Blood of Christ

In the early Church, the faithful received the Eucharist in the form of consecrated bread and wine. Saint Maximus explains that in the Old Law the flesh of the sacrificial victim was shared with the people, but the blood of the sacrifice was merely poured out on the altar. Under the New Law, however, Jesus's blood was the drink shared by all of Christ's faithful. St. Justin Martyr, an early Church Father of the 2nd century, speaks of the Eucharist as the same body and blood of Christ that was present in his Incarnation. The tradition continued in the Church in the East to commingle the species of bread and wine, whereas in the West, the Church had the practice of communion under the species of bread and wine separately as the custom, with only a small fraction of bread placed in the chalice. In the West, the communion at the chalice was made less and less efficient, as the dangers of the spread of disease and danger of spillage (which would potentially be sacrilegious) were considered enough of a reason to remove the chalice from common communion altogether, or giving it on only special occasions. However, it was always consecrated and drunk by the priest, regardless of whether or not the laity partook. This was one of the issues debated during the Protestant Reformation. During this time, the Evangelical-Lutheran Churches affirmed the doctrine of communion under both kinds, in which the Body of Christ and the Blood of Christ were offered to the faithful. As a consequence, the Catholic Church first wanted to eliminate ambiguity, reaffirming that Christ was present as body and as blood equally under both species of bread and wine. ==Theology==

Catholic , Siena. The Catholic Church teaches that the bread and wine, through transubstantiation, become the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ—in other words, the whole Christ—when consecrated. Devotion to the Precious Blood was a special phenomenon of Flemish piety in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, that gave rise to the iconic image of Grace as the "Fountain of Life", filled with blood, pouring from the wounded "Lamb of God" or the Holy Wounds of Christ. The image, that was the subject of numerous Flemish paintings, was in part spurred by the renowned relic of the Precious Blood, which had been noted in Bruges at least since the twelfth century, and gave rise, from the late thirteenth century, to the observances, particular to Bruges, of the procession of the "Saint Sang" from its chapel. Various prayers are part of the Catholic devotion to the Precious Blood. Those that mention the Blood include the Anima Christi, the Chaplet of Mercy of the Holy Wounds of Jesus, and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Evangelical-Lutheran The Evangelical-Lutheran Churches affirm the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, with this doctrine being known as the sacramental union; Evangelical-Lutheran theology asserts that the "very body and blood of Christ" is received by the faithful. The real presence of Christ is effected at the Words of Institution: According to this doctrine, Jesus carried His blood into heaven, this act being an essential component of His redemptive work for humanity. Proponents of this view often interpret John 20:17—where Jesus tells Mary Magdalene not to touch Him—as indicating that He had not yet completed the task of sprinkling His blood on the heavenly mercy seat. Some Christians such as Robert Thieme argued that the "blood of Christ" as mentioned in the bible is a mere metaphor for his death, saying the real blood of Christ has no significance in the atonement. Since this position was not held by other faculty members of Dallas theological seminary it caused a local controversy. John Walvoord said to him Christ had to shed his blood to fulfill scriptures such as 1 Peter 1:18-19 and Hebrews 9:22 while Robert G. Walter went somewhat further than Walvoord, arguing that Thieme was outside Christian orthodoxy. ==Artistic depictions==

The blood shed by Christ was a common theme in early modern Italian art. Paintings of Christ depicted on the cross and as the Man of Sorrows have consistently been some of the bloodiest images in Christian art. The blood of Christ was a compelling artistic symbol of his incarnation and sacrifice. As a theme for contemplation, it provided worshippers with a means to articulate their devotion. ==Relics of the Blood around the world==