Illumina Domine Blog – Devotion to The Holy Face

Each year, the Feast of the Transfiguration, is marked by prayer, vigils and processions in honor of the Holy Face of Jesus. On this feast day St. Therese would toss roses and sprinkle perfume on the drawing of the Holy Face of Jesus that was so dear to her heart. At the Basilica Shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello, Italy, local residents and pilgrims from all over the world take part in the joyous festivities in honor of the Holy Face. This year includes World Youth Day pilgrims! (Thank you to Alexandra Prandell for the video and photos!) (Enjoy as well, a few pictures from past celebrations below!) Wherever you may be on this holy feast day; come before His Holy Face–by entering into His Holy Presence in prayer–so together with the whole body of Christ, in Heaven and on earth, we may say, “Lord, it is good to be here.”

“Jesus took with him Peter, James and John, and led them up a high mountain where they were alone. There, before their eyes, he was transfigured. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. Then the disciples saw Moses and Elijah appear, and they were talking to Jesus.”

~Matthew 17:2

The following is a very beautiful sermon, by Bishop Anastasias of Sinai, on the Transfiguration of the Lord:

“Upon Mount Tabor, Jesus revealed to his disciples a heavenly mystery. While living among them he had spoken of the kingdom and of his second coming in glory, but to banish from their hearts any possible doubt concerning the kingdom and to confirm their faith in what lay in the future by its prefiguration in the present, he gave them on Mount Tabor a wonderful vision of his glory, a foreshadowing of the kingdom of heaven. It was as if he said to them: ‘As time goes by you may be in danger of losing your faith. To save you from this I tell you now that some standing here listening to me will not taste death until they have seen the Son of Man coming in the glory of his Father…'”

(The Holy Veil of Manoppello is an Achieropoeta–a supernatural image made by the Hand of God–that is present on a sheer veil, without the aid of paint, and may be viewed from both sides. The Face of Jesus becomes visible to the viewer according to the light. The relic Veil of the Holy Face has recently been proven to radiate light energy.)

Continuing from the sermon on the Transfiguration of the Lord by Anastasius of Sinai, Bishop:

“These are the divine wonders we celebrate today; this is the saving revelation given us upon the mountain; this is the festival of Christ that has drawn us here. Let us listen, then, to the sacred voice of God so compellingly calling us from on high, from the summit of the mountain, so that with the Lord’s chosen disciples we may penetrate the deep meaning of these holy mysteries, so far beyond our capacity to express. Jesus goes before us to show us the way, both up the mountain and into heaven, and–I speak boldly–it is for us now to follow him with all speed, yearning for the heavenly vision that will give us a share in his radiance, renew our spiritual nature and transform us into his own likeness making us for ever sharers in his Godhead and raising us to heights as yet undreamed of.

Let us run with confidence and joy to enter into the cloud like Moses and Elijah, or like James and John. Let us be caught up like Peter to behold the divine vision and to be transfigured by that glorious transfiguration. Let us retire from the world, stand aloof from the earth, rise above the body, detach ourselves from creatures and run to the creator, to who Peter in ecstasy exclaimed: Lord, it is good for us to be here–here where all things shine with divine radiance, where there is joy and gladness and exultation; where there is nothing in our hearts but peace, serenity, stillness; where God is seen.”

“For here, in our hearts, Christ takes up his abode together with the Father, saying as he enters: Today salvation has come to this house. With Christ, our hearts receive all the wealth of his eternal blessings, and there where they are stored up for us in him, we see reflected as in a mirror both the first fruits and the whole of the world to come.”

All the mysteries of Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, are hidden and yet revealed in the transfigured Face of Jesus on the mountaintop. Jesus Christ unveils for us in this mystery the Paschal journey that He would suffer, and the glory that is already within Him. He invites us to follow Him, in taking up our own crosses in faith, hope and love. In order to see God the Father in His Glory–we must first pass through the door of the Holy Face of Jesus Christ, in imitation of Him–It is the only way to be transformed by the Holy Spirit of Love into His Image–to purify our eyes to see the glory of the Father in Heaven.

As we read in Scripture: “… He [Jesus] took along Peter John, and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothes became white and gleaming. And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure, which He was about to accomplish [through His Passion and Death] at Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:28-31) The light that shone from His Holy Face at the Transfiguration gives us hope in the glory of the Resurrection.

“For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone into our hearts to bring the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:6) As we follow Christ in carrying our crosses we will be transformed by the Holy Spirit into His Image, from glory unto even greater glory. “All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18)

“O Beloved Face of Jesus!  As we await the everlasting day when we contemplate Your infinite Glory our one desire is to charm Your Divine Eyes by hiding our faces too, so that here on earth no one can recognize us. O Jesus!  Your veiled gaze is our heaven!”–St. Therese