The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was introduced throughout the Church by Pope Urban IV, in 1264.  Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament was well-developed by that time.  Archbishop Baldwin of Canterbury, who died in 1190, wrote a tract, "On the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist", which begins with these words: 

"The Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord is worthy, on account of its dignity and reverence, to be touched, confected, perceived, and dispensed in a befitting manner by those who are worthy.  Great and inestimable is the dignity of this Sacrament, and who may be worthy of it?  It is great above every manner of our understanding, above every measure of our capacity to understand.  It is as great as the price of the world, a Price without price, a priceless Price, a Price which cannot be estimated in any way.  The Apostle [Paul] writes, in 1 Timothy 3, 16:  'Great is the Sacrament of holiness which was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, appeared to the angels, preached to the nations, believed in by the world, assumed into glory.' "  

The word translated here as "price" is the Latin word pretium, which has the meaning not only of "price", but also of "wages" and "reward".  The Lord Jesus offered up his Body and Blood as the price of our redemption, that we may enjoy the reward of his sweet company throughout eternity, foreshadowed by our reception of him in Holy Communion, here on earth.