Litany of the Precious Blood

Devotions

One of only six litanies the Holy See has approved for public recitation, honoring the Blood of Christ under a series of scriptural titles.

The Litany of the Precious Blood is a series of invocations honoring Christ under scriptural titles connected to his shed Blood, each followed by a fixed response. Pope John XXIII approved an official text for public use throughout the Church in 1960, making it one of only six litanies the Holy See permits for public liturgical recitation.

Quick Facts

Category: Devotions to Jesus Christ — Precious Blood
Key figure: Pope St. John XXIII, who approved the litany’s text for universal use in 1960
Origin: Developed within nineteenth-century Italian Precious Blood devotional circles; given an official text approved by the Holy See in 1960
Observance: Prayed at any time, especially during July, the traditional month of the Precious Blood
Church status: one of only six litanies the Holy See has approved for public recitation in church
Private revelation: not dependent on private revelation

What Is This Devotion?

A litany is a form of prayer built from a series of short invocations, each answered by a fixed response — most litanies in Catholic use respond either “have mercy on us” or “pray for us,” depending on whether the invocations are addressed to Christ or to a saint. The Litany of the Precious Blood addresses Christ directly, moving through a sequence of scriptural titles for his Blood — as the price of redemption, the seal of the New Covenant, the cleansing of sinners — gathering a wide range of biblical language about the Passion into a single, structured prayer. Because the exact wording is a promulgated liturgical text, this page describes its structure and history rather than reproducing it in full; the complete approved text is available on our dedicated prayer page.

Origin and History

Devotion to Christ’s Blood in litany form grew within the same nineteenth-century Italian movement that produced the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, founded by St. Gaspar del Bufalo in 1815. Various litany texts circulated for decades among Precious Blood congregations and confraternities before the Church moved to settle on a single authoritative form. In the twentieth century, the Congregation of Rites reviewed and prepared an official text, which Pope John XXIII approved for public recitation throughout the Church in his apostolic letter Inde a Primis, dated 30 June 1960 — the same letter in which he reaffirmed July as the month specially dedicated to the Precious Blood.

That approval placed the Litany of the Precious Blood in a very small category. Since 1601, when Pope Clement VIII restricted public liturgical use to the Litany of the Saints and the Litany of Loreto, the Holy See has added only four further litanies to that approved list over the following three and a half centuries: the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, the Litany of the Sacred Heart, the Litany of St. Joseph, and, in 1960, the Litany of the Precious Blood. Every other litany in Catholic devotional use, however popular, remains a private prayer rather than one approved for public liturgical recitation.

Catholic Theology

As with the related chaplet, the litany’s theology centers on redemption — the conviction that Christ’s Blood, poured out in his Passion, is the price that ransomed humanity from sin (Ephesians 1:7, Revelation 5:9). Structuring this truth as a litany, with its repeated invocation-and-response pattern, is meant to draw the whole assembly or household into a shared act of prayer rather than a private meditation alone, which is part of why the Church reserves public liturgical use to a small, carefully approved set of litany texts.

How to Practice It

Pray the litany using the Church-approved text, found on our dedicated prayer page, rather than an unverified version circulating online.
Pray it in a group when possible, since the call-and-response structure is suited to communal recitation, though private recitation is equally valid.
Use it especially during July, or as part of a holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament, connecting devotion to the Precious Blood back to its source in the Eucharist.

Associated Prayers

When It’s Observed

July is the traditional month for this litany, tracing back to the feast Pope Pius IX instituted in 1849, later fixed to July 1 by Pope St. Pius X and raised to the highest liturgical rank by Pope John XXIII in 1960 — the same year he approved this litany’s text. The 1969 calendar reform removed the feast from the General Roman Calendar on the grounds that devotion to Christ’s Blood is already expressed in the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, but July’s association with the Precious Blood continues in popular devotion and in some religious communities that retain the older observance.

Church Status

This litany holds a specific, elevated status among Catholic devotional prayers: it is one of only six litanies the Holy See has approved for public recitation in church, the others being the Litany of the Saints, the Litany of Loreto, the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, the Litany of the Sacred Heart, and the Litany of St. Joseph. That approval concerns the litany’s liturgical use, not its doctrinal content in isolation — the litany itself remains a devotion that supports the liturgy rather than forming part of the Mass.

Promises and Indulgences

The Church’s Enchiridion Indulgentiarum (Manual of Indulgences) grants a partial indulgence to the faithful who piously recite this litany, under the Church’s ordinary conditions for partial indulgences. As with any indulgenced prayer, Catholics should rely on the current edition of the Enchiridion rather than older prayer cards, since specific indulgence provisions have been revised over time; this page does not attempt to restate the full, current conditions in detail.

Common Misconceptions

“Any litany to the Precious Blood found online carries the same approval.”

Only the specific text approved by Pope John XXIII in 1960 carries the Holy See’s approval for public recitation in church. Devotional variants exist and may be prayed privately in good faith, but they should not be presented as carrying the same liturgical standing.

“Being one of six approved litanies makes this more important than other Catholic prayers.”

The approval concerns permission for public, communal liturgical use — a matter of Church discipline — not a ranking of spiritual value. Countless unapproved private prayers are treasured and spiritually fruitful without ever needing this kind of formal permission, which exists mainly to regulate what may be prayed corporately in church.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the six litanies approved for public recitation?

The Litany of the Saints, the Litany of Loreto (of the Blessed Virgin Mary), the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Litany of St. Joseph, and the Litany of the Precious Blood, approved in that historical order between 1601 and 1960.

Why is July called the month of the Precious Blood if it is no longer on the calendar?

The formal feast was removed from the universal calendar in 1969, but the custom of dedicating July to devotion to the Precious Blood predates that feast and has continued in popular piety and in Precious Blood religious communities regardless of the feast’s calendar status.

Is there an indulgence for praying this litany?

Yes, a partial indulgence is granted under the Church’s Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, subject to the usual general conditions the Church attaches to partial indulgences.

Can any Catholic pray this litany, or is it only for members of Precious Blood congregations?

Any Catholic may pray it. It has no membership requirement; its history is tied to Precious Blood congregations, but its approved text belongs to the whole Church.