Fatima – The Blessing Fulfilled in Mary

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“With Mary’s protection, may we be for our world sentinels of the dawn, contemplating the true Face of Jesus the Saviour, resplendent at Easter. Thus may we rediscover the young and beautiful face of the Church, which shines forth when she is missionary, welcoming, free, faithful, poor in means and rich in love.”–Pope Francis, canonization Mass of Jacinta & Francisco -homily

Pope Francis gave this address to the pilgrims at Fatima at the Rosary Procession and Vigil, teaching us to seek the Face of God with Mary, who, as “no other creature…basked in the light of the Face of God”:  

Pope Francis at Fatima Vigil

Dear Pilgrims to Mary and with Mary!

Thank you for your welcome and for joining me on this pilgrimage of hope and peace. Even now, I want to assure all of you who are united with me, here or elsewhere, that you have a special place in my heart. I feel that Jesus has entrusted you to me (cf. Jn 21:15-17), and I embrace all of you and commend you to Jesus, “especially those most in need” – as Our Lady taught us to pray (Apparition of July, 1917). May she, the loving and solicitous Mother of the needy, obtain for them the Lord’s blessing! On each of the destitute and outcast robbed of the present, on each of the excluded and abandoned denied a future, on each of the orphans and victims of injustice refused a past, may there descend the blessing of God, incarnate in Jesus Christ.

“The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace” (Num 6:24-26).

This blessing was fulfilled in the Virgin Mary. No other creature ever basked in the light of God’s face as did Mary; she in turn gave a human face to the Son of the eternal Father. Now we can contemplate her in the succession of joyful, luminous, sorrowful and glorious moments of her life, which we revisit in our recitation of the rosary.

With Christ and Mary, we abide in God. Indeed, “if we want to be Christian, we must be Marian; in a word, we have to acknowledge the essential, vital and providential relationship uniting Our Lady to Jesus, a relationship that opens before us the way leading to him” (PAUL VI, Address at the Shine of Our Lady of Bonaria, Cagliari, 24 April 1970). Each time we recite the rosary, in this holy place or anywhere else, the Gospel enters anew into the life of individuals, families, peoples and the entire world.

Pilgrims with Mary… But which Mary? A teacher of the spiritual life, the first to follow Jesus on the “narrow way” of the cross by giving us an example, or a Lady “unapproachable” and impossible to imitate? A woman “blessed because she believed” always and everywhere in God’s words (cf. Lk 1:42.45), or a “plaster statue” from whom we beg favours at little cost? The Virgin Mary of the Gospel, venerated by the Church at prayer, or a Mary of our own making: one who restrains the arm of a vengeful God; one sweeter than Jesus the ruthless judge; one more merciful than the Lamb slain for us?

What does it mean to be “a Veronica?”

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Was there actually a St. Veronica?  It is an important question, and a very personal one to me, as Veronica was my chosen patron Saint for Confirmation as a child; the name is part of my own identity and life’s devotion to the Face of Jesus Christ. “Bernice Veronica” is a family name–both names referring to the Woman who wiped the Face of Jesus, commonly depicted in every Catholic church, at the Sixth Station of the Cross. Veronica is now also the name of one of my granddaughters. So, whether there is an actual person, a saint named “Veronica” who wiped the Face of Jesus, is a question that I have sought to know the truth about for most of my life. Did she exist? And what does it mean to be “a Veronica?”

Veronica’s Veil, Flemish 15th Century

“St. Veronica” 

The Catholic Church tells us that a veil bearing a miraculous image of the Face of Jesus has existed since the earliest centuries, recorded in history and in art. Explanations for the existence of such a veil were all different (see “Four Stories, One Face“). About the time this miraculous veil first appeared in Rome, in the Middle Ages, the name “Veronica” referred to the veil itself–“Veronica” meaning “vera” or true, and “icon” meaning image, or even more precisely, “to be present.” Those who gazed upon the veil bearing the true Face of Jesus stood in God’s presence. They were turned toward His Face.

Legends sprang up sometime later about a woman named “Veronica,” who was sometimes associated with the woman “Berenice” or “Bernice,” the bleeding woman who touches the hem of Jesus’s garment in the Gospel.  There is a version, written in 1191 by Robert de Boron, that tells of a woman named “Veronica” wiping sweat from the Face of Jesus. The stories are many and varied, but the legend that most people are familiar with today is traced to a version by Roger d’Argenteuil in the 1300s, which tells of a woman “Veronica,” associated with the sixth station of the Cross–the compassionate woman, wiping the Face of Jesus on the way to Calvary with a cloth, upon which He leaves an image of His Face.

“These pious traditions cannot be documented, but there is no reason why the belief that such an act of compassion did occur should not find expression in the veneration paid to one called Veronica.” —The Catholic Encyclopedia   

 

Pope St. John Paul II expressed the answer to the question of Veronica most beautifully in his poem, “The Name:”

In the crowd walking towards the place

[of the Agony]–

did you open up a gap at some point or were you

[opening it] from the beginning?

And since when? You tell me, Veronica.

Your name was born in the very instant

in which your heart

became an effigy: the effigy of truth.

Your name was born from what you gazed upon.

–Karol Wojtyla

Miraculous Holy Face Veil Photo: Paul Badde (see “Manoppello Image” tab)

Since the detailed historical facts about the veil itself cannot be verified with absolute certainty in this life, the more important and answerable question is, “What does it mean to be a Veronica?”

“Your name was born from what you gazed upon.” 

When a soul performs an “act of compassion,” Jesus leaves His image on the “veil” of the soul. In other words, while contemplating the Face of Jesus in an image, in the Word of God in the Scriptures, in a person made in the image and likeness of God, or above all, in the Eucharist, the soul places itself in the Presence of God. When we are turned completely toward the Face of God, through a daily face-to-face encounter in prayer–by the power of the Holy Spirit–God gradually transforms the soul into the “True Image” of His Son, Jesus Christ. As Pope St. John Paul II says, our hearts must become an “effigy of truth,” a “true icon.” Then our name too will be born from what we gaze upon. It will be “Veronica.”

Way of the Cross, Sixth Station, Our Lady of Grace Capuchin Friary, San Giovanni Rotondo, “Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus”

 

 

The Treasure of Divine Mercy–the Face of God

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St. Faustina “Apostle of Mercy”

St. Faustina Kowalska, “The Apostle of Mercy,” was known as a mystic and visionary. Her diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul, records the journey of her soul. Our Lord granted St. Faustina a deep understanding of the love and mercy of God which she was to share with the world.  

The greatest sign of God’s continuing mercy for the people of the world is His hidden Presence in the Eucharist. By turning to His Eucharistic Face, gazing at Jesus’s Face in silent contemplation, “a change takes place” in our souls, because He is also gazing at us. 

“The Face of Christ is the supreme revelation of Christ’s Mercy.”–Pope Benedict XVI photo:Paul Badde

“O Living Host, O hidden Jesus.  You see the condition of my soul.  Of myself, I am unable to utter Your Holy Name.  I cannot bring forth from my heart the fire of love, but, kneeling at Your feet, I cast upon the Tabernacle the gaze of my soul, a gaze of faithfulness.  As for You, You are ever the same, while within my soul a change takes place.  I trust that the time will come when You will unveil Your Countenance, and Your child will again see Your sweet Face.  I am astonished, Jesus, that You can hide Yourself from me for so long and that You can restrain the enormous love You have for me.  In the dwelling of my heart, I am listening and waiting for Your coming, O only Treasure of my heart!  (1239 “Divine Mercy in My Soul”)

Divine Mercy in the waters of Baptism

It is through the Divine Mercy of God that souls, by turning continually toward His Holy Face, learn to live in His Presence.  Thus, we may reach the true treasure of all hearts, fulfilling the soul’s greatest desire, which is to see God face to Face.  

“During meditation, the Lord gave me knowledge of the joy of Heaven and of the Saints on our arrival there; they love God as the sole object of their love, but they also have a tender and heartfelt love for us.   It is from the Face of God that this joy flows out upon all, because we see Him face to Face.  His Face is so sweet that the soul falls anew into ecstasy” (1592, “Divine Mercy in My Soul”). 

St. Faustina, pray for us!

Important Update:  Raymond Frost at the Holy Face of Manoppello Blogspot reports that the most recent episode of Vaticano, EWTN’s weekly television program originating in Rome there is a most beautiful segment (“Traces of the Resurrection” starting at 23:40) on the Holy Face of Manoppello as one of the “clues” which demonstrates the reality of the Resurrection of Jesus.

He is Risen!!!

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Alleluia!!!

“So Simon Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him he went into the tomb first, and he saw and believed.  For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” John 20

Holy Face of Manoppello, Italy Photo: Paul Badde

The Face of Humility

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Hans Holbein der Altere

The Lord opens my ear that I may hear; And I have not rebelled, have not turned back.  I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard:  My Face I did not shield from buffets and spitting, The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame. (Isaiah 50: 4b-7)

 

What does it means to be a Christian?

“A Message to Those Who Kill Us” – Father Boules George gives a sermon during the Eve of Monday Pascha following the two bombings on Palm Sunday that took place at Saint George Coptic Orthodox Church in Tanta and Saint Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria.

How Long, O Lord?

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Like a lamb led to the slaughter, or a sheep before the shearers, He was silent and uttered no cry. (Is. 52)

The sufferings of this world are as numerous as its sins.  Each day brings more and more it seems; the weight of it crushing our souls.  The greatest evil, and the most difficult suffering to bear, is the suffering of the innocent.  

On April 5th, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley addressed the UN Security Council about the Assad regime’s chemical attacks against its own people in Syria.  She said, “Yesterday we awoke to pictures of children; foaming at the mouth, suffering convulsions, being carried in the arms of desperate parents.  We saw rows and rows of lifeless bodies, some still in diapers, some with visible scars of a chemical weapons attack.  Look at those pictures!  We cannot close our eyes to those pictures.”  A cry of helplessness rises in one’s heart, “How long, O Lord!”

“How long, O Lord, must I cry for help and you do not listen?  Or cry out to you ‘Violence!” and you do not intervene?  Why do you simply gaze at evil? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife and discord.” (Hab. 1: 1-3)

The suffering endured by the innocent is utterly incomprehensible. We could harden our hearts and turn away our face from what is happening–numb our minds, and anesthetize our unpleasant thoughts with distractions. Or we may fall to our knees and ask God the same question that atheists mockingly ask of Christians; the same question the prophet Habbakkuk asked of God in faith:

“Are you not from of old, O LORD, the holy God, immortal?   LORD, you have appointed them for judgment, O Rock, you have set them in place to punish! Your eyes are too pure to look upon wickedness, and the sight of evil you cannot endure.  Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence while the wicked devour those more just than themselves?”  (Hab. 1:12-13)

“How long O Lord!” we will cry. And no answer is heard.  The response will be, as it was from the Lamb of God on the Cross–silence.  There are no other questions.

“I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer.  You are yourself the answer.  Before Your Face questions die away.  What other answer would suffice?” –C.S. Lewis (Till We Have Faces)

Pieta by Carlo Cavelli

 

Mary’s “Fiat” for the sake of her children

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The Annunciation by Fra Angelico

“My Mother honors every consecration made to her Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, and even if one should forget that one uttered such a prayer, My Mother does not forget it. She remains faithful to her own children, even when they are distracted by the world and turn away from her brightness shining like a star over the stormy seas of life.”— In Sinu Jesu, When Heart Speaks to Heart

Anyone who has recited a “Hail Mary” as a child, or placed flowers (they may have been dandelions, no matter to her) before a plaster statue of the Blessed Mother, or treasured a little holy card with her image, or childhood rosary–that person, most likely at tumultuous time of darkness in their life, will turn to seek the face of their Mother Mary in prayer. Though the rosary may have been tossed in a drawer for decades, and for years we never gave her much of a thought, our Mother did not forget us or cease to pray for us.

Detail from Annunciation by Fra Angelico

The joyful scene of the Annunciation, with the Angel Gabriel’s awaiting Mary’s consent to become the Mother of the Redeemer, has hidden within it the shadow of the cross, and that cross is us. God willed that Mary not only become the Mother of Jesus, but our Mother as well.  At the Incarnation of the Word, Jesus was united to all of humanity, the Church His mystical body and Jesus, Mary’s Son, our head.  When John, the beloved disciple stood at the foot of the Cross with Mary, Jesus willed to give Mary to us as our Mother, “Women, behold your son,” then to John, “behold your Mother.” And Mary, who never for a moment turned from the Face of God, seeking only His Divine Will, had a choice.  With total self-emptying and humility, at both the Annunciation and at Christ’s Passion, and with the greatest love that is humanly possible, knowing this total self-giving would mean great suffering and sacrifice, Mary said “Fiat,” “Let it be done unto me according to Thy word.”  So when Mary looks at our faces, she sees the Face of her son, Jesus.  There is no division in her Immaculate Heart.  She will never forget us.  Let us never forget her and pray for those who do not know Our Mother’s great love.

The Deposition of Christ by Fra Angelico
“Where the Word of God became flesh” The Grotto in Nazareth–the heart of Christianity. Photo by Paul Badde
The stairway leading to the Grotto, from above. Photo by Paul Badde

St. Joseph: An excess of love!

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St. Joseph Altar in Louisiana

Where I live, in Louisiana, Catholics have a beautiful tradition of making St. Joseph’s altars to honor the great foster-father of Jesus on his feast day.  The hard work and preparations involved are only exceeded by the love that impels persons to try to express, in some way, that great love–and for many that way is with food.  The variety and colors delight the eyes, the flavors delight the taste.  The symbolism of the forms is rich and deep.  It is almost too much to take in.

St. Joseph

St. Joseph had much to “take in” as well–to take Mary, a virgin, as his spouse. That she would be the Mother of the Redeemer and that he, Joseph, would become the foster-father of Jesus, his own Savior. It is excessive! Over whelming! How must St. Joseph have felt to look into the Face of little Jesus and be reminded of the excess of the love of the Father? That same loving Father invites us to the feast He has prepared for us through His Son Jesus–if only we begin by turning to gaze at His Face.

 

Lenten Reflection on the Face of Christ in “Silence”

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“In Shusaku Endo’s Silence, Rodrigues’s devotion to the Face of Christ becomes the key to understanding his particular path to Calvary….”

Japanese “fumie” of Jesus Christ

While the release of Martin Scorsese’s film “Silence” stirred up much discussion and controversy about this story of Jesuit missionaries under persecution in Japan, very few have noted the deep significance of the Face of Christ in Shusaku Endo’s original novel.  This article–The Face of Christ: Shusaka Endo’s Silence, by Lauren Enk Mann at Imaginative Conservative explains the pivotal role the Face of Christ plays in the spiritual journey of the central character. The novel “Silence” may also be a good Lenten reflection on suffering, the Passion and humility that we are each meant to share with Christ, as well as a path to self-knowledge, by reflecting upon our own weaknesses in the light of His Face.  

“Behind his closed eyelids he would pass through every scene in the life of Christ. From childhood the face of Christ had been for him the fulfillment of his every dream and ideal.… Even in its moments of terrible torture this face had never lost its beauty. Those soft, clear eyes which pierced to the very core of a man’s being were now fixed upon him. The face that could do no wrong, utter no word of insult….” (full article here)