Missionaries of the Precious Blood
Precious Blood Renewal Center, a ministry of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. A Place to renew, refresh and reconnect. For groups, individuals, nonprofits and businesses. Our ongoing programming is guided by these principles: Rereshing the Spirit, Into the light, Circles of Understanding and Growing in Awareness.
816-415-3745
pbrenewalcenter.org
2120 Saint Gaspar Way, Liberty, Missouri 64068
HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD
The Society was established by a man later to be known as "St. Gaspar del Bufalo on August15, 1815 in Giano, Italy. As a small child in Rome, where he was born in 1786, Gaspar had a couple of very serious illnesses. During the second illness, his mother placed him under the protection of St. Francis Xavier. After his recovery and while still a small child, Gaspar became imbued with devotion to St. Francis and developed a strong desire to become a missionary himself. He became a student at a seminary and by 1808 was ordained a priest. In the following years, his spirituality increased after time spent imprisoned and in exile, separation from his family and serious illness. Pope Pius VII asked him to devote his life to conducting missions and Gaspar agreed. The idea of founding a mission organization to work toward renewal within the Church developed in his mind. After a retreat that he and his friends made in 1815, during the days preceding the Feast of the Assumption, Father Gaspar established the “Congregation of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood.” For the rest of his life, Gaspar was involved in preaching missions and in opening mission houses in and around Rome. He died in 1837 after many years of suffering and more than a year of illness. He was canonized on June 12, 1954. In January, 1844 Father Francis de Sales Brunner, accompanied by seven other priests, one brother, and six students opened an American mission in Ohio. The Society grew rapidly and by 1864 its members were actively engaged in many parts of the United States. They first came into Northwest Missouri in 1870. They now maintain a Provincial House in Liberty, Missouri with a dispersed community of one Bishop, 60 priests, and four brothers. Fr. Joe Nassal C.PP.S is the Provincial. There are two other Provincial Houses in the United States.