Illumina Domine Blog – Devotion to The Holy Face

“Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy. These words might well sum up the mystery of the Christian faith…Whoever sees Jesus sees the Father (cf. Jn 14:9). Jesus of Nazareth, by his words, his actions, and his entire person reveals the mercy of God.” (Misericordiae Vultus)

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote in his Summa Theologiae that “It is proper to God to exercise mercy, and he manifests his omnipotence particularly in that way.” The greatness of God’s mercy reveals the great love of a Father for His only begotten Son, Jesus–and in Jesus–His great love for His children through the waters of Baptism. So then, throughout our lives as Christians, “with our eyes fixed on Jesus and his merciful gaze, we experience the love of the Most Holy Trinity.” (Misericordiae Vultus)

St. Faustina Kowalska, “the Apostle of Mercy” was known as a mystic and visionary. Her diary Divine Mercy in my Soul is a record of the journey of her soul, written under obedience to her spiritual director. Our Lord granted to St. Faustina a deep understanding of the love and mercy of God which she was to share with the world. Jesus emphasized to St. Faustina the need of putting mercy into action, Jesus told her: “I demand from you deeds of mercy which are to arise out of love for me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse yourself from it.” These words of Jesus are meant for each of us as well and are to be carried out by practicing the “Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.” We are called to be merciful to each other and seek the face of Christ in our neighbor. (Click here to answer “What are the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy?)

“At no time…especially at a moment as critical as our own–can the Church forget the prayer that is a cry for the mercy of God. The Church has the right and duty to appeal to the God of mercy ‘with loud cries.'” (Pope St. John Paul II, Rich in Mercy, 15) “No one can escape from the fundamental questions: What must I do? How do I distinguish good from evil? The answer is only possible thanks to the splendor of the truth which shines forth deep within the human spirit, as the Psalmist bears witness: “There are many who say: “O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord'” (Psalm 4:6).

“The light of God’s face shines in all its beauty on the countenance of Jesus Christ, ‘the image of the invisible God’ (For 1:15), the reflection of God’s glory’ (Heb 1:13), ‘full of grace and truth’ (Jn 1:14). Christ is ‘the way, and the truth, and the life’ (Jn 12:6).'” Consequently the decisive answer to man’s questions in particular; is given by Jesus Christ himself, as the Second Vatican Council recalls: “In fact, it is only in the mystery of the Word Incarnate that light is shed on the mystery of man. For Adam, the first man, was a figure of the future man, namely, of Christ the Lord. It is Christ, the last Adam, who fully discloses man to himself and unfolds his noble calling by revealing the mystery of the Father and the Father’s love.” (Pope St. John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor 1993)

The devotion to the Holy Face has been characterized by Pope Benedict XVI as Discipleship — encountering Jesus in the Face of those in need; The Passion of Jesus, and suffering expressed by images of the Face of Jesus; and in the Eucharist, “the great school in which we learn to see the Face of God, which is woven between the other two. [elements of devotion] “Our whole life should be directed toward encountering Him; toward loving Him.” (Pope Benedict XVI)

In His infinite mercy, Jesus, descends to us in His Most Holy Sacrament of Love. St. Faustina wrote in her diary, “The mercy of God, hidden in the Blessed Sacrament, the voice of the Lord who speaks to us from the throne of mercy [says]: ‘Be not afraid of your Savior; O sinful soul. I make the first move to come to you, for I know that by yourself you are unable to give yourself to me. Child do not run away from your Father; be willing to talk openly with your God of Mercy who wants to speak words of pardon and lavish graces on you. How dear your soul is to me! I have inscribed your name upon my hand; you are engraved as a deep wound on my heart.” (Divine Mercy in My Soul, (1485)

We each have a precious opportunity that God has given us at this particular time in history to be instruments of His mercy, and to plead “with loud cries” for God’s “mercy son us and on the whole world.”

“Mercy has become living and visible in Jesus of Nazareth, reaching it’s culmination in Him…We need to constantly contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it…The mission Jesus received from the Father was that of revealing the mystery of Divine Love in its fullness. ‘God is love’ (1 Jn 4:8,16).'” (Misericordiae Vultus)

“Jesus is the face of the mercy of God the Father: ‘God so loved the world […] [that] the world might be saved through him [the Son]” (John 3:16, 17)

“Show us, O Lord, we pray you,, Your Face ever new; that mirror, mystery-laden, of God’s infinite mercy. Grant that we may contemplate it with the eyes of our mind and our hearts: the Son’s face, radiance of the Father’s glory and the imprint of His Nature (cf. Hb 1:3), the human Face of God that has burst into history to reveal the horizon’s of eternity. The silent Face of Jesus, suffering and risen, when loved and accepted changes our hearts and lives. ‘Your Face, Lord do I seek, do not hide Your Face from me. ‘ (Psalm 27, 8ff)” (Excerpt from the Prayer of Pope Benedict commemorating his pilgrimage to the Holy Face of Manoppello, Sanctuary in Manoppello, Italy. “That mirror mystery-laden of God’s infinite mercy!”2006)