An Invitation to the Holy Face Devotion
"Five of you will put a hundred of your foes to flight, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand of them, till they are cut down by your sword." Leviticus 26:8
God in His infinite Mercy seeks to help us now,
as in oldentimes.
"I seek Veronicas to wipe and honor My Divine Face.
which has few adorers."
Jesus to Sister Marie de St. Peter. ( October 27, 1845)
"Rejoice, My daughter, because the hour approaches when the most beautiful work under the sun will be born."
Our Lord to Sister Marie of St. Peter (March 7, 1847)
"All those who honor My Face in a spirit of reparation will by doing so perform the office of the pious Veronica"
Jesus ' promise to Sister Maria of St. Peter
"And if my people, upon whom my name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek my presence and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from Heaven and pardon their sins and revive their land."
2 Chronicles 7:14
Art work placed with permission of Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles
8005 NW 316th Street
Gower, Missouri 64454
Ok, so you might be asking yourself, What, another devotion?
Well, many grace, miracles, and promises are associated with this devotion. The purpose of the Holy Face Devotion is to offer reparation back to God for the blasphemies and the profanations of Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. According to Jesus, “These offenses wound his heart and than all other” and “renew the injuries to His face, “which is the emblem of the Godhead itself.”
(Life of Mary St. Peter Carmelite of Tours).
Jesus appeared to this Carmelite nun in Tours, France, Sr Marie of St Peter from 1843-1848, giving her messages regarding the Holy Face Devotion. “Rejoice, My daughter, because the hour approaches when the most beautiful work under the sun will be born”.
Our Lord to Sr Marie, (March 7th, 1847)
The Blessed Saviour said to me: “I seek Veronica's to wipe and honor My Divine Face, which has few adorers,” and He made me understand anew that all who would devote themselves to this Work of Reparation would thereby perform the office of the pious Veronica (October 27th, 1845- The Golden Arrow) Our Lord gave Sr Marie a short but powerful prayer called “The Golden Arrow,”
May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most incomprehensible and unutterable Name of God be always praised, blessed, loved, adored, and glorified in heaven, on earth, and in the hells, by all the creatures of God and by the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen.
The Golden Arrow Prayer
(The Golden Arrow, a prayer known in the Blue Pieta book), Jesus revealed that a person can shoot this golden arrow prayer into the His heart ( The heart of Jesus) and heal the wounds caused by the malice of men and the scourge of revolutionary men. This well established but sometimes forgotten devotion, (just like the Rosary and Divine Mercy devotions were all but forgotten for a while), was backed by Blessed Pope Pius IX, who said,
“Reparation is a work destined to save society”.
Blessed Pope Pius IX
In 1846, Blessed Pope Pius IX, because of unrest in the papal states, fled into exile to Gaeta. The Pope asked the surrounding churches to pray and that Veronica’s Veil be brought out from the Vatican and Venerated for three days. On the third day a miracle happed.
Because Veronica's Veil had darkened and the image of the Holy Face unrecognizable due to it's age, a new white lined cloth was placed in front of the veil to protect the image.
For 3 hours, on the 3rd day of venerating Veronica's Veil, a light illuminated from Veronica's Veil, projecting an image on the the new cloth, of a man in agony with His eyes sunken, and face bruised and beaten.
Francisco de Zurbaran 1635
Then the canons of the Vatican, as well as the Papal notary, were called and the bells runt to record this astounding event.
Artists then took Vatican linen or silk and drew the image that they saw, and these images were then touch to...
1. Veronica's Veil
2. Holy Lance that peiced the side of Jesus
3. The True Cross
And then sent to emissaries and churches throughout Europe. Two of these images ended up in the hands of Venerable Leo DuPont, a well to do lawyer who had devoted himself to God. Venerable Leo DuPont gave one of these images away and the other he kept in his office in his house. But, he told the people once business had concluded for the day, he only wanted to talk about God. Day and night, he kept a burning oil lamp next to the Holy Face Relic. One day, a woman who came to see him was having eye trouble. Leo told her to rub some of the oil on her eyes and recite prayers tho the Holy Face. She was instantly cured! Over 6000 medically documented miracles were attributed to Venerable Leo DuPont and his Holy Face Relic, a staggering number of miracles for layman!
Venerable Leo DuPont
Jesus said that satan would use everything in his power to destroy this devotion, but he would be unable to do so. Perhaps that is why during her lifetime, Sr Marie was unable to get a brief from several Archbishops, as requested by Jesus, so that this devotion would have Church authority as to not go by the wayside. After her death Venerable Leo DuPont, a contemporary of SR. Marie, was finally come to fruition. Pope Leo XIII, who instead of just establishing the Holy Face devotion as an Arch confraternity for France, by passed the minimum five year waiting period and made the Holy Face an Arch confraternity for the world of October 1st 1885, so as to continue this devotion in perpetuity!
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Pope Leo XIII was also the Pope who composed the well known St. Michael prayer.
Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
Cast into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
A much revered and loved saint, St. Therese of Lisieux was a big proponent of the Holy Face devotion. In her official title she is known as St. Therese of Lisieux of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face!
She said, " Oh I would wish to tell everybody to study and venerate an image of the Holy Face as He left it on Veronica's Veil. When sorrow strikes, it will be the only consolation. No matter what our grief, surely it will never be as fearful as was His!" ( The Whole World Will Love Me). St. Therese, several of her sisters, and her father were some of the first people to sign up to join the Arch confraternity in 1885.
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When circumstatnces change around us, we will still have our interior life which can not be taken away. So why not strenghhen it now with this devotion? God tells us if we obey HIs covenant we will be blessed and can overcome our enemies. Leviticus 16:8
"Five of you will put a hundred of your foes to flight, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand of them till they are cut down by your sword." God will fight this fight for us, if we give Him our yes and be faithful to Him.
It is time to run into the battle. Veronica, with no regard to herself, ran into the street amid the angry mob and soldiers to consul Jesus and wipe His Holy Face. Joan of Arc ran into the battle. We can run into our modern day evil battles by having the weapons that Heaven has provided us with the Holy Face. The Face of God is mentioned 840 time in the Bible and His Countenance 101 times. We should be aiming for the Beatific Vision for all eternity, so why not get a taste of it on Earth with the HOly Face devotion? It takes as little as one minute a day by saying, "lord let Your Face shine on us and we shall be saved." followed by an
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
You can also add a few more minutes if desired to say the "Golden Arrow Prayer" and the Chaplet of The Holy Face which