Greetings in the Most Holy Season of the Birth of Our Savior!

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1 Greetings in the Most Holy Season of the Birth of Our Savior! What better way to welcome and bless the New Year than with our first humble newsletter! It was on the day of the Infant Jesus circumcision that He shed his first Precious drops of Blood for our salvation. Cradled so gently in the arms of Our Holy Mother who shed bitter tears over the pain filled cries of her tiny Son, hers was the first adoration of His Most Precious Blood. Prior to Vatican II, the Church celebrated New Year s Day, the Octave of Christmas as the Circumcision of Our Lord. Now we celebrate it as the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God. Yet we need not separate the two as we meditate on the roles of the Mother and the Son. And after eight days were accomplished, that the Child should be circumcised: His name was called Jesus, which was called by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:21) On this subject, the Right Reverend Louis De Groesbriand, D.D., the Bishop of Burlington, Vermont wrote in 1889, The ceremony of circumcision, which Almighty God commanded Abraham and his descendants to observe as a distinctive mark of the people of God, was performed by means of a sharp stone or instrument on the body of the infant and was consequently very painful. He who received circumcision became a member of the Jewish nation and was bound to obey all its precepts and ceremonies. Circumcision was a figure of Baptism, and is commonly believed to have been, at least in some circumstances, a means of taking away original sin. Another practice annexed to the ceremony of Circumcision was a giving of a name to the infant. In the case of Our Lord Jesus Christ, He was bound by no law, but He had come to teach obedience to human and divine laws, and in voluntarily receiving Circumcision He willed also that a name should be given Him. That name, that glorious name Jesus, had been brought down from Heaven by an angel, and the Blessed Virgin Mary and Holy Joseph had the privilege of first pronouncing that sacred name and applying it to the person of the Redeemer. In receiving Circumcision, Our Lord accepted the obligation to observe the Law of Moses. But in accepting the name of Jesus, He at the same time, obligated Himself to realize in His person the signification of that name. In other words, He accepted all the humiliations and sufferings that were the conditions of His becoming a Savior (including) death itself. We all know that thirty three years after His Circumcision He accomplished His work, and that an adequate price has been paid for our redemption by Jesus Christ, Our dear Savior. Our Lord began and ended His mission with the shedding of His Most Precious Blood. Since God is all Spirit, He took all that is flesh from His Holy Mother. So the blood that He shed is also very much the blood given to Him at His miraculous conception by His Holy Mother. So humble, so young, so modest, so simple and so hidden is the girl who stole the heart of God Himself accelerating the advent of the Redeemer. She loved Him like a Seraph and felt such a burning love and pity for all mankind who were in such desperate need of their Savior, that her constant prayers and the offering of her life on our behalf hastened, according to the writings of venerable Maria Valtorta, the coming of the Savior by some 15 years. Who is this sweet girl, little more than a child herself, cradling in her virginal arms the offspring of the Almighty Creator? Is it not the same young woman searching desperately for her missing child for three days amongst the

2 throngs of people crowding the streets of Jerusalem for the festival? Is she not the same Holy Virgin whose intense prayers drew from Heaven an angel of comfort to solace her grieving Son in the Garden of Gethsemane? Isn t she the same pure and holy woman trudging up Calvary behind her beloved Son carrying in her anguished heart and soul the weight of the Cross and the weight of our sins? Yes. She is the Mother standing beneath the Cross comforting Her dying Son and offering her tears mixed with His Blood for the salvation of the whole world. Only this Mother, in her unspeakable sufferings, her heart transfixed with a sword, could reach to heaven and comfort the Eternal Father for His bitter grief over the torture and immense suffering of their Son. She has bitterly suffered and sacrificed more than all the saints and martyrs combined. It continues mystically as her statues cry tears of oil and blood all over the world. There is not one soul that has ever lived that she would not sacrifice herself for in order to save them for Her Son. She begs us to join our prayers, works and actions to hers for this intention. The Mother of the Son who said I and the Father are one, is filled with the Holy Spirit as no other creature, which widened her soul into a heaven! Immaculate from the very moment of her conception; her soul became the dwelling place, the sealed garden of delight, the joy of the Holy Trinity, each of whom she loves in return beyond our understanding. Her active love of the Trinity urges her on in her sufferings to save the souls created by God the Father, redeemed at such a great and bitter cost by her beloved Son, souls who are taught and confirmed in all Wisdom by the Holy Spirit. She is the gentle Moon who guides her wayward children through the darkness back to grace. Our Mediatrix who pleads for Mercy for us before the throne of Justice that we may have time to repent and amend our lives before that Arm of Justice falls; the watchful Mother who wants to see every soul safely arrived in Heaven before she rests. She is our most thoughtful Helper and Advocate, taking our needs before the throne of Her Son to plead for us to receive the assistance and graces we need in this life and in the next. She is the Co Redeemer of our souls as she continues to work tirelessly in union with her Son to save all her children from the torments of eternal death. She is truly the greatest of all women and worthy of the title, Mother of all Mankind. But even more worthy of being called Mary, the Mother of God. OUR HUMBLE BEGINNINGS After an informal appointment in February 2005 to replace retiring US Director, Mary Agnes Kumar, I was formally appointed the Director of the expanded territory of US, Central and South America on March 17, 2005, the Feast of St. Patrick (one of my patron Saints). On this day the American edition of our prayer book was printed in the US. I was consecrated on March 18 th by Fr. Evaristus Eshiowu at St. Eugene s Catholic Chapel in Tallahassee, Florida, and we received the first copies of the books that day. The next day, March 19 th, the Feast of St. Joseph (my other great patron), we began with our first official day of business as the Apostolate of the Precious Blood by preaching and distributing prayer books across the Diocese of Palm Beach, Florida.

3 On May 31 st, the Feast of the Visitation, we were incorporated into a religious, non profit, charitable organization. June 30 th, the memorial of the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome, the Board of Directors was appointed after much prayer and fasting. They are the fasting and prayer support of this Apostolate who humbly seek to find the direction of God s Will for this His work. They are the holy rudder that guides this ship. The spiritual warfare has been intense and on August 30 th we had to move from our present apartment and into a temporary place at my daughter s townhouse. Hurricane Rita sent refugees scurrying into town and we were unable to find a place to rent and set up the Apostolate. Then, after intense prayer on the part of many of you, on September 14 th, the Triumph of the Cross, we found a place, signed the contract, and moved in on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. In October on Mission Sunday, we met with Bishop Ricard to present him with our activities and ask his blessing on setting up our headquarters in his Diocese. He gave us both his permission and blessing and requested we add the Divine Office to our daily prayers. Afterwards, Fr. Evaristus came to our humble home to bless it and have lunch. When he saw how we lived, he commented, My, these are very humble beginnings! He celebrated Mass in our joy filled little home and sat in our only chair to eat while we spread out our beach towel on the floor! THE APOSTOLATE S HOME The desk where Veronica worked on the Since moving in on September 15 th, we have lived Spanish translations is a low bookcase with on air mattresses with no other furniture. We ate on an ice chest for a chair! Behind her desk is a beach towel spread on the floor until the recent a wall full of boxes of Agonizing Crucifixes! gift of a table and four chairs arrived! THE Mission of our Apostolate is to spread Devotion to the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ as far across the Americas as we can and as quickly as possible! To assist us in this we are taking on the financial burden of translating these prayers, messages, and brochures into as many languages as our diverse population requires. We are excited about the debut of our Prayerbook in Spanish with French and Korean shortly behind it, as well as the upcoming Meditations on Obedience, by Barnabas Nwoye which is coming soon.

4 We are a religious organization under obedience to our local Bishop, His Excellency John H. Ricard, S.S.J., of the Diocese of Pensacola/Tallahassee, Florida. We also obey all directives issued by the local Bishop where this devotion originated, His Excellency Anthony O. Gbuji of the Diocese of Enugu, Nigeria, and we are also under the Spiritual Direction of His Excellency Ayo Maria Atoyebi, O.P., Bishop of the Diocese of Ilorin, Nigeria. We are faithful to the Magisterium of the Church and respect, honor, look for guidance from and obey our Bishops and pastors. We encourage all Catholics to do the same. At the end of November, the President of the Board of Directors of our Apostolate traveled to Rome and transmitted news of our activities here in the Americas and of this Devotion in general to various Vatican officials. They were all pleased with our activities and send their blessings and hope of our continued success. We will see our website operational January 1 st, on the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God after months of waiting and difficulties (very intense spiritual warfare!) We have posted a good deal of information, messages and pictures there for you so please visit us when you have a minute at Also, by January we will be able to accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express for your donations, purchases from our store and Mass stipends, either on the web or over the phone as well as check and money orders by mail, all for your convenience! We will have online Mass booking, a first in cyber history! These Masses will be celebrated by our own Precious Blood priest in America, Fr. Peter Claver, and also by various missionary priests in Nigeria who the local Bishop will distribute the Masses to. Fr. Peter is from the same parish in Nigeria that the young visionary Barnabas is from. If you just can t wait until the website comes up, then give us a call and we will schedule a Mass for you over the phone! We have openings as early as January 2006! We continue to pray that Barnabas, his Spiritual Director, Fr. Christopher Enem, and hopefully even Bishop Gbuji will be able to make it to America for a visit. We ask you to keep this intention in your prayers to help us facilitate their coming to the United States. May the abundant blessings of this Most Holy Season of the Birth of Our Savior and the shedding of the first drops of His Most Precious Blood for our salvation, cover you and all those whom you love to protect you from all evil and lead you all to the Glorious Reign of Peace! Blessings in the Holy Name of Jesus, Patricia A. Fason, Executive Director Apostolate of the Precious Blood Headquarters of the Americas P.O. Box 3372 Tallahassee, FL (850) PreciousBloodAmerica@yahoo.com English PreciosisimaSangre@yahoo.com Spanish

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