Antonio Bini presenting a book on the Holy Face to Archbishop Cordileone of San Francisco on the occasion of his pilgrimage to the Basilica Shrine of Il Volto Santo in 2019.
Antonio Bini, who communicates all the good news coming from the Shrine in Manoppello, Italy, has shared a new video put together by a filmmaker–it is a compilation of reports by news media from 1999–that was made to commemorate the historic work and discoveries of the late Father Heinrich Pfeiffer (1939-2021), a historian of Christian art at the Gregorian University in Rome, and who had studied the Holy Face for years. Antonio met Fr. Pfeiffer in 1998, and convinced him to make the results of his studies public at an international press conference that Antonio Bini had organized in Rome on May 31, 1999. “The conference reverberated throughout the world,” said Antonio.
(The video is in Italian, however, a closed-captioned translation is possible by clicking “cc” first; then “settings,” and next choose the option “auto translate” and the language of your choice.)
The Relic was recently removed from the glass enclosure for viewing and procession, on the Feast of the Transfiguration (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
I can confirm the truth of Antonio’s statement about the news of the Veronica being heard throughout the world. As a life-long devotee of the True Face of Jesus known as the”Veronica,” I was most interested when I first read a U.S. news article about Fr. Pfeiffer’s startling claim of finding “the historic Veronica.” A very strong yearning grew in my heart each day and did not go away; the desire to see the Holy Veil of Manoppello, Italy with my own eyes. However, many more years passed before an opportunity would present itself to travel to Rome, and from there, to somehow find the way through the Abruzzo Mountains to Manoppello–which might as well have been the other side of the moon to me at that time.
Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer and Paul Badde look on as Pope Benedict XVI greets Sr. Blandina Paschalis Schloemer, whose forensic study comparisons of the Face of the Shroud of Turin and the Face on the Manoppello Veil were key to its rediscovery. Historic visit to the Shrine of Il Volto Santo in 2006.
Thanks to Paul Badde’s wonderful book, The Face of God: The Rediscovery of the True Face of Jesus, I learned that the Shrine of Il Volto Santo was much more accessible that I had first thought; providentially due to a new highway being completed close to the Shrine. The pilgrimage turned out to be a life-changing spiritual experience to say the least, as it has been for so many other pilgrims from all over the world.
Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer’s important role in bringing the Holy Face of Manoppello, from obscurity to the world, was not an easy one, as his friend, Antonio Bini, reminded me. Therefore, this video was made for the growing community of faithful devotees of the Holy Face, and in gratitude and appreciation of the man who helped pave the way for pilgrims to the Basilica Shrine of Il Volto Santo in this millennium dedicated by Pope St. John Paul II to the Holy Face of Jesus Christ!
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More beautiful photos below, sent by Alexandra Prandell, from the Feast of the Transfiguration celebration in Manoppello, Italy–not “on the other side of the moon,” but only two and a half hours from Rome, in the Abruzzo Mountains:
Holy Veil of Manoppello, Photo: Alexandra Prandell
Relic of the Holy Face carried in procession through the streets. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
(Transfiguration procession of the relic) Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
Fireworks explode in the sky as the relic of the Holy Face Veil returns to the Basilica Shrine. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
The serene gaze of the Holy Face of Jesus, of Manoppello. (Photo: Alexandra Prandell)
“The Luke Icon: Rome’s Hidden Wonder of the World”
She is more than 2,000 years old, and for the greater part of seven centuries she has been mostly hidden in a cloister in Rome, known only by a few, footnoted in dusty books written by little known scholars. Many copies of the icon have been found around the world, but she is the original, surpassing all the others made by man in beauty and gracefulness. Her beautiful lips are closed, yet she speaks with her eyes. She is known as “Advocata Nostra.”
“Eia, Ergo, Advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte.” “Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us.” ~from the Salve Regina.
Among his many gifts, Paul has an amazing talent for finding lost, ancient relics–to bring them back from obscurity to light. Paul has recently published a very special book that has been twenty years in the making, or one could even say, “a lifetime in the making,” because his story truly begins with his earliest memories of being taught to love the Mother of God by his own dear mother in his native Germany.
The title of the book is: “The Luke Icon: Rome’s Hidden Wonder of the World”–which hides the fact that it is actually a love story–tells of Paul’s long search for the earliest icon of the Blessed Mother, known as “La Advocata” in Italy, which was said to have been painted by St. Luke in the first century.
The Holy Face of Manoppello and Paul Badde(CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Advocata Nostra with golden hands and cross
Photo: Paul Badde/EWTN
The Luke Icon: Rome’s Hidden Wonder of the World is partly a biography–because Paul’s search is a very personal one. But since love unites us all in Christ, Paul’s story is woven together with many interesting people, as well as places, surprisingly very near and also far away; there is mystery, intrigue, long years of research, and providential clues that fell in his lap. Many times his holy quest was an uphill battle with crosses, delays, and roadblocks along the way. In the end–in God’s perfect timing–it seems that Divine Intervention cleared away obstacles to suddenly reveal the incredible and astonishing results of his long search.
As I read Paul’s book, (very slowly translating from German, as it is not yet available in English), an image kept coming into my mind of a little boy sitting on a stool watching his mother at work, twisting and knotting various colored threads, as she wove a tapestry. I was reminded of a story told by St. Pio of Pietrelcina, in which he explained why God permits suffering, and evil to exist on our lives, only to bring about a greater good:
“A mother was embroidering on a small weaving frame. Her young son was seated in front of her on a small low stool watching her work. But, as he is watching, he saw only the tangle of threads on the reverse side of the weaving frame, from underneath. And so he says, ‘But mother, what are you doing? The embroidery is so ugly!’ So what does the mother do? She lowers the weaving frame and shows him the other side of the work, the good side with all its colors in place and all the threads making a harmonious pattern…. Have you seen what evil is like? Evil is like the reverse side of that embroidery, and we’re all sitting on a small stool.” ~ St. Pio
Though paint has crumbled away after centuries, and restorations have been done, out of respect, sections of the original have not been touched. Advocata Nostra – Wiki Commons – Public Domain
Paul was looking at “tangles of thread” from over 2,000 years. In addition to the arduous task of finding the Luke Icon in the first place, very difficult questions needed to be answered, such as: Was it actually painted by St. Luke, despite Hebrew prohibitions on the painting of images? Is “La Advocata Nostra” indeed the original? Is there any evidence that the encaustic wax icon belonged to the first century? Was the icon restored? What is the meaning of the gesture of Our Lady’s hands? Are there copies? And more.
The Shroud of Turin and Holy Veil of Manoppello are known as “achieropoieta.” Meaning the miraculous sudarium veil of Jesus’s own human face was “written in light” by the Hand of God, and not human hands. An image created by God’s hand, of course, does not violate the prohibition on images. Paul writes, “This image [the veil of the Face of Jesus] was obviously needed before the first icon of Mary could be created later on, which really over-ruled the old ban on images.” Luke’s Icon of Mary is the iconoclast-breaker that removed the Hebrew prohibitions against painting any human image–“made in the image and likeness of God.” How fitting the Mother of God should be the first!
The position of her hands, raised as though she is interceding for us, caused her to be called by the unusual title of “Advocata Nostra.” She is our “lawyer,” but Advocata can have another meaning, “to call” or “summon.” Or as once Paul told me, “She is the one who is there when you call her.” Mary is ever pleading for us before the throne of God. However, the gesture of her hands, Paul discovered, turned out to mean much more. Paul had found some copies of the icon, made centuries before a restoration in the 1960’s, that reveal that before time had crumbled the paint away, she was holding something very precious in her hands that the restoration covered over. It would have been her most precious possession–a veil. A veil?…Why would she be showing us a veil? Paul makes a very good argument, that the veil that Our Lady holds in her hands is “The Cloth that covered Jesus’s Head” found in the tomb by Saints Peter and John-miraculously imprinted with His Face at the Resurrection–“Il Volto Santo,” the Holy Veil of Manoppello, Italy, is believed to be that veil. After all, it makes perfect sense, that of all of Jesus’s disciples, Saints Peter and John would have given “the cloth that covered His Head” to His own Mother.
It has been a long tradition of the Church that after a newly ordained priest has been anointed with blessed chrism, the oil is then wiped with a linen cloth, called a manutergium, representing the burial, or sudarium cloth of Christ, which is given to the priest’s mother, who keeps it throughout her lifetime, to be placed in her hands at her burial.
“Advocata Nostra” Photo: Paul Badde/EWTN “All generations will call me blessed.” (Luke 1:48)
When one looks into the eyes of Advocata Nostra, as a child of Mary, one encounters a person, a motherly presence–Mary looks at us, she listens to us. She holds out to us, in her pure hands, her most precious treasure: the veil of the Holy Face of her Son Jesus. Though she is silent, as she “turns her eyes of mercy toward us, Mary seems to say everything: ‘Take courage, my child’...”He is Risen!”
Veil of the Holy Face of Jesus of Manoppello, believed to be the cloth that covered Jesus’s Head at the Resurrection. (photo: Paul Badde/EWTN)
August 29, 2024: Antonio Bini, of Manoppello, has written many wonderful pieces, translated from Italian for Raymond’s blog. Most recently, he has written about a very positive developement– the uniting of devotees of the Holy Face in “The ‘Holy Face’ of Christ Unites.” The Holy Face of Jesus has been loved and adored under many different aspects over the centuries, such as The Face from the Shroud of Turin, “Il Volto Santo” Holy Veil of Manoppello, The Holy Face of Chiusa Sclarfani, Italy, The Holy Face of Tours, France, and under many other titles around the world. However, the intention to love, honor and adore the person of Jesus Christ in His Sacred Humanity is always the same… Be sure to give Antonio’s report from Manoppello a read!
“Let the little children come to me.” Photo: Patricia Enk
On Sunday, October 1st, the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Covington, Louisiana will celebrate the annual “Mass of the Roses,” in honor of St. Therese, and the 150th anniversary of her birth. This beautiful event begins with a musical prelude, followed by the celebration of the Eucharist, and the blessing and distribution of roses by children. After the Mass, homemade goods, and treats are sold which help pay for the nuns needs for the year. The nuns most urgent need this year is to replace their electrical generator, which broke after 18 years of faithful service. The generator supplies emergency power, during storms and hurricanes, to the main monastery building and living quarters of the Sisters, and powers the water pump for their well.
St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face is more commonly known for her way of “Spiritual Childhood” and devotion to The Child Jesus, however, her sister, Mother Agnes gave this testimony for St. Therese’ beatification:
“Devotion to the Holy Face was the Servant of God’s special attraction. As tender as was her devotion to the Child Jesus, it cannot be compared to her devotion to the Holy Face.”
St. Therese’ sister Celine (Sr. Genevieve of the Holy Face), also wrote: “Devotion to the Holy Face was, for Therese, the crown and complement of her love for the Sacred Humanity of Our Lord. The Blessed Face was the mirror wherein she beheld the Heart and Soul of her Well-Beloved. Just as the picture of a loved one serves to bring the whole person before us, so in the Holy Face of Christ Therese beheld the entire Humanity of Jesus. We can say unequivocally that this devotion was the burning inspiration of the Saint’s life… Her devotion to the Holy Face transcended, or more accurately, embraced, all the other attractions of her spiritual life.”
St. Therese
Canticle to the Holy Face
Jesus, Your ineffable image Is the star which guides my steps. Ah, You know, Your sweet Face Is for me Heaven on earth. My love discovers the charms Of Your Face adorned with tears. I smile through my own tears When I contemplate Your sorrows.
Oh! To console You I want To live unknown on earth! Your beauty, which You know how to veil, Discloses for me all its mystery. I would like to fly away to You!
Your Face is my only homeland. It’s my Kingdom of love. It’s my cheerful meadow. Each day, my sweet sun. It’s the Lily of the Valley Whose mysterious perfume Consoles my exiled soul, Making it taste the peace of Heaven.
It’s my Rest, my Sweetness And my melodious Lyre Your Face, O my Sweet Savior, Is the Divine Bouquet of Myrrh I want to keep on my heart!
Your Face is my only wealth. I ask for nothing more. Hiding myself in it unceasingly, I will resemble You, Jesus Leave in me, the Divine Impress Of Your features filled with sweetness, And soon I’ll become holy. I shall draw hearts to You.
So that I may gather A beautiful golden harvest, Deign to set me aflame with Your Fire. With Your adorned mouth, Give me soon the Eternal Kiss!
~ St. Therese
St. Therese shortly after her death
“Look at His adorable Face, His glazed and sunken eyes, His wounds. Look Jesus in the Face. There you will see how He loves us.”
“Your Veiled Gaze is Our Heaven…”
By St. Therese:
Holy Face Veil of Manoppello, Italy (Photo: Paul Badde/EWTN)
“O Adorable Face of Jesus! Our souls understand Your language of love; we want to dry Your gentle Face and to console You for the forgetfulness of the wicked. In their eyes You are still as one hidden; they look upon You as an object of contempt…
O Face more beautiful than the lilies and roses of springtime! You are not hidden from our eyes…The Tears that veil Your divine look seem to us like precious Diamonds which we want to collect to buy the souls of our brothers and sisters with their infinite value.
Veil of Manopello, Photo: Paul Badde/EWTN
From Your Adorable Mouth we have heard Your loving complaint. Since we know that the thirst which consumes You is a thirst for Love, we would wish to have an infinite Love to quench Your thirst…Beloved Bridegroom of our souls, if we had the love of all hearts, all that love would be for You! Then, heedless of our exile on the banks of Babylon, we will sing for your Ears the sweetest melodies. Since You are the true, the only Homeland of our hearts, we will not sing our songs in an alien land.
Eyes of Manoppello, photo: Paul Badde/EWTN
“The Living Face” of The Veil of Manoppello Photo: Paul Badde/EWTN
O Beloved Face of Jesus! As we await the everlasting day when we will contemplate Your infinite Glory, our one desire is to charm Your Divine Eyes by hiding our faces too so that here on earth no one can recognize us…O Jesus! Your Veiled Gaze is our Heaven!” –St. Therese of the Holy Face and the Child Jesus
St. Therese reliquary covered with rose petals. Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello. Nov. 4, 2006 (Photo: Paul Badde)
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Please pray for these dear Nuns who pray for us all. If you would like to contribute, donations may be mailed to:
The Discalced Carmelite Nuns, 73530 River Rd, Covington, LA 70435
Some of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns, and friends at a past Mass of the Roses in honor of St. Therese
May God reward you for your generosity!
Two “St. Therese” and one Sr. Teresita
Children distributing blessed roses photo: Patricia Enk
“O Jesus, whose adorable Face ravishes my heart, I implore Thee to fix deep within me Thy divine image and to set me on fire with Thy Love, that I may be found worthy to come to the contemplation of Thy glorious Face in Heaven.”
“Let the Little Ones come to Me” (Photo: Patricia Enk
A dear friend and fellow Carmelite had been hospitalized not too long ago. She had an accident which caused multiple fractures and a great of deal pain. The next day, she sent a text which astonished me considering the suffering she was enduring. It was not a litany of complaints, but a testimony to her faith. The text read:
Where charity and love are… God is there!
(1 John 4:16)
This is wisdom. A life that is lived in love, seeking the Face of Christ, will find that love on the Cross. St. Louis de Montfort once wrote, “Wisdom is the Cross and the Cross is Wisdom.” The Cross is the school of Love. In order to love and seek Divine Incarnate Wisdom, who is Jesus, we need to know Him, and to know Him we must follow Him to the Cross. It is at the Cross that the Holy Spirit’s supreme gift of wisdom produces in us the most faithful resemblance to Jesus Christ.
Christ gave Himself to us by suffering on a Cross. When we suffer in Charity, and offer that suffering for the love of Jesus, we are giving something of ourselves that turns to joy. St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face wrote about the profound mystery of the cross in her own spiritual life: “I found happiness and joy in the world, but only in pain.” The reason Therese said this was that she knew that the pain she suffered for souls, in the charity of total self-giving, purified her love and made it triumphant, resulting in a joy and a peace which nothing in the world could take away.
So many in the world are suffering now. Everywhere you turn, you meet the Cross! If only they would seek the Face of Christ in their pain, as my friend did, they would experience for themselves that Christian suffering is divinized suffering. Since incarnate Wisdom, Jesus Christ, had to enter heaven by the Cross, we must enter by the same way. In the pain that is offered through Christ, the Holy Spirit produces, by the gift of wisdom, a deep and profound peace in our soul, stilling the turbulent waters, and reflecting the most perfect image of the Face of the Son to the Father. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “But we all, with face unveiled, reflecting as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into His very image from glory to glory, as through the spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor 3:18). Who can comprehend it? But this is the Wisdom of God: His Cross is His glory.
“Eternal Wisdom is a breath of the power of God, a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty. Hence nothing defiled gains entrance into Him. He is the reflection of eternal light, the spotless mirror of God’s majesty, the image of His goodness” (Wisdom 7:25).
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The ‘Wisdom’ Cross by St. Louis De Montfort
DENY
ONESELF
CARRY
ONE’S CROSS
TO FOLLOW
JESUS CHRIST
IF YOU ARE ASHAMED OF THE CROSS
OF JESUS CHRIST, HE WILL BE
ASHAMED OF YOU BEFORE HIS FATHER
LOVE
THE CROSS
DESIRE:
CROSSES
CONTEMPT
PAIN
ABUSE
INSULTS
DISGRACE
PERSECUTION
HUMILIATIONS
CALUMNIES
ILLNESS
INJURIES
MAY JESUS PREVAIL.
MAY HIS CROSS PREVAIL.
DIVINE LOVE
HUMILITY
SUBMISSION
OBEDIENCE:
COMPLETE
PROMPT
JOYFUL
BLIND
PERSEVERING
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“Remember the surpassing worth of the wisdom that is yours. Bear in mind the kind of school in which you are to learn your skills, the rewards to which you are called. Mercy itself wishes you to be merciful, righteousness itself wishes you to be righteous, so that the Creator may shine forth in his creature, and the image of God be reflected in the mirror of the human heart as it imitates his qualities. The faith of those who live their faith is a serene faith. What you long for will be given you; what you love will be yours forever…Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God… what words can express the great happiness of seeing God? Yet human nature will achieve this when it has been transformed so that it sees the Godhead no longer in a mirror or obscurely but face to face–the Godhead that no man has been able to see. In the inexpressible joy of this eternal vision, human nature will possess what eye has not seen or ear heard, what man’s heart has never conceived.
The blessedness of seeing God is justly promised to the pure of heart. For the eye that is unclean would not be able to see the brightness of the true light, and what would be happiness to clear minds would be a torment to those that are defiled. Therefore, let the mists of worldly vanities be dispelled, and the inner eye be cleansed of all the filth of wickedness, so that the soul’s gaze may feast serenely upon the great vision of God.”
~Pope S. Leo the Great, from his sermon on the Beatitudes
“Thou art all fair, my love, there is no spot in thee.” (Song of Solomon 4:7)
“From the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator,” “for the author of beauty created them.” (Wisdom 13: 3, 5)
The spiritual beauty of God is reflected most perfectly in the woman He created to be His Mother. No stain of sin would mar the beauty of His reflection in her soul. Never for one instant would she be under the power of the devil. “The Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin.” (Dogma of the Immaculate Conception) Mary herself proclaims, “My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” (Luke 1:47)
As the Immaculate Conception, Mary bears in herself the most perfect reflection of the face of God. Pope St. John Paul II wrote, “The Blessed Virgin saw shining upon her, as no other creature, the face of the Father, rich in grace and mercy.” What in Heaven and on earth could be more beautiful than the Mother of God? It is God who has willed that Mary be beautiful, not only fair in face, but in the fullness of grace. Yet, beauty has a purpose, and that is to draw us by the beauty of the graces God has given her towards the Beatific Vision–the Face of God. Mary has no greater desire than that we turn towards the Face of her Son, as she does, with eyes of love.
Jesus alone is “the Way” that leads to the Father, but Mary is the most beautiful image and likeness of Christ, which will lead us to Him. Dostoevsky once said that “Beauty will save the world!” Mary embodies the beauty of her God. She has a spiritual beauty to share with the world that attracts, reflects and expresses what is beyond words, in the depths of her heart, the love of a mother for her Savior and Son.
“Through Her we may see Him / Made sweeter, not made dim, / And Her hand leaves His light / Sifted to suit our sight.”
Excerpt from the Poem “The Blessed Virgin Compared to the air We Breathe” by Gerard Manley Hopkins
“Our Lady, in whose face – more than any other creature – we can recognize the features of the Incarnate Word.” –Pope Benedict XVI Madonna and Child from the Robert Lehman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art
“Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. Although the dragon and his angels fought back, they were overpowered and lost their place in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent known as the devil or Satan, the seducer of the whole world, was driven out; he was hurled down to earth and his minions with him” (Rev. 12)
“Who is like God!” St. Michael, sculpture by Cody Swanson, Old St. Patrick’s New Orleans (photo: Patricia Enk)
The center of this battle raging between Angels and demons — heaven and earth — is the Incarnate Word of God made flesh, Jesus Christ. It is Jesus who is rejected, reviled and persecuted. The devil wants to obliterate the Face of God, not only in churches that have vandalized and desecrated, but in the souls of human beings. The battle lines have been drawn between the culture of life and the culture of death. The devil’s particular object of hatred is the woman and the unborn. Some can no longer recognize that a child in the womb is a human being. Many persons reject their God-given identity as male and female. Racial hatred is causing deeper and deeper division, and human trafficking increases as humanity is blinded to the Face of God in their neighbor made in His image and likeness.
“When the dragon saw that it had been thrown down to earth, it pursued the woman who had given birth to a male child.” (Rev. 12:13)
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have salvation and power come, the reign of our God and the authority of his Anointed One. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who night and day accused then before our God. They defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; love for life did not deter them from death. So rejoice, you heavens, and you the dwell therein! But woe to you, earth and sea, for the devil has come down upon you! His fury knows no limits, for he knows his time is short” (Rev 12). This battle has been fought since the beginning of Creation; between Christ’s Angels and the fallen angels or demons, with humanity at the center of the struggle. St. Michael and the Holy Angels have been given the authority from God by the power of His Holy Name to protect and defend God’s people against both human and diabolical enemies.
Devotion to the Face of Jesus is meant to repair mankind’s broken relationship with God, manifested in the world by the evil of blasphemy, sacrilege, and indifference. This work of reparation honoring His Holy Face and His Name–which is the concrete sign of God’s existence and our relationship with Him–has been given the protection and help of the Holy Angels. Sr. Marie St. Pierre was a French Discalced Carmelite nun to whom Our Lord gave revelations of the devotion to His Holy Face. She wrote on November 18, 1843:
“One day during prayer, our Lord warned me in advance about the fury of Satan against the holy devotion, but He also consoled me, saying: ‘I give you My Name to be your light in the darkness and your strength in battle. Satan will do all in his power to crush this Work at its roots. But I assure you that the Holy Name of God will triumph, and it will be the Holy Angels who will gain the victory in the conflict.”
The victory will be won with devotion to the Holy Face
Prayer to Our Lady of the Angels, who in her humility, crushed the head of Satan: Sublime Queen of Heaven, exalted Lady of the Angels, you have the power and commission given by God to crush the head of Satan. Therefore, we humbly beseech you to send to our aid your heavenly legions, so that, under your command and by your power, they may pursue the hellish spirits, fight them everywhere, ward off their impudent attacks, and fling them back into the abyss. Who is like God? You holy angels and archangels, defend and protect us. Good, kind mother, you remain always our love and our hope! Mother of God, send us the holy angels to defend us and keep the evil one far from us. Amen.
(Photo: Randall Enk) Sculpture commemorating JPII visit to St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, 1976. Inscription reads: “The joy which accompanies the birth of the Messiah is seen to be the foundation and fulfillment of the joy at every child born into the world.” —The Gospel of Life — Pope John Paul II
“We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through…”
— Cardinal Karol Wojtyla
Pope St. John Paul II spoke these stunning and prophetic words while he was yet a Cardinal, during his visit to the United States in 1976. He went on to say:
“I do not think that wide circles of the Christian community realize it fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel. This confrontation lies within the plans of divine Providence; it is a trial which the whole Church, and the Polish Church in particular, must take up. It is a trial of not only our nation and the Church, but, in a sense, a test of 2,000 years of culture and Christian civilization with all its consequences for human dignity, individual rights, human rights and the rights of nations.”
— Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, 1976
His prophecy has proven to be true. Most of the Christian community did not see it coming in 1976. But Cardinal Wojtyla, who had lived under a Communist government in Poland, was able to recognize the signs that the historic confrontation was at our doorstep. The Polish Church has certainly taken up the fight for Christianity, as they have for a thousand years. But, elsewhere in the world two thousand years of culture and Christian civilization has been rapidly disappearing before our eyes. Who could deny it? The trial that he spoke of is already upon us, the clash between “the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel.”
It should be no small consolation that although we are in in the midst of this historic confrontation between light and darkness, we are assured that it “lies within the plans of divine Providence.” Therefore, even little souls need not fear, because, as David said to Goliath, “I come against you in the name of the LORD of hosts… the battle is the Lord’s, and He shall deliver you into our hands.” (1 Sam 17: 45-47)
“The issue is now quite clear. It is between light and darkness and everyone must choose his side.”
— G. K. Chesterton, as he lay dying, 1936.
In order to fight and persevere, we must first choose our side. The spiritual battle is being fought on so many fronts that the battle lines have been obscured. The foremost battle being fought is over life itself. It is the grave evil of abortion, with over sixty-six million babies sacrificed in the name of “choice” since abortion was made legal in the United States. Yet, sadly, even Catholics will quarrel over that bloody fact, pointing to lesser evils occurring, that they deem equally important, as though that could ever justify perpetuating such an atrocity. The devil is busy doing what the devil does – sowing confusion and division, especially among Christians, and particularly within the Catholic Church where the worst harm can be done. Perhaps this is due to a rejection of authority, a lack of faith, trust, and humility, or the lack of willingness to suffer as Christ did. The remedy to the confusion and division is devotion to the Face of Christ – the contemplation of the splendor of the truth shining on the Face of Christ to bring light to our darkened world, and to reconcile us with the Father.
Mourning over the dead body of Christ, Joan Mates, 1492 (Photo: Paul Badde/EWTN)
“In contemplating Christ’s face, we confront the most paradoxical aspect of His mystery, as it emerges in His last hour, on the Cross. The mystery within the mystery, before which we cannot but prostate ourselves in adoration….In order to bring man back to the Father’s face, Jesus not only had to take on the face of man, but He also 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)
— Pope St. John Paul II, Novo Millenio Ineunte
Like David, we may not have the power, armor, or strength to take down the enemies of God, whether they are within ourselves or the world. David put His trust in the Name of the Lord, as he picked up his sling and “five smooth stones from the wadi” (1 Sam 17:40). It only took one stone to bring Goliath down. We take up the “trial” as we take up our rosary beads, contemplating the Face of Christ with Mary as we pray the mysteries, giving honor and glory to His Holy Name. When we contemplate the Face of Christ by praying, and studying Scripture, we are being transformed by the Holy Spirit who restores God’s image in our souls, so we are prepared to evangelize by spreading the light on the Face of Christ to others. As we contemplate the Face of Jesus in the sick, suffering, and in those in need, we draw closer to His suffering Heart, and are able to extend compassion to our neighbor. As we contemplate and adore the Face (the Real Presence) of Jesus in the Eucharist, we cast away the false faces of idols, and are humbled before the Eucharistic Face of an all-powerful God who humbles Himself by remaining in the form of a small piece of bread out of love for us.
These are the simple means God has given us for the “test of 2,000 years of Christian culture and civilization with all its consequences for human dignity, individual rights, human rights, and the rights of nations” as prophesied by Pope St. John Paul II: God gives us His Name, His Face, and His own Mother. We can’t lose.
“You know that I myself do not see the Sacred Heart as everybody else. I think that the heart of my Spouse is mine alone, just as mine is His alone, and I speak to Him then in the solitude of this delightful heart to heart, while waiting to contemplate Him one day face to face.” — St. Therese of the Holy Face and the Child Jesus
“For God so loved the world”
To the Sacred Heart of Jesus
by St. Therese of the Holy Face and the Child Jesus
St. Therese of Lisieux
At the Holy Sepulcher, Mary Magdalene, Searching for her Jesus, stooped down in tears. The angels wanted to console her sorrow, But nothing could calm her grief. Bright angels, it was not you Whom this fervent soul came searching for. She wanted to see the Lord of the Angels, To take him in her arms, to carry him far away.
Close by the tomb, the last one to stay, She had come well before dawn. Her God also came, veiling his light. Mary could not vanquish him in love! Showing her at first his Blessed Face, Soon just one word sprang from his Heart. Whispering the sweet name of: Mary, Jesus gave back her peace, her happiness.
O my God, one day, like Mary Magdalene, I wanted to see you and come close to you. I looked down over the immense plain Where I sought the Master and King, And I cried, seeing the pure wave, The starry azure, the flower, and the bird: “Bright nature, if I do not see God, You are nothing to me but a vast tomb.
“I need a heart burning with tenderness, Who will be my support forever, Who loves everything in me, even my weakness… And who never leaves me day or night. ” I could find no creature Who could always love me and never die. I must have a God who takes on my nature And becomes my brother and is able to suffer!
You heard me, only Friend whom I love. To ravish my heart, you became man. You shed your blood, what a supreme mystery!.. And you still live for me on the Altar. If I cannot see the brilliance of your Face Or hear your sweet voice, O my God, I can live by your grace, I can rest on your Sacred Heart!
O Heart of Jesus, treasure of tenderness, You Yourself are my happiness, my only hope. You who knew how to charm my tender youth, Stay near me till the last night. Lord, to you alone I’ve given my life, And all my desires are well-known to you. It’s in your ever-infinite goodness That I want to lose myself, O Heart of Jesus!
Ah! I know well, all our righteousness Is worthless in your sight. To give value to my sacrifices, I want to cast them into your Divine Heart. You did not find your angels without blemish. In the midst of lightning you gave your law!… I hide myself in your Sacred Heart, Jesus. I do not fear, my virtue is You!…
To be able to gaze on your glory, I know we have to pass through fire. So I, for my purgatory, Choose your burning love, O heart of my God! On leaving this life, my exiled soul Would like to make an act of pure love, And then, flying away to Heaven, its Homeland, Enter straightaway into your Heart.
“I have come to ask the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated.”
–Our Lady of Fatima to the three children of Fatima: St. Jacinta Marto, St. Francisco Marto, and Sr. Lucia Santos
Lucia, Francisco, Jacinta – The children of Fatima
The children of Fatima had no idea that Russia was a country; they thought that “Russia” was a sinful woman who was in need of conversion. Although the consecration to the Immaculate Heart had been fulfilled, according to Sr. Lucia, the Communions of Reparation on First Saturdays perhaps have not, since poor Russia has not yet converted. The “errors” of communism have certainly grown and spread “throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. In fact, like a malignant cancer, the speed at which communist ideology has spread here in the United States is alarming. The battle is not over, and it must be fought – but how?
Pope St. John Paul II
Pope St. John Paul II was perhaps the greatest obstacle threatening the existence of communism in the past century. On the anniversary of the first apparition of Fatima, May 13th, 1981, an assassination attempt was made to kill him, and almost did, but the bullet that was meant for his heart was deflected by the hand of the Blessed Mother. That bullet now rests in the crown of her statue in Fatima. Great strides were made by “tearing down the wall” in his lifetime, but much remained to be done…
In 1997, Pope St. John Paul II asked for an International Congress for studying the words on the Holy Face Medal and Devotion to the Holy Face as a preparation for the Millennium, which he later placed under “the Radiant sign of the Face of Christ.” The medal of the Holy Face of Jesus was made by Bl. Mother Marie Pierina De Micheli, following the request of Jesus and the Blessed Mother in 1936. One side of the medal bears a replica of the Holy Face image and an inscription based on Psalm 66:2: “Illumina, Domine, vultum tuum super nos”, that is: “May, O Lord, the light of Thy countenance shine upon us.” On the other side of the medal, there is an image of a radiant Sacred Host, the monogram of the Holy Name (“IHS”), and the inscription “Mane nobiscum, Domine” or “Stay with us, O Lord.”
“Illumina Domine, Vultum Tuum Super Nos”
Being a good shepherd, Pope St. John Paul II did not leave this world without giving the Church the weapons needed to fight atheistic communism. For this purpose, he directs our eyes to the Face of Jesus as he placed the new Millennnium under “the radiant sign of the Face of Christ.”
“To contemplate the Face of Christ, and to contemplate it with Mary, is the ‘program’ which I have set before the Church at the dawn of the third millennium…It is the Church’s task to reflect the light of Christ in every historical period, to make His Face shine also before new generations of the new Millennium. Our witness, however, would be hopelessly inadequate if we ourselves had not first contemplated His Face.”
Lies, disinformation, propaganda, and fake news that multiply at every click of a computer, must be fought with the “Splendor of the truth shining on the Face of Christ:”
“As a result of that mysterious original sin, committed at the prompting of Satan, the one who is ‘a liar and the father of lies’ (Jn 8:44), man is constantly tempted to turn his gaze away from the living and true God in order to direct it toward idols (cf. 1 Thes 1:9), exchanging ‘the truth about God for a lie’ (Rom 1:25). Man’s capacity to know the truth is also darkened, and his will to submit to it is weakened. Thus, giving himself over to relativism and scepticism (cf. Jn 18:38), he goes off in search of an illusory freedom apart from truth itself...
But, no darkness of error or of sin can totally take away from man the light of God the Creator. In the depths of his heart there always remains a yearning for absolute truth and a thirst to attain full knowledge of it… 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’” (Ps 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” (Cor 1:15), the “reflection of God’s glory” (Heb 1:3), “full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14). Christ is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6). Consequently the decisive answer to every one of man’s questions, his religious and moral questions in particular, is given by Jesus Christ, or rather 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, 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
Carmelite nun Sr. Marie St. Pierre, who received revelations about the devotion to the Face of Jesus, and the danger of communism.
The Church was warned about the threat of communism on March 7, 1847, when Our Lord spoke to a cloistered Carmelite nun, Sr. Marie St. Pierre, “Rejoice, my daughter, the hour approaches of the truth of the most beautiful work which may be under the sun.” “That is,” said Our Lord, because “it is the essence of charity” — like the act of the compassionate woman, known as “Veronica,” who tradition tells us wiped the Face of Jesus on His way to Calvary.* The “most beautiful work” is devotion to the Face of Christ.
At that time in France the seeds of atheistic communism were being planted. Communism wasn’t well known then, and went by many other names, such as socialists, liberals, and communists. Jesus told Sr. Marie “that the sectarians called communists had only made an attempt to blindfold us. Oh! If you only knew their secrets and diabolical machinations! If you could comprehend their anti-Christian principles! They are only waiting a favorable moment to set France in flames, therefore, be earnest in your supplications for the Work of Reparation.” (Devotion to the Holy Face) Sr. Marie St. Pierre wrote, “France is asleep at the mouth of a volcano… They [Communists] usurped the control of the press. They numbered among their party the most distinguished men of the day.” Jesus “commanded to “cross swords with the communists, who as He told me, were the sworn enemies of the Church, and of her Christ.”
Jesus then presented her with the weapons she need to “wage war.” Her “weapons,” of course, were the Holy Name of God, the instruments of the Passion, prayers for the conversion of communists, and the enemies of the Church, all through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary:
“May God arise and may His enemies be scattered,
and may all those who hate Him flee before His Face.
May the thrice Holy Name of God overthrow all their plans.
May the Holy Name of the Living God split them up by disagreements.
May the terrible Name of the God of eternity annihilate all their impiety.
Lord, You do not desire the death of a sinner,
but that he may be converted and live.
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.“
Conversion is turning back to God. In your charity, please pray with all the means the Church has given us, not only for Russia, but for all those who have turned away “for they know not what they do.” So that they “will be converted, and there will be peace”– Our Lady of Fatima.
“May the Lord bless and keep you; may He make His Face shine upon you and be merciful to you; may He turn His Countenance toward you and give you His Peace!” (Num. 6:22-27)
Amen!
St. Michael “Who is like unto God?”
*Pope St. John Paul II wrote this beautiful meditation on the tradition of St. Veronica in 2000, the same year in which he dedicated the millennium to the Face of Christ:
Sixth Station, St. Theresa Church, Ashburn, Virginia
Veronica does not appear in the Gospels. Her name is not mentioned, even though the names of other women who accompanied Jesus do appear. It is possible, therefore, that the name refers more to what the woman did. In fact, according to tradition, on the road to Calvary a woman pushed her way through the soldiers escorting Jesus and with a veil wiped the sweat and blood from the Lord’s face. That face remained imprinted on the veil, a faithful reflection, a “true icon”. This would be the reason for the name Veronica. If this is so, the name which evokes the memory of what this woman did carries with it the deepest truth about her.
One day, Jesus drew the criticism of onlookers when he defended a sinful woman who had poured perfumed oil on his feet and dried them with her hair. To those who objected, he replied: “Why do you trouble this woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me . . . In pouring this ointment on my body she has done it to prepare me for burial” (Mt 26:10, 12). These words could likewise be applied to Veronica. Thus we see the profound eloquence of this event.
The Redeemer of the world presents Veronica with an authentic image of his face. The veil upon which the face of Christ remains imprinted becomes a message for us. In a certain sense it says: This is how every act of goodness, every gesture of true love toward’s one’s neighbor, strengthens the likeness of the Redeemer of the world in the one who acts that way. Acts of love do not pass away. Every act of goodness, of understanding, of service leaves on people’s hearts an indelible imprint and makes us ever more like the One who “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant” (Phil 2:7). This is what shapes our identity and gives us our true name.
This is the deep meaning and call to every Christian revealed in the presence of the unknown woman we call “St. Veronica”– each act of charity, every act of compassion will leave the imprint of the Face of Jesus in our souls, transforming us into His own Image.
The greatest longing of the human soul is to see God face to face.
Detail from Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Paul Rubens, 1609
The Blessed Virgin Mary was the most perfect reflection of the Face of God. Her pure soul was continually turned toward the Face of God, seeking His most Holy Will in all things. At the Incarnation the Holy Face of her son Jesus, true God and true man, was formed in her holy womb; by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary was the first to see Jesus’s human face at His birth, and was closest to Him throughout His life and death. But, although she was immaculately conceived, she could only see the Face of God on earth, as any other human being can, that is, through the veil of faith.
Mary was created by God to be the mother of His Son, therefore she was “full of grace,” and filled with every gift of the Holy Spirit in their perfection. Her soul was “an enclosed garden” which belonged only to God, and in which the Holy Spirit formed the most perfect masterpiece of love. The gaze of her mind and heart was always on the Face of her son Jesus. At the foot of the cross Mary suffered a passion of her own together with her son. As the blood and water flowed from Jesus’s side giving birth to the Church, through her pain and suffering Mary became the Mother of Christ’s mystical Body, with Christ as it’s Head.
Mary adored Jesus beneath the Eucharistic Veil of the appearance of bread. The Virgin of the Host, by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
The joy of seeing Jesus’s Face after the Resurrection was followed by the most painful deprivation of the sight of her son after His Ascension into heaven. Then Mary, with ever increasing love and longing, sought the Face of Christ in the same way that we must seek Him in this life: in His Word, in our neighbor, and in the Eucharist. As she sought Him in these ways, the image of God shining in her soul increased in beauty and splendor as God bestowed grace upon grace on Mary. Though she was the Daughter of the Father, the Mother of the Son, and the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, Mary constantly died to herself and lived for others in perfect charity until finally dying of the burning love and desire to see the Face of God in Heaven. Mary had no attachment to creatures or things of this earth, and having no stain of sin or corruption, she was taken body and soul to Heaven, where she was crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth.
Mary, constantly seeking the Face of God throughout her life until she was assumed into Heaven by God was to be an example for us to follow. Her example may be best summed up in the words of the Servant of God, Père Jacques of Jesus, OCD:
“Let your life be transformed by this constantly burning desire to be willing to die in order to see Christ face to face.”
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Holy Face Veil of Manoppello
(photo: Paul Badde/EWTN)
Prayer to the Holy Face for the liberation from the coronavirus
Lord Jesus, Savior of the world, hope that will never disappoint us, have mercy on us and deliver us from all evil! Please overcome the scourge of this virus which is spreading, heal the sick, preserve the healthy, support those who work for the health of all. Show us your face of mercy and save us in your great love. We ask you through the intercession of Mary, Your Mother and ours, who faithfully accompanies us. You who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.
Illumina Domine Blog - Devotion to The Holy Face 