jesus Christ" (L 809)

The sisters' charism of love for the precious Blood seems to show up also, at least sometimes, in the letters they wrote to Blessed Maria. In general, their letters are very simple and concerned with specific details, of ten comings or goings, things to be sent or money matters. They are not letters of inspiration as are Maria's to the sisters, and hence the kind of faith reflections that we find in Maria's correspondence are absent here. However, the sisters' letters do show apostolic zeal for souls redeemed in the Blood of Jesus, a real love for the Lord, acceptance of suffering as a sharing in the cross, and acceptance of the Lord's will, which is the essence of adoring love.

Just a couple samplings. In 1856, Sr. Francesca Canale writes from Piglio (located up around the mountain a few kilometers from Acuto). She tells the foundress about how things are going and then concludes: "I can't go on writing longer now because we just don't have a moment of time to spare, praised be the Blood of our Spouse Jesus Christ." 19

From Corciano in 1861, Sr. Rosa Maria writes to explain a mistake she had made about not sending some money, etc., talks about the work, and then adds: "This much is sure that we must carry the cross, but for the most part we are happy and in perfect peace, and may it all be for God's glory." From Giove, on July 8, 1864, Sister Francesca Canale gives an account of how they were instructing the children in doctrine and describes with enthusiasm the details of the First Communion celebration for thirty youngsters. She concludes: "May it be for the praise of the Blood of Jesus."

All the early Adorers' letters are distinguished also by the fact that, like the foundress, they wrote the salutation at the beginning of every letter: "Viva il Divin Sangue".

An interesting letter is this short one from Sr. Clementina Consalvi, writing from Deruta:
Praise to the Divine Blood!
Reverend Mother Superior,
With this letter I want to give you news of our school, which thank heaven is good news. The number of pupils usually is about 30. On March 26 in our school (as in all the others) we had the semester examinations and the examiners were pleased.
May I ask you to send me that psalm of the precious Blood which when I was there we used to sing along the corridors in the evening after our examen, and if you could, also send me the Rule of our institute. We had it but they took it from us; when the government changed, the School Inspector took it to look it over and then probably forgot and didn't give it back to us. So I ask if you can send it to me. Srs. Maurizia and M Maddalen send their greetings. We ask you holy blessing and with all our esteem,
Your humble servant,
M Clementina Consalvi
Deruta, April 20, 1863 Adorer of the Divine Blood 20

Has the Lord given the charism of love for the mystery of the Blood of Christ to all Adorers throughout our history? That is a study still to be made. But I think it will be clear to all of us when we hear something of the history of our sisters in Steinerberg, and of the outstanding Adorers like Hermina Gantert, Clementina Zeer, Paulina Schneeberger and Caterina Pavoni that the Holy spirit did continue to gift Adorers with this attraction of the heart of their spirituality through all these decades. Ours is a faithful God. In every single edition of our Constitution up to and including that of 1980, we have affirmed clearly the centrality of this charism in our congregation, and the Church has confirmed our discernment in approving our way of life.

It is important that we ask ourselves now whether God continues to give the Church, in and through us, this same love for the mystery of the Blood of Jesus which was given to Maria De Mattias a century and half ago. The Church today in this post-Vatican II period is in many ways different from the Pre-Vatican I Church of Maria's time, even though it is the same Church. In worship and Christian living we are stressing a new appreciation of Scripture, of worship in the liturgy, a sense of ecumenism, the dignity of every human person, the centrality of the Eucharist in building up the Church. We think of the Church itself as communion of love among God's new people, a people committed to a mission of evangelization and of service for the human development of all peoples. We see it as a consequence of our faith that we work toward a just and loving society for our whole world.

It would be worthwhile at some future time to examine how the mystery of the Blood of Christ is deeply related to each of these aspects.

In a world like our won, where more human blood has probably been shed in the violence of human hatreds than ever before in history, what meaning and motivation to love can there be in our charism of devotion to the Blood of Christ? How is the Blood of Jesus related to the liturgy, to people of God, to Eucharist, to the unity of all in one Church, to charity, to the sense of ecclesial mission, to evangelization, to commitment to justice and peace and development of people? How can we Adorers who are receiving this charism in the Church as gift of the Spirit, not only express it meaningfully for ourselves, but also share it with our world? In her time Maria found ways and means that were meaningful in her surroundings to receive this beautiful gift from God and share it with others. How would she be responding to the challenge of our times and world if she were alive as an Adorer of the Blood of Christ today, in Italy, in Jugoslavia, in the USA, in Germany or Bolivia, Puerto Rico, Korea, India, Australia or Poland? How can Maria's spirituality of the Blood of Christ come alive in us? How, for example, would Maria respond to the restored gift of Communion of the Chalice? Would she hear in the cry of the poor the voice of the Blood of Jesus?

This is not the place for us to examine the biblical and theological perspectives of the mystery of the precious Blood, for that should be another entire course. Before I conclude now, however, I would like to note that Blessed Maria has already led us in the direction of deepening the biblical richness of our spirituality. She never had the opportunity for knowing the bible in the way that is possible today with all the progress that has been made in scriptural studies and in renewed appreciation of the Word of God in our spiritual life. Yet her love for the Blood of Jesus was solidly rooted in the Scriptures. The images that she used are found there. The "voice of his blood", for example, is an expression that we find in both Old and New Testament. The author of the Apocalypse speaks of being "bathed" in and of "conquering" through the power of Christ's Blood. Jesus himself invites us to "drink" his Blood. "Ransomed," "redeemed," "purchased," "reconciled," "cleansed" in his Blood are expressions that we find in the Pauline epistles, as well as in those of John, and I Peter and Hebrews. Above all, Maria's beloved image of the Paschal Lamb has a place in the Bible from Exodus to apocalypse.

For the scriptural depth of Maria's spirituality we are deeply grateful. Everyday our gratitude can grow as we pray the Canticle of the Blood of Jesus that Blessed Maria composed, or better said, that she constructed, weaving together into a beautiful fabric phrases of the inspired Scriptures.

"Clap your hands, all you peoples. Sing unto God with a voice of jubilation, for the Lord, high and mighty has shown to us his mercy." These words are from Psalm 47. The last phrase occurs often in the Bible - for example, in Tobias 12:6, in Judges 8:17, in Luke1: 58, in I Peter 1:3. Maria took the next line from Romans 8:32: "For he has not spared his own son, but has delivered him up in our behalf." "That we might be redeemed by his Blood, and freed from our sins": These lines are built of phrases in apocalypse 5:9, Ephesians 1:7, and I Peter 1: 18-19. The next line is again from Paul to the Romans 5:9: "That justified in his Blood, we might be saved from his wrath."

Then Maria returned again to Ephesians 2:13 and Colossians 1: 19-20 to find the concepts "That we who are separated from him might be reconciled through the Blood of his Son." At this point she goes back to the inspired song-book and adapts from Psalm 116: 12-13: "O Lord, my God, what can I render unto you for all the good you have bestowed upon me? I will take the chalice of salvation, and I will call upon the power of this Blood." Then she takes her cue from the apocalypse 5:9, 14: 2-5: "Sing to Jesus, all you saints; and make known the memory of his holiness." What follows is also from the same source: (Apoc. 1:6). The next line has echoes in several books of the Bible: "And he has become our helper and our redeemer" (Cf. Ps 46: 1; Sirach 51:2; Job 19:25; Heb. 13:6). The final phrases are of Maria's coining, but they have allusions to Deuteronomy 6:22 and Colossians 1:19-20: "Blessed forever be the Blood of Christ, which has wrought such wonders in us. Blessed be Jesus for all eternity, and may the heavens and the earth be filled with the glory of his Blood."

To this proclamation, Adorers of the Blood of Christ on every continent in union with blessed Maria and all our sisters in heaven, can each day sing a resounding "Amen". In our worship, we can find daily the strength to be faithful to our gift by becoming "an ever more credible witness to God's tender love, of which the Blood of Jesus in vibrant sign and unending covenant pledge." (Life Charter, 2)

The Apostolic Spirtuality of Maria De Mattias
Conferences prepared for ASC Spirituality and History Programs: 1979-1982;
Privately printed, offset type, 1982. pp 250-269
Generalate, Adorers of the Blood of Christ
Rome, Italy

1 Vol 76 (Feb. 17-18, 1936), p. 1 Cf. Also Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 28, (1936), pp. 299-302.
2 L 2, to Bishop Lais of Ferentino, October 12, 1833. Because of the large number of Maria?s letters cited, only the number will be given for the rest of the conference.
3 Original in ASC generalate archives. Copy in SUMMARIUM I, p. 207.
4 Twelve other religious congregations in honor of the precious Blood were founded during the 19th century, including the Dmarianhill group by Franz Pfanner and the canadian Adorers of Mother Catherine Aurelie.
5 Vita della Serva di Dio Maria De Mattias, John Merlini, 1868. Reprinted in Beata Maria De Mattias Centenario del Transit, (Pia Union, rome, 1966), p. 2.
6 See Letters 369, 384, 393 of John Merlini to Maria De Mattias.
7 Both incidents from testimony of Sr. Angela Costantini, SUMMARIUM I, p. 206-207.
8 Unedited, typescript number 2203, May 26, 1863.
9 1980 ASC Constitution, Appendix, p. 51.
10 Testimony of Fillipo Merluzzi, SUMMARIUM I, p 216.
11 Letter to John Merlini, Nov. 16, 1866, printed in SUMMARIUM II, p. 201.
12 Merlini, vita de Maria De Mattias, p. 16.
13 Testimony of Sr. Caterina Pavoni, SUMMARIUM I, pp 305-306.
14 Part II, chapter V, art. 3. See also L 769 and 399.
15 SUMMARIUM II, p 200.
16 See for example L 639, L 727.
17 See L 19, L 535.
18 Unedited, to Merlini, January 1950. Number 391 of typescript volumes.
19 This and the following citations are from original manuscripts in ASC generalte archives.
20 Maria's explicit reply to this letter is L 784.

Apostolic Letter Of Pope John XXIII. "On Promoting Devotion To The Most Precious Blood Of Our Lord Jesus Christ", Rome, Italy, 1960.

Given at St. Peter's in Rome, the eve of the feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ's Most Precious Blood, June 30, 1960, the second year of our pontificate.

APOSTOLIC LETTER OF POPE JOHN XXIII

ON PROMOTING DEVOTION TO THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD
OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

To his Venerable Brother Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops and other Local Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See

Venerable brethren: greetings and apostolic blessings.

From the very outset of our pontificate, in speaking of daily devotions we have repeatedly urged the faithful (often in eager tones that frankly hinted our future design) to cherish warmly that marvellous manifestation of divine mercy toward individuals and Holy Church and the whole world redeemed and saved by Jesus Christ: we mean devotion to his Most Precious Blood.

From infancy this devotion was instilled in us within our own household. Fondly we still recall how our parents used to recite the Litany of the Most Precious Blood every day during July.

The Apostle's wholesome advice comes to mind: "Keep watch, then, over yourselves, and over God's Church, in which the Holy Spirit has made you bishops; you are to be the shepherds of that flock which he won for himself at the price of his own blood."[1] Now among the cares of our pastoral office, venerable brethren, we are convinced that, second only to vigilance over sound doctrine, preference belongs to the proper surveillance and development of piety, in both its liturgical and private expressions. With that in mind, we judge it most timely to call our beloved children's attention to the unbreakable bond which must exist between the devotions to the Most Holy Name and Most Sacred Heart of Jesus -- already so widespread among Christians -- and devotion to the incarnate Word's Most Precious Blood, "shed for many, to the remission of sins."[2]

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. But the same logic calls for complete accord among different devotions. Those deemed more basic and more conducive to holiness must not be at odds with or cut off from one another. And the more individualistic and secondary ones must give way in popularity and practice to those devotions which more effectively actuate the fullness of salvation wrought by the "one mediator between God and men, Jesus Christ, who is a man, like them, and gave himself as a ransom for them all." [4] Through living in an atmosphere thus charged with true faith and solid piety the faithful can be confident that they are "thinking with the Church" and holding fast in the loving fellowship of prayer to Christ Jesus, the high priest of that sublime religion which he founded and which owes to him its name, its strength, its dignity.

The Church's wonderful advances in liturgical piety match the progress of faith itself in penetrating divine truth. Within this development it is most heart-warming to observe how often in recent centuries this Holy See has openly ap proved and furthered the three devotions just mentioned. From the Middle Ages, it is true, many pious persons prac ticed these devotions, which then spread to various dioceses and religious orders and congregations. Nevertheless it remained for the Chair of Peter to pronounce them orthodox and approve them for the Church as a whole.

Suffice it to recall the spiritual favours that our predecessors from the sixteenth century on have attached to prac ticing devotion to the Most Holy Name of Jesus, which in the previous century St. Bernardine of Siena untiringly spread throughout Italy. Approval was given first to the Office and Mass of the Most Holy Name and later to the Litany.[5] No less striking are the benefits the popes have attached to practising devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, whose rise and spread owe so much to the revelations of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.[6] So highly have all the popes regarded this devotion that again and again in their official acts they have expounded its nature, defended its validity, promoted its practice. Their crowning achievement on this devotion are three splendid encyclicals.[7]

Likewise the devotion to the Most Precious Blood, which owes its marvellous diffusion to the 19th-century Roman priest, St. Gaspar del Bufalo, has rightly merited the approval and backing of this Apostolic See. We may recall that by order of Benedict XIV the Mass and Office in honour of the divine Saviour's adorable Blood were composed. And to fulfill a vow made at Gaeta Pius IX extended the feast to the whole Church.[8] Finally, as a commemoration of the nineteenth centenary of our redemption, Pius XI of happy memory raised this feast to the rank of first-class double, so that the greater liturgical splendour would highlight the devotion and bring to men more abundant fruits of the redeeming Blood.
Following our predecessors' example we have taken further steps to promote the devotion to the Precious Blood of the unblemished Lamb, Jesus Christ. We have approved the Litany of the Precious Blood drawn up by the Sacred Congregation of Rites and through special indulgences have encouraged its public and private recitation throughout the Catholic world. Amid today's most serious and pressing spiritual needs, may this latest exercise of that "care for all the churches"[9] proper to our sovereign office awaken in Christian hearts a firm conviction about the supreme abiding effectiveness of these three devotions.

As we now approach the feast and month devoted to honouring Christ's Blood ---- the price of our redemption, the pledge of salvation and life eternal -- may Christians meditate on it more fervently, may they savour its fruits more frequently in sacramental communion. Let their meditations on the boundless power of the Blood be bathed in the light of sound biblical teaching and the doctrine of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church. How truly precious is this Blood is voiced in the song which the Church sings with the Angelic Doctor (sentiments wisely seconded by our predecessor Clement VI [10] ) :
Blood that but one drop of has the world to win
All the world forgiveness of its world of sin. [11]
Unlimited is the effectiveness of the God-Man's Blood -- just as unlimited as the love that impelled him to pour it out for us, first at his circumcision eight days after birth, and more profusely later on in his agony in the garden,[12] in his scourging and crowning with thorns, in his climb to Calvary and crucifixion, and finally from out that great wide wound in his side which symbolizes the divine Blood cascading down into all the Church's sacraments. Such sur passing love suggests, nay demands, that everyone reborn in the torrents of that Blood adore it with grateful love.

The Blood of the new and eternal covenant especially deserves this worship of latria when it is elevated during the sacrifice of the Mass. But such worship achieves its normal fulfilment 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]

This is the sublime vocation that St. Paul urged Jewish converts to fix their minds on when tempted to nostalgia for what was only a weak figure and prelude of the new covenant: "The scene of your approach now is mount Sion, is the heavenly Jerusalem, city of the living God; here are gathered thousands upon thousands of angels, here is the assembly of those first-born sons whose names are written in heaven, here is God sitting in judgment on all men, here are the spirits of just men, now made perfect; here is Jesus, the spokesman of the new covenant, and the sprinkling of his blood, which has better things to say than Abel's had." [19]

We have full confidence, venerable brethren, that these fatherly exhortations of ours, once brought to the attention of your priests and people in whatever way you deem best, will be put into practice not just willingly but enthusiastically. As a sign of heavenly graces and our affection we im part our most heartfelt apostolic blessing to each of you and to all your flocks, and particularly to those who respond with devout generosity to the promptings of this letter.
Given at St. Peter's in Rome, the eve of the feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ's Most Precious Blood, June 30, 1960, the second year of our pontificate.

1. Acts 20:28.
2. Matthew 26 :2&
3. Encyclical "On the Sacred Liturgy," America Press edition (New York: 1954), No. 46.
4. I Timothy 2:5-6.
5. Acta Sanctae Sedis 18 (1886) :509.
6. Cf. Office for the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, 2nd nocturn, lesson 5.
7. "On the Consecration of mankind to the Sacred Heart of Jesus," The
Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII (New York: 1903), 454-- 461; "The Reparation Due to the Sacred Heart," The Catholic Mind
26 (1928): 221-235; "On Devotion to the Sacred Heart," The Pope
Speaks 3 (1956): 115-149.
8. Decree "Redempti Sumus," Aug. 10, 1849, Decreta Authentica S.RC. (Rome: 1898), II, No. 2978.
9. II Corinthians 11:28.
10. Bull "The Only Begotten Son of God," Jan. 25, 1343, The Sources of Catholic Dogma (St. Louis: 1957), No. 550.
1. Hymn "Adoro te devote." Translation from Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins (Oxford: 1930), No. 89.
12. Luke 22:43.
13. Hebrews 9:14.
14. "Homily 46," Commentary on Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist (Fathers of the Church, New York: 1957), 469, 471-472.
15. 1 Peter 1:17-19.
16. I Corinthians 6:20.
17. Cf. I Timothy 2:4.
18. Cf. Genesis 1:26.
19. Hebrews 12:22-24.