St. Augustine in Meditation, Bartolome Esteban Murillo
“I have sought Thy face. I have sought for Thee and none other beside Thee. Thy face is my only reward. I will seek Thy face, O Lord: in this demand will I persevere. Indeed I will not look for any unworthy object, but only Thy face that I may love Thee more generously, because I find none other more precious. Thy face is the reward of the elect. The righteous shall dwell under Thine eyes, and when they will love Thy face, they will eat the bread of the sweat of their brow.
Let us return, wiping away the sweat, let us end the weariness and the weeping that we may shine in Thy all satisfying face. Neither let us search any more, because there is nothing better. Let us not abandon Thee, and we shall not be abandoned by Thee. Because what was said about the Lord, after the Resurrection? I will be filled with overflowing joy with Thy face, because without Thy face, there would not be joy for us.” ~ St. Augustine
Boticelli’s Deposition
From the Confessions of Saint Augustine, bishop:
“Lord, you know me. Let me know you. Let me come to know you even as I am known. You are the strength of my soul; enter it and make it a place suitable for your dwelling, a possession without spot or blemish. This is my hope and the reason I speak. In this hope I rejoice rightly. As for the other things of this life, the less they be lamented; and the more they deserve tears, the less likely will men sorrow for them. For behold, you have loved the truth, because the one who does what is true enters into the light. I wish to do this truth before you alone by praising you, and before a multitude of witnesses by writing of you. O Lord, the depths of man’s conscience lie exposed before your eyes. Could anything remain hidden in me, even though I did not want to confess it to you? In that case I would only be hiding you from myself, not myself from you. But now my sighs are sufficient evidence that I am displeased with myself; that you are my light and the source of my joy; that you are loved and desired. I am thoroughly ashamed of myself; I have renounced myself and chosen you, recognizing that I can please neither you not myself unless you enable me to do so.
Whoever I may be, Lord, I lie exposed to your scrutiny. I have already told of the profit I gain when I confess to you. And I do not make my confession with bodily words, bodily speech, but with the words of my soul and the cry of my mind which you hear and understand. When I am wicked, my confession to you is an expression of displeasure with myself. But when I do good, it consists in not attributing this goodness to myself. For you, O Lord, bless the just man, but first you justify the wicked. And so I make my confession before you in silence, and yet not in silence. My voice is silent, but my heart cries out.
Joan Mates, Mourning over the body of Christ
You, O Lord, are my judge. For though no one knows a man’s innermost self except the man’s own spirit within him, yet there is something in a man which even his own spirit does not know. But you know all of him, for you have made him. As for me, I despise myself in your sight, knowing that I am but dust and ashes; yet I know something of you that I do not know of myself.
True, we see now indistinctly as in a mirror, but not yet face to face. Therefore, so long as I am in exile from you, I am more present to myself than to you. Yet I do know that you cannot be overcome, while I am uncertain which temptations I can resist and which I cannot. Nevertheless, I have hope, because you are faithful and do not allow us to be tempted beyond our endurance, but along with the temptation you give us the means to withstand it.
I will confess, therefore, what I know of myself, and also what I do not know. The knowledge that I have of myself, I possess because you have enlightened me, while the knowledge of myself that I do not yet possess will not be mine until my darkness shall be made as the noonday sun before your face.”
Sr. Petra-Maria before the Holy Face of Manoppello, Italy (Photo: Patricia Enk)
“Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying the appearance of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became dazzling white. And behold, two men talked with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep but kept awake, and they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for you and one for Elijah” –not knowing what he said. As her said this, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silence and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen” ~From the Gospel of Luke
Miraculous Veil of the Holy Face of Manoppello, Italy. Photo: Paul Badde
Many special events are held at the Basilica Shrine of the Il Volto Santo in Manoppello, Italy, leading up to the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus. The Basilica contains a very precious relic veil, on which one may see–according to the light–the Holy Face of Jesus. The conference speakers included Author Paul Badde, who gave an intriguing talk on the message that God has bestowed on the world, through the means of a gift: a miraculous veil bearing the Holy Face of the Father’s “Beloved Son.” Paul’s talk, which has been translated by Raymond Frost, may be read in its entirety by clicking here: “The Medium is the Message,” on The Holy Face of Manoppello Blogspot.
“Let us ask God, through the intercession of Mary, Teacher of faith and contemplation, to enable us to receive within us the light that shines brightly on the Face of Christ, so that we may reflect its image on everyone we meet.” ~Pope St. John Paul II
Reliquary containing God’s “gift” of the precious relic veil of the Holy Face. Photo: Paul Badde
“This veil of the ‘Sanctissimum Sudarium’ with the ‘human face of God’ (Benedict XVI) was in some way conceived as the foundation of the largest and most important church in Christianity.” –Excerpt from Paul Badde’s talk “The Medium is the Message.” (Photo: Paul Badde)
All of us, gazing on the Lord’s glory with unveiled faces, are being transformed from glory to glory into his very image by the Lord who is the Spirit.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts, that we in turn might make known the glory shining on the face of Christ.
(2 Cor. 3: 18 – 4:6)
Rector of the Basilica Shrine of the Holy Face, Padre Antonio Gentile gazes at the Veil as the appearance and disappearance of the Holy Face changes according to the light. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
Photo: Alexandra Prandell
Photo: Alexandra Prandell
Light shines through the sheer veil. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
Thank you to Alexandra Prandell for the following beautiful photos taken by her at the evening procession of the relic veil of Holy Face on the Feast of the Transfiguration in Manoppello, Italy:
Relic of the Holy Face of Manoppello, (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
Holy Face Veil, (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
Reliquary carried through the streets, (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
“Il Volto Santo” (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
The light of His Face shines in the darkness, (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
The gaze of the Holy Face of Jesus penetrating the darkness,( Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
Let your Face shine on us, and we shall be saved! (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
Illumina Domine Blog - Devotion to The Holy Face 