Month: June 2026

The Sacred Heart is made visible in His Holy Face

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The Holy Face of Manoppello, Italy, and Joachim Cardinal Meisner, 1933-2017. (Photo: Paul Badde/EWTN)
Joachim Cardinal Meisner with Veil of the Holy Face of Manoppello (Photo: Paul Badde/EWTN)
“For God so loved the world”

The late Cardinal Meisner, who had such a deep love and devotion to both the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Holy Face on the relic veil of Manoppello, Italy, expressed the connection between the two images so beautifully when he wrote:

“The Face is the monstrance of the heart. In the Holy Face the heart of God becomes visible.” –Joachim Cardinal Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne, April 4, 2005

“The Face is the monstrance of the heart.
In the Holy Face the heart of God becomes visible.”
–Joachim Cardinal Meisner
(Photo: Padde Badde/EWTN)

There are two very important Catholic Feast days in June; the Sacred Heart and Corpus Christi; One celebrating the burning love of Christ for humanity, and the other celebrating reality of His True Presence in the Eucharist. Pope St. John Paul II, who first coined the phrase “Eucharistic Face of Jesus” in referring to the Blessed Sacrament, was pointing to the reality that is hidden by the veil of the Host: Christ is present there, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. And so, when we come before the Eucharist, we stand in God’s Presence; we come before His Holy Face as well as His Most Sacred Heart.

“The Face of Christ is the supreme revelation of Christ’s Mercy.”–Pope Benedict XVI gazing at the Eucharistic Face of Christ. (photo:Paul Badde/EWTN)

Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus is the door through which we are invited to enter and pass, in Faith. In doing so, we are first reminded of His Sacred Humanity, and that the “Word became flesh” at the Incarnation:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

It is a tremendous gift that is being offered us–to encounter the Person of Our Lord Jesus as we come before His Face. In gratitude for this gift, we can be open to the transformation of our hearts that is wrought by being in the presence of His Most Sacred Heart burning with love for us — even if we are unable to visit the Blessed Sacrament — through His Holy Face–the monstrance of His Heart.

“While we too seek other signs, other wonders, we do not realize that He is the real sign, God made flesh; He is the greatest miracle of the universe: all the love of God hidden in a human heart, in a human Face.” ~ Pope Benedict XVI

The Holy Face of Jesus, is indeed the monstrance of His Heart!