Month: August 2026

Contemplate the Face of the Lord

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Holy Face Veil of Manoppello, bearing the image of the Face of Jesus not only showing signs of His Passion (which may also be seen on the Shroud of Turin) but also–it is believed, evidence of Christ’s Resurrection–the cloth that covered the head of Jesus in the tomb that caused Peter and John “to see and believe.” (Photo by the late Paul Badde/EWTN)

“Your face, O Lord, I seek” (Psalm 27:8) Relecting on the Face of Jesus in his Apostolic Letter Novo Millennia Ineunte, Pope St. John Paul II writes: The ancient longing of the Psalmist could receive no fulfillment greater and more surprising than the contemplation of the face of Christ. God as truly blessed us in him and has made “his face to shine upon us” (Psalm 67:1). At the same time, God and man that he is, he reveals to us also the true face of man, “fully revealing man to man himself.” Pope St. John Paul II continues, “In order to “bring man back to the Father’s face, Jesus not only had to take on the face of man, [at the Incarnation] but he had to burden himself with the “face” of sin. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21)

JPII goes on to write, “we shall never exhaust the depths of this mystery.” “But her contemplation of Christ’s face cannot stop at the image of the Crucified One. He is the Risen One! Were this not so, our preaching would be in vain and our faith empty (cf. 1 Cor. 15:14) “The Resurrection was the Father’s response to Christ’s obedience. ” (Novo Millennia Ineunte)

The Devotion to the Holy Face is not meant to be solely a list of prayers to be recited, but is a means of encounter and relationship with Jesus Christ. Charity–Love of God and love of neighbor–are at the heart of this devotion to the Holy Face, which encompasses the whole spiritual life of a Christian and is intensely Eucharistic:

Benedict XVI has characterized devotion to The Holy Face as having three separate components:
1. Discipleship – an encounter with Jesus, to see Jesus in the Face of those in need.
2. The Passion of Jesus, and suffering expressed by images of the wounded Face of Jesus.
3. The Eucharist, “the great school in which we learn to see The Face of God”, which is woven between the other two. The eschatological element then builds on awakening to Christ by contemplating His Face hidden in The Eucharist.

“Our whole life should be directed toward encountering Him,” writes Benedict, “toward loving Him; and in it, a central place must be given to love of one’s neighbor, that love that in the light of The Crucified One, enables us to recognize the Face of Jesus in the poor, the weak, the suffering.” The pope goes on to explain the fruits of this contemplation: “From contemplation of the Face of God are born, joy, security, Peace.”

Pope St. John Paul II, in Veritatis Splendor, tells us that to win the battle for souls, we must first contemplate the Face of Christ ourselves in order to bring light into this darkened world that does not know God’s love:

“The light of God’s Face shines in all its beauty on the countenance of Jesus Christ, “the image of the invisible God” (Cor. 1:15), “the reflection of God’s glory” (Web 1:3), “full of grace and truth” (Jn1:14). Christ is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn. 14:6). Consequently the decisive answer to every one of man’s questions is 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, Christ the Lord. It is Christ, the last Adam, who fully discloses man to himself and unfolds his noble called by revealing the mystery of the Father and the Father’s love.” (Veritatis Splendor)

Contemplate with Mary the face of Christ in the Rosary!

Contemplation of the Face of Jesus in the Rosary, together with the Blessed Virgin Mary, is another very important way, as Pope St. John Paul II writes in Rosarium Virginis Mariae: “to contemplate the face of Christ in union with, and at the school of, his Most Holy Mother. To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ...” “…to stand like your Virgin Mother, at the glorious Cross, and at the crosses of all people to bring consolation, hope, and comfort.”

Holy Face Veil of Manoppello, Italy (Photo: Paul Badde/EWTN)

For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to bring to light the knowledge of the glory of God on the Face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 4:6)

Feast of the Transfiguration in Manoppello

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The Transfiguration by Carl Bloch “Turn your eyes, O God, our shield, look on the face of your anointed” (Psalm 84)

From the Gospel Matthew 17:5:

“Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John.and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tenets here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell prostate and were very much afraid. And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone.

As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.

Evening–inside the Basilica Shrine of Il Volto Santo. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
Veil of the Holy Face, Manoppello, Italy–Transfiguation celebrations. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
(Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
(Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
Transfiguration celebration at the Basilica Shrine of Il Volto Santo, Manoppello, Italy. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)

“Each year, at the Basilica Shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello, Italy, the Feast of the Transfiguration, is marked by prayer, vigils and processions with the relic veil of the Holy Face, and even fireworks! The “Il Volto Santo” veil is an “achieropoieta” — a veil bearing the image of the Face of Christ, that is not made by human hand–and is believed to be the sudarium veil that covered the Face of Jesus in the tomb. There is no paint on the sheer veil, and as one may see in the many photos of the relic, the visibility of the Holy Face changes according to the light and position of the viewer; the eyes of Jesus always gazing at the one who is gazing at Him!

Rector of the Shrine, Padre Antonio Gentili, gazes of the relic veil “Il Volto Santo”–“The Holy Face.” (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)

Alexandra Prandell, who has graciously shared her photos here, related to me that the late Paul Badde gave her a little advice about photographing this unique and miraculous relic. There are some moments, says Paul, where the Holy Spirit “rewrote” the Volto Santo, as Paul described it. He always asked Alexandra to be especially attentive to these moments. Based on my own experience in praying before the Volto Santo, I find this statement to be very true; to be attentive, is to not only see with our eyes, but, to prayerfully, encounter Our Lord, whose Face we seek.

Il Volto Santo Photo: Alexandra Prandell
Rector Antonio Gentili and Il Volto Santo (Photo: Alexandra Prandell
“I don’t prepare for an end, but for an encounter.” ~ Pope Benedict XVI (Photo Holy Face of Manoppello: Alexandra Prandell)
Il Volto Santo (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)

From the Sermon on the Transfiguration of the Lord by Anastasius of Sinai, bishop:

“It is good for us to be here”

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.”

Moreover, in order to assure us that Christ could command such power when he wished, the evangelist continues: Six days later, 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. The disciples saw Moses and Elijah appear, and they were talking to Jesus.

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 to turn to the creator, to whom Peter in ecstasy exclaimed: Lord, it is good for us to be here.

It is indeed good to be here, as you have said, Peter. It is good to be with Jesus and to remain here for ever. What greater happiness of higher honor could we have than to be made like him and to live in his light?

Therefore, since each of us possesses God in his heart and is being transformed into his divine image, we also should cry out with joy: 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 and 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.

Il Volto Santo (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
The Holy Face of Manoppello (Photo: Alexandra

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https://www.souvenirvoltosanto.com/video/TOTEM_inglese.mp4