“Jesus, has shown us the Face of God, One in substance and Triune in Persons; God is all and only Love, in a subsisting relationship that creates, redeems, and sanctifies all: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
~Pope Francis
A Discalced Carmelite nun who lived in the mid-1800’s, Sr. Marie St. Pierre, had many interior visions regarding the Holy Face of Jesus — including a sublime conception of the The Holy Trinity and the Holy Face — which she tried to express in these words she received from Our Lord:
Sr. Marie St, Pierre
“Remember, O my soul, the instruction which thy celestial Spouse has given thee today on His adorable Face! Remember that this Divine Head represents the Father who is from all eternity, that the mouth of this Holy Face is a figure of the Divine Word, engendered by the Father, and that the eyes of this mysterious Face represent the reciprocal love of the Father and the Son; for these eyes have but one and the same light, the same knowledge, producing the same love, which is the Holy Spirit. In his beautiful silken hair contemplate the infinitude of the adorable perfections of the Most Holy Trinity in this majestic head, the most precious portion of the Sacred Humanity of thy Saviour; contemplate the image of the unity of God. This, then, is the adorable and mysterious Face of the Saviour, which blasphemers have the temerity to cover with opprobrium: thus they renew the sufferings of His Passion, by attacking the Divinity of which it is the image.”
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
Our Lord told Sr. Marie St. Pierre that she could comfort and console Him by her praises, such as in The Golden Arrow Prayer: “May the most holy, most sacred, most incomprehensible and ineffable Name of God be forever praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified by all the creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. Amen.
Holy Face Veil of Manoppello, Italy (Photo: Paul Badde/EWTN)
“According to the diligence you will manifest in repairing my image disfigured by blasphemers, so will I have the same care in repairing your soul which has been disfigured by sin. I will imprint thereon my image, and I will render it as beautiful as when it came forth from the baptismal font… Oh! could you but behold the beauty of My Face!–But your eyes are yet too weak.” –Our Lord to Sr. Marie St. Pierre
St. Elizabeth of The Trinity
Another Discalced Carmelite Nun, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, also directs our gaze to the Face of the Son in order to contemplate the beauty of the Holy Trinity and and reflect God’s image:
“It is Your continual desire to associate Yourself with Your creatures…How can I better satisfy Your desire than by keeping myself simply and lovingly turned towards You, so that You can reflect Your own image in me, as the sun is reflected through pure crystal? …We will be glorified in the measure in which we will have been conformed to the image of His divine Son. So, let us contemplate this adored Image, let us remain unceasingly under its radiance so that it may imprint itself on us.” –Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity, O.C.D.
O My God, Trinity Whom I Adore
O My God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely that I may be established in You as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing trouble my peace or make me leave You, O my unchanging One, but may each minute carry me further into the depths of Your Mystery. Give peace to my soul, make it Your heaven, Your beloved dwelling and Your resting place. May I never leave you there alone but be wholly present, my faith wholly vigilant, wholly adoring, and wholly surrendered to Your creative action. O my beloved Christ, crucified by love, I wish to be a bride for Your Heart; I wish to cover You with glory; I wish to love You…even unto death! But I feel my weakness, and I ask You to clothe me with Yourself, to identify my soul with all the movements of Your Soul, to overwhelm me, to posses me, to substitute Yourself for me that my life may be but a radiance of Your life. Come to me as Adorer, as Restorer, as Savior, O Word Eternal, Word of my God. I want to spend my life listening to You, to become wholly teachable that I may learn all from You. Then, through all nights, all voids, all helplessness, I want to gaze on You always and remain in Your great light. O my beloved Star, so fascinate me that that I may not withdraw from your radiance. O consuming Fire, Spirit of Love, come upon me, and create in my soul a kind of Incarnation of the Word; that I may be another humanity for Him, in which He can renew His whole Mystery. And You, O Father, bend lovingly over your poor little creature; cover her with your shadow, seeing in her only the Beloved in whom You are well pleased. O my Three, my All, my Beatitude, infinite Solitude, Immensity in which I love myself, I surrender myself to You as Your prey. Bury Yourself in me that I may bury myself in You until I depart to contemplate in Your light the abyss of Your greatness. November 21, 1904 — St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
Relic of the Veil of the Holy Face, procession in Manoppello, Italy. Photo: Alexandra Prandell — May 2026
Each May the Basilica Shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello, Italy, commemorates the mysterious arrival of their most treasured relic — a shimmering, transparent veil which, in a miraculous manner, bears the Holy Face of Jesus. May 15, 16, 17, and 18, 2026 were marked by solemn liturgies, Eucharistic adoration, and processions with the Holy Veil. The centuries-old story behind the joyous celebrations is an incredible one!
This 15th c. painting detail shows the relic veil of “Veronica,” as portrayed by the artist who saw the original at the Vatican before it disappeared from view after the Sack of Rome in 1527. Note the light transparency of the veil and its characteristic folds, the open eyes that gaze to one side or the other. Witnesses at that time described the Face on the Holy Veil as a changing, living image: “transparent, light, dark, bluish, or golden.”
The Vatican Museum now displays the broken Rock Crystal reliquary that held the “Veronica Veil” prior to the Sack of Rome in 1527.
Following the Sack of Rome in 1527, it had been widely reported that the most treasured relic of the Vatican — the “Veronica Veil” — had been stolen. A letter, written to the Duchess of Urbino by her representative Urban, dated May 21, 1527 read: “Holy relics have been thrown out onto the streets. The Veronica has been stolen and passed around in taverns from person to person without a word of protest.” The crystal reliquary that had displayed the sheer veil known as the “Veronica” or true image, was broken and empty. The relic veil was no longer seen in public. When the dust had settled somewhat by 1616, Pope Paul V had prohibited copies to be made of the “Veronica” to be made without permission. Later, Pope Urban VIII ordered that any copies of the Veronica were to be handed in to a local priest or Bishop under pain of excommunication. It appeared to many that a desperate effort was being made to recover that which had been lost.
More than a century later, In 1638, in the Abruzzo mountains, towards the Adriatic coast, “a devout and well-respected man” named Don Antonio Fabritiis donated a precious veil bearing the Face of Christ to the Capuchin monastery in the small, isolated mountain village of Manoppello, Italy. The story, of how the veil arrived and eventually had come into his possession, was carefully recorded and certified in a document entitled Relazione Historica.
The Relazione Historica told of the arrival of the Veil in Mannoppello, Italy, “in May,” around 1506, in the hands of a mysterious stranger who was thought to have been a holy angel, having had suddenly appeared and just as suddenly disappeared, after fulfilling a mission to put a miraculous relic into safe hands. Aside from the “angel,” all the main characters in the story have since been historically verified.
The re-telling the local legend of the Veil was written by Capuchin Donato da Bomba and notarized in 1646 and then, certified by sixteen local witnesses. The unusual number of witnesses — reflected the local peoples deep devotion and protectiveness of relic –also giving legal weight and credence to the miraculous account of the appearance of Holy Veil in Manoppello. However, the Relatzione’s recorded date of 1506 as being the actual date of arrival has been disputed by some. More than a century after the “Veronica Veil” in the Vatican had disappeared, the document seemed to conveniently date the arrival before 1527, thus avoiding the possible sanctions of Pope Paul V and Pope Urban VIII against possessing or copying the “True Image of the Face of Christ.”
The beautiful Basilica Shrine of “Il Volto Santo” –The Holy Face — nestled in the Abruzzo mountains. (Photo: by Paul Badde)
The recorded story told was this: “There lived in Manoppello the very famous Giacomo Antonio Leonelli, doctor in medicine…one day when he was out in the public square just outside of the door of the Mother church of the town of Manoppello, St. Nicholas Bari, in honest conversation with other peers, and while they were speaking a pilgrim arrived unknown by anyone, with a very venerable religious appearance, who having greeted this beautiful circle of citizens, he said, with many terms of manners, and of humility to Dr. Giacomo Antonio Leonelli that he had to speak with him about a secret thing which would be very pleasing, useful and profitable for him. And thus, taking him aside just inside the doorway of the church of St. Nicholas Bari, gave him a parcel, and without unfolding it told him that he ought to hold this devotion very dear, because God would do him many favors, so that in things both temporal and spiritual he would always prosper.” So the doctor took the parcel and turning towards the holy water fount carefully opened it, and “seeing the Most Sacred Face of Our Lord Christ…he burst into most tender tears…and thanking God for such a gift…turned to the unknown pilgrim to thank him…but he did not see him anymore.” When the good doctor, “shaken” and “filled with wonder,” went outside to his friends and asked where the man went, his friends replied that they never saw him exit the church. They searched high and low but never found the mysterious pilgrim, “hence all judged that the man in the form of a pilgrim to be a heavenly Angel, or else a Saint from Paradise.”
The Holy Veil remained the property of the Leonelli family for nearly a century, until a family member in need of money sold the Veil to Don Antonio Fabritiis, who in turn gave it to the Capuchins in 1638. The Holy Veil, called the “Il Volto Santo,” was kept in a dimly lit side chapel until the church was renovated in 1960, when it was decided that the Veil should be moved to a more prominent place behind the altar.
What did the Face on the gossamer-thin Veil look like? Here are portions of a description that Capuchin Donato da Bomba gave of the Holy Face: “He has a rather long, well-proportioned face, with a venerable and majestic look. His hair, or locks are long with thin twisted curls–in particular at the top of the forehead about fifty hairs wind into a little corkscrew, distinct from each other and well arranged. His left cheek is swollen and bigger than the other because of a strong blow across the cheek. The lips are very swollen. His teeth show. It seems the Holy Face is made of living flesh, but flesh that is afflicted, emaciated, sad, sorrowful, pale and covered in bruises around the eyes and on the forehead. The eyes of Christ are similar to those of a dove…He is serene and tranquil.”
Holy Face “Il Volto Santo” of Manoppello, Photo by the late Paul Badde
“Those who gaze on it are never satisfied with contemplating it, and wish to always have it before their eyes. And when they eventually leave it, with heavy sighs full of love, they are forced to leave Him their hearts, bathed in tears.” –Capuchin Donato da Bomba 1646
On September 1, 2006, another pilgrim (some also may say an “angelic pilgrim”) came to Manoppello to see for himself the Holy Face of Jesus on the Veil–Pope Benedict XVI, who has elevated the status of the Shrine to a Sanctuary Basilica. “Your Face O Lord I seek–seeking the Face of Jesus must be the longing of all Christians, indeed, we are ‘the generation’ which seeks His Face in our day, the Face of the ‘God of Jacob.’ If we persevere in our quest for the Face of the Lord, at the end of our earthly pilgrimage, He, Jesus, will be our eternal joy, our reward and glory forever.”–Pope Benedict XVI, September 1, 2006
“Come and you will see”(Jn 1:39) Pope Benedict XVI and the Holy Face of Manoppello
Mille Grazie! to Alexandra Prandell, of Manoppello, who has graciously shared her photos of the May festival in honor of the historic arrival of the Holy Face in Manoppello — enjoy!
Roses lovingly dropped from balconies upon the relic veil of the Holy Face “Il Volto Santo” as it is processed through the streets. May 2026, (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
May 2026 “Il Volto Santo” relic procession. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
Precious little Angels join in the procession, May 2026. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
Face barely seen through the delicate fibers of the Holy Veil of Manoppello, May 2026 (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
Procession with the relic of the Holy Face through the town. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
May Procession 2026, Holy Veil of Manoppello, Italy
May 2026 Procession in beautiful Manoppello, Italy. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
The Holy Face Veil of Manoppello is an Achieropoieta; “made without human hands,” but by the Hand of God. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
May 2026 Procession in Manoppello, Italy (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
May 2026 Procession in Manoppello, Italy with the relic Veil of the Holy Face. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
May 2026 Procession in Manoppello, Italy (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
The ever-changing Holy Veil of Manoppello! (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
Padre Antonio Gentili gazes at “Il Volto Santo”–the True Image. May we too, be transformed into His likeness. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
“Il Volto Santo” Procession. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
“Il Volto Santo” Procession, Mary 2026. Both locals and pilgrims from all over the world came to honor His Holy Face. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
“Lord, God of Hosts, restore us; let your Face shine upon us, that we shall be saved!” (Psalm 80) (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
May the gentle, merciful, peaceful and loving gaze of Our Lord bless you always. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
With grateful thanks for all God’s blessings, especially His great gift of the Holy Face Veil of Manoppello! (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
Act of Consecration to the Holy Face
O Lord Jesus, we believe most firmly in You, we love You. You are the Eternal Son of God and the Son Incarnate of the Blessed Virgin Mary. You are the Lord and Absolute Ruler of all creation. We acknowledge You, therefore, as the Universal Sovereign of all creatures. You are the Lord and Supreme Ruler of all mankind, and we, in acknowledging this Your dominion, consecrate ourselves to You now and forever. Loving Jesus, we place our family under the protection of Your Holy Face, and of Your Virgin Mother Mary most sorrowful. We promise to be faithful to You for the rest of our lives and to observe with fidelity Your Holy Commandments. We will never deny before men, You and Your Divine rights over us and all mankind. Grant us the grace to never sin again; nevertheless, should we fail, O Divine Saviour, have mercy on us and restore us to Your grace. Radiate Your Divine Countenance upon us and bless us now and forever. Embrace us at the hour of our death in Your Kingdom for all eternity, through the intercession of Your Blessed Mother, of all Your Saints who behold You in Heaven, and the just who glorify You on earth. O Jesus, be mindful of us forever and never forsake us; protect our family. O Mother of Sorrows, by the eternal glory which you enjoy in Heaven, through the merits of your bitter anguish in the Sacred Passion of your Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, obtain for us the grace that the Precious Blood shed by Jesus for the redemption of our souls, be not shed for us in vain. We love you, O Mary. Embrace us and bless us, O Mother. Protect us in life and in death. Amen.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
The Apostles “with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary, the Mother of Jesus.” (Acts 1:14)
As an infant is inseparable from its mother, so the infant Church was inseparable from Mary, the loving Mother of the Church. An infant must be loved and nurtured in order to learn, grow, and mature, taking its first steps while holding tightly to the hands of its mother.
Mary, conceived without sin, was already filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and therefore she is a perfect reflection of the Face of God. So, the Apostles looked to Mary, “Full of Grace,” as their model perfectly formed in the image of God, as they prayed for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Come, Divine Guest of our souls, and dwell in our hearts; transform us in your image! (Photo: Patricia Enk)
This is the work of the Holy Spirit of Love– to sanctify our souls, shining upon us the radiance of His light, transforming us into the image of God, as we gaze on God’s Face in prayer.
“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)
In Mary, the Holy Spirit manifests the Son of the Father…filled with the Holy Spirit she makes the Word of God, Jesus Christ, visible in order to make Him known to us. Like all good mothers, our Mother Mary will obtain all the good gifts that her children will need from her Spouse, the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. The Holy Spirit then perfects the soul with the first fruits of eternal glory: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity — so we may more closely resemble Jesus Christ.
Let us remain “with one accord in prayer” with Mary, as the Apostles did, for it is “through Mary the Holy Spirit begins to bring men, the objects of God’s merciful love, into communion with Christ.” (CCC 725)
Prayer to Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit:
Daughter of the Most High, Mother of God, faithful Spouse of the Holy Spirit– yet also Mary of Nazareth, Joseph’s wife, my mother– hear my prayer for grace, O Full of Grace. Pray your Spouse the Holy Spirit to come upon me– to shelter from all ill, to strengthen me to do what is right, to teach me all truth. Pray him come to me, and abide with me, and be within me a fountain springing up unto eternal life. May he sustain me in sorrow, sanctify me in life, and receive me at the hour of my death. Holy Mary, Mother of God, Mother of the Church, pray for us.
Holy Spirit Window in Loreto, Italy. (Photo: Patricia Enk)
The life of a Christian should be the faithful reproduction of Jesus in their soul — this radiant transformation is the work of love of the Holy Spirit. “Those whom He had foreknown He has also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.” (Rom 8:29) He who loves will resemble the thing loved.
The Holy Veil of Manoppello — believed to be an “achieropoieta,” — made “by the Hand of God” — of the Face of the Risen Christ. (Photo: Paul Badde)
Prayer to Reproduce the Image of God in Our Souls
I salute You! I adore You and I love you, Oh adorable face of my beloved Jesus, as the noble stamp of The Divinity! Completely surrendering my soul to You, I most humbly beg You to stamp this seal upon us all, so the image of God may once more be reproduced in our souls. Amen.
Illumina Domine Blog - Devotion to The Holy Face 