Litany of the Precious Blood: Full Text in Latin and English

The Litany of the Most Precious Blood is the Church's litany in honour of the Blood of Christ, shed for our redemption and given to us in the Holy Eucharist. It was drawn up by the Sacred Congregation of Rites on 24 February 1960, approved by Pope John XXIII to be inserted in the Roman Ritual, and it is the last of the six litanies approved for public recitation in the Church. Here is the full text in English and in Latin, with its closing prayer, followed by its history and the way to pray it, above all in July, the month of the Precious Blood.

The Litany of the Precious Blood (full text)

The litany is said by a leader and the people: the leader says each invocation, the people give the answer printed in bold after the first line of each group, and repeat it after every line of that group.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

God, the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God, the Holy Ghost,
Holy Trinity, one God,

Blood of Christ, only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father, save us.
Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God,
Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament,
Blood of Christ, falling upon the earth in the Agony,
Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging,
Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with Thorns,
Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,
Blood of Christ, price of our salvation,
Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness,
Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and refreshment of souls,
Blood of Christ, stream of mercy,
Blood of Christ, victor over demons,
Blood of Christ, courage of martyrs,
Blood of Christ, strength of confessors,
Blood of Christ, bringing forth virgins,
Blood of Christ, help of those in peril,
Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened,
Blood of Christ, solace in sorrow,
Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent,
Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying,
Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts,
Blood of Christ, pledge of eternal life,
Blood of Christ, freeing souls from purgatory,
Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honour,

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

V. Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord, in Thy Blood.
R. And hast made us, for our God, a kingdom.

Let us pray.
Almighty and everlasting God, who didst appoint Thine only-begotten Son the Redeemer of the world, and willedst to be appeased by His Blood: grant us, we beseech Thee, so to venerate the price of our salvation, and by its power to be so defended upon earth against the evils of this present life, that we may rejoice in its everlasting fruit in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Litany of the Most Precious Blood in Latin

The Latin text is that of the decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis of 1960. It is the official text: the English above is its translation.

Kyrie, eleison.
Christe, eleison.
Kyrie, eleison.
Christe, audi nos.
Christe, exaudi nos.

Pater de caelis, Deus, miserere nobis.
Fili, Redemptor mundi, Deus,
Spiritus Sancte, Deus,
Sancta Trinitas, unus Deus,

Sanguis Christi, Unigeniti Patris aeterni, salva nos.
Sanguis Christi, Verbi Dei incarnati,
Sanguis Christi, Novi et aeterni Testamenti,
Sanguis Christi, in agonia decurrens in terram,
Sanguis Christi, in flagellatione profluens,
Sanguis Christi, in coronatione spinarum emanans,
Sanguis Christi, in Cruce effusus,
Sanguis Christi, pretium nostrae salutis,
Sanguis Christi, sine quo non fit remissio,
Sanguis Christi, in Eucharistia potus et lavacrum animarum,
Sanguis Christi, flumen misericordiae,
Sanguis Christi, victor daemonum,
Sanguis Christi, fortitudo martyrum,
Sanguis Christi, virtus confessorum,
Sanguis Christi, germinans virgines,
Sanguis Christi, robur periclitantium,
Sanguis Christi, levamen laborantium,
Sanguis Christi, in fletu solatium,
Sanguis Christi, spes paenitentium,
Sanguis Christi, solamen morientium,
Sanguis Christi, pax et dulcedo cordium,
Sanguis Christi, pignus vitae aeternae,
Sanguis Christi, animas liberans de lacu Purgatorii,
Sanguis Christi, omni gloria et honore dignissimus,

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, parce nobis, Domine.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, exaudi nos, Domine.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

V. Redemisti nos, Domine, in sanguine tuo.
R. Et fecisti nos Deo nostro regnum.

Oremus.
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui unigenitum Filium tuum mundi Redemptorem constituisti, ac eius sanguine placari voluisti: concede, quaesumus, salutis nostrae pretium ita venerari, atque a praesentis vitae malis eius virtute defendi in terris, ut fructu perpetuo laetemur in caelis. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

What the invocations of the litany mean

The litany is built like a meditation on the whole history of the Blood of Christ, and its order is worth following slowly.

Its source. The first three invocations go back to the origin: the Blood of the only-begotten Son of the Father, of the Word made flesh, of the New and Eternal Testament. The Blood that saves us is the Blood of God made man; that is why a single drop of it would have been enough to redeem the world, and why the Church adores it, united to the Person of the Word.

Its shedding. Then the litany follows the Passion: the Agony in the garden, where "his sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground" (Luke xxii. 44, Douay-Rheims); the Scourging; the Crowning with Thorns; the Cross. These are the sheddings of the Blood that the Chaplet of the Precious Blood meditates bead by bead.

Its price. "Price of our salvation" and "without which there is no forgiveness" are two lines from the Apostles: "You were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled" (1 Peter i. 18-19); "without shedding of blood there is no remission" (Hebrews ix. 22).

Its gift. "Eucharistic drink" brings the litany to the altar: the Blood shed once on Calvary is the Blood offered in every Mass and received in Holy Communion. "Stream of mercy" and "victor over demons" show what it does in souls.

Its fruits. The long second group is a list of the people the Blood of Christ sustains: martyrs and confessors, virgins, those in danger, the overburdened, the sorrowful, penitents, the dying, the souls in purgatory. Every state of life finds its line. The litany ends where the Apocalypse does: "Thou hast redeemed us to God, in thy blood... and hast made us to our God a kingdom" (Apocalypse v. 9-10), which is the versicle that closes it and the Introit of the Mass of 1 July.

Where the litany comes from

The devotion to the Precious Blood is as old as the Church, but its present form came late. In the nineteenth century it was spread above all by St Gaspar del Bufalo, the Roman priest who founded the Missionaries of the Most Precious Blood and was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1954. In 1849 Pope Pius IX, then in exile at Gaeta, extended the feast of the Most Precious Blood to the whole Church by the decree Redempti sumus of 10 August 1849; St Pius X fixed it on 1 July, and Pius XI raised it to the rank of double of the first class. In the calendar of 1962 it is a feast of the first class on 1 July.

Litanies of the Precious Blood circulated privately well before 1960 — John XXIII himself recalled that in his family home his elders recited the litany of the Most Precious Blood every day throughout July. But it was only on 24 February 1960 that the Sacred Congregation of Rites drew up the official text given above, approved by the Pope and ordered to be inserted in the Roman Ritual. On 30 June 1960, the eve of the feast, John XXIII published the apostolic letter Inde a primis, on promoting devotion to the Most Precious Blood, in which he says that he has approved the litany and enriched its public and private recitation with indulgences.

The closing prayer is the Collect of the feast of 1 July, with one small difference: the Missal asks to venerate the price of our salvation "with solemn worship" (sollemni cultu), words which the litany omits, since it is meant for every day and not only for the feast.

Is this the traditional Litany of the Precious Blood?

It is the only official one. Older litanies of the Precious Blood were said privately before 1960, as John XXIII's own memory of his family home shows; the text drawn up by the Sacred Congregation of Rites in 1960 is the one approved for public recitation. It is the litany you will find in traditional prayer books printed after 1960, and the one prayed in traditional chapels today. Some modern booklets alter a few English lines; the Latin is fixed, and the English given here follows it closely.

Through the eyes of tradition

The official litany is a text of 1960, two years before the books of 1962 to which this app is faithful: it belongs to that last period of the old liturgy, with the Code of Rubrics of 1960, and nothing in it departs from the traditional doctrine of the Redemption. The devotion it expresses is far older than the text: the Church had kept the feast of the Precious Blood for more than a century, with its own Mass and Office.

The calendar reform of 1969 suppressed the feast of 1 July; in the reformed calendar the Precious Blood is no longer kept on a feast of its own, but within the solemnity of Corpus Christi, renamed the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, with a votive Mass of the Precious Blood. In the calendar of 1962 the feast keeps its place on 1 July, as a feast of the first class, and the month of July remains devoted to the Precious Blood.

How and when to pray the Litany of the Precious Blood

The litany may be said at any time, alone or in common. It is especially fitting:

• in July, the month of the Precious Blood, and on the feast of 1 July;
• on Fridays, in memory of the Passion;
• during a novena: it may be added each day to the Novena to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus;
• before or after Holy Communion, because of the invocation "Eucharistic drink and refreshment of souls";
• for the dying and the souls in purgatory, for whom two of its invocations pray.

Kneel if you can, make the sign of the Cross, and say it slowly; when it is prayed in common, the leader reads each invocation and all answer. Like the Litany of the Sacred Heart and the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, it is a litany addressed to Our Lord; all the litanies approved by the Church are gathered in our page on Catholic litanies. Those who love this devotion often add the Chaplet of the Five Wounds.

Litany of the Precious Blood PDF and printable text

We do not offer a PDF file: the full text above, in English and in Latin, prints exactly as it is from your browser. But rather than a sheet of paper, we would invite you to install the Iter Fidei app: it carries this litany in Latin and in English, the Mass and Office of the feast of 1 July, the traditional calendar and a daily reminder, and it works offline. Join early access here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who approved the Litany of the Precious Blood?

The text was drawn up by the Sacred Congregation of Rites on 24 February 1960 and approved by Pope John XXIII, to be inserted in the Roman Ritual. In his apostolic letter Inde a primis of 30 June 1960 he recommended it to the whole Church and attached indulgences to its recitation.

Is the Litany of the Precious Blood in Latin?

Yes. Its official text is Latin, published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis in 1960; it is given in full above, beginning Kyrie, eleison and ending with the prayer Omnipotens sempiterne Deus.

When is the feast of the Most Precious Blood?

In the calendar of 1962, on 1 July, as a feast of the first class. It was extended to the whole Church by Pius IX in 1849 and fixed on 1 July by St Pius X. The calendar of 1969 suppressed it.

Why is July the month of the Precious Blood?

Because the feast of the Precious Blood falls on 1 July, the whole month has long been consecrated to it by the piety of the faithful; John XXIII recalled that in his family home the litany was said every day of July.

How many invocations does the litany have?

After the Kyrie and the four invocations to the Holy Trinity, it has twenty-four invocations of the Blood of Christ, each answered "save us", followed by the three Agnus Dei, a versicle and the closing prayer.

Is the Litany of the Precious Blood for the souls in purgatory?

It is not only for them, but it prays for them explicitly: "Blood of Christ, freeing souls from purgatory." Many add it to their prayers for the dead, with the Litany for the Poor Souls in Purgatory.

The Iter Fidei app carries the Litany of the Most Precious Blood and the other approved litanies, with the 1962 Missal and Breviary, in Latin and English. Join early access here.

Sources. Sacred Congregation of Rites, Litaniae Pretiosissimi Sanguinis D. N. I. C., 24 February 1960 (Acta Apostolicae Sedis 52, 1960). John XXIII, apostolic letter Inde a primis, 30 June 1960. Pius IX, decree Redempti sumus, 10 August 1849. Roman Missal (1962), 1 July, Feast of the Most Precious Blood. Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims version: Luke xxii. 44; Hebrews ix. 22; 1 Peter i. 18-19; Apocalypse v. 9-10.