Pope St. John Paul II

A Test of 2,000 Years

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(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.

And speaking of those who fight the good fight… Read here the response of Archbishop Cordileone to the American Democratic Catholic legislators “Statement of Principals.” with excellent commentary by “One Mad Mom Blog.”

The Key to the Conversion of Russia

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“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.” 

–Pope St. John Paul II

Our Lady of Fatima

The Rosary must be prayed in such a way that we “contemplate the Face of Christ with Mary.”

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.

— Pope St. John Paul II Pray for us!

A Light in Darkness – Pope St. John Paul II

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“I dare to summon the whole Church bravely to cross this new threshold, to put into the deep, …so that now as in the past the great engagement of the Gospel and culture may show to the world ‘the glory of God on the Face of Christ’ (2 Cor 4:6). May the Lord bless all those who work for this aim.”  

~Pope St. John Paul II
St. Pope John Paul II “In the Eucharist,
the Face of Christ is turned towards us.”

The Splendor of the Truth is Found on The Face of Christ

Obedience is not always easy.  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.  This is eloquently proved by man’s tireless search for knowledge in all fields.  It is proved even more by his search for the meaning of life.  The development of science and technology, this splendid testimony of the ultimate religious questions.  Rather, it spurs us on to face the most painful and decisive of struggles, those of the heart and of the moral conscience…

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 (1993)

What does it mean to be a Veronica? — more from Pope St. John Paul II / Veronica Veil, 1480, National Gallery, Washington

Prayer to the Holy Face by Pope John Paul II

Lord Jesus, Crucified and Risen; the image of the glory of the Father,
Holy Face, which looks at us and searches for us, kind and merciful, You who call us to conversion and invite us for the fullness of love, we adore and bless you. In your luminous Face, we learn to love and to be loved, to find freedom and reconciliation, to promote peace, which radiates from you and leads to you.

In your glorified Face we learn to overcome every form of egoism, to hope against every hope, to choose works of life against the actions of death. Give us grace to place you at the centre of our life, to remain faithful amidst dangers and the changes of the world, to our Christian vocation; to announce to all people the power of the Cross and the Word which saves; to be watchful and active, to attend the needs of the little ones; to understand the need of true liberation, which had its beginning in you and will have its end in you.

Lord, grant to your Church to stand like your Virgin Mother, at the glorious Cross, and at the crosses of all people to bring about consolation, hope and comfort.

May the Holy Spirit which you have granted, bring to maturation your work of salvation, through your Holy Face, which shines forever and ever. Amen.

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the Face of Christ.”

(2 Cor. 4:6)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

These are dark times — Please pray the Chaplet of the Holy Face “for the triumph of the Church and the downfall of it’s enemies.”

The Chaplet of the Holy Face

Chaplet of the Holy Face

There are many “Rosaries” or “Chaplets” in addition to the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Little Chaplet of the Holy Face is a gem, which is not only very short, but also very powerful. The words of the Chaplet derive from Psalm 67 (68 in some Bibles). St. Athanasius relates that the devils, on being asked what verse in the whole Scripture they feared most, they replied, ‘That Psalm which begins: “Arise, O Lord, and let Thy enemies be scattered. Let those that hate Him flee before His Face!’ Then they are compelled to take flight.”

The Chaplet of the Holy Face honors the five senses by which Our Lord Jesus suffered in His Holy Face. It is also offered in reparation for blasphemy, sacrilege and indifference by which God is offended, and to entreat God for the triumph of His Church and conversion of its enemies.

The Symbolism of the Holy Face Chaplet: The Chaplet consists of 39 beads. The Cross reminds us of the mystery of Our Redemption. The 33 (“Hail Mary”, or small) beads represent the years of Our Lord’s mortal life on earth. *The three beads near the Cross represent the public years of Jesus’s Life. The remaining 30 (small) beads represent His hidden life. Chaplet is divided into five groups of six in honor of His five senses. The seven “Glory Be’s” which are said within the Chaplet represent the Seven Sorrows of Mary.

How to say the Chaplet of the Holy Face:

LITTLE CHAPLET OF THE HOLY FACE

(The words of the Holy Face Chaplet derive from Psalm 67(68) – St. Athanasius relatesthat the devils, on being asked what verse in the whole Scripture they feared most, replied: “That Psalm which begins: ‘Let God arise, and His enemies be scattered.  Let those that hate Him flee from before His Face.’ “Then they are compelled to take flight.” The seven “Glory Be’s” which are recited within the Chaplet are in honor of the Seven Sorrows of Mary.)

The Chaplet of the Holy Face honors the five senses by which Our Lord Jesus suffered in His Holy Face. It is also offered in reparation for blasphemy, sacrilege and indifferenceby which God is offended, and to entreat God for the triumph of His Church and conversion of its enemies.

All:  +In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

(On the first bead) 

Leader:  My Jesus mercy! 

R:  Glory be 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.

(On the next three beads)

Leader:  Arise, O Lord, and let Thy enemies be scattered.

R:  And let those that hate Thee, flee from before Thy Face!

In honor of all that Our Lord suffered in His Holy Face…

1 – Leader: O Jesus, who endured a kiss of betrayal from Judas as well as the strikes and blows on His Holy Face from sinners  ….Have Mercy on us!

Leader:  My Jesus mercy!   (“Our Father” bead)

R:  Glory be 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.

(On the next six beads)

Leader: Arise, O Lord, and let Thy enemies be scattered.

R: And let those that hate Thee, flee from before Thy Face!

2 – Leader: O Jesus, whose ears were assaulted by the curses and blasphemies which issued from the lips of those whom He created in His love  ….Have Mercy on us!

Leader: My Jesus mercy!  (“Our Father” bead)

R:  Glory be 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.

(On the next six beads)

Leader: Arise, O Lord, and let Thy enemies be scattered.

R: And let those that hate Thee, flee from before Thy Face!

3 – Leader: O Jesus, whose eyes were filled with tears and blood, then shamefully blindfolded by those who refused to look upon Jesus who is the Truth …Have Mercy on us!

Leader: My Jesus mercy!    (“Our Father” bead)

All:  Glory be 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.

(On next six beads)

Leader:  Arise, O Lord, and let Thy enemies be scattered.

R:  And let those that hate Thee, flee from before Thy Face!

4 – Leader: O Jesus, who suffered in His sense of smell, when His Holy Face was defiled and disfigured, covered with spittle and filth  ….Have Mercy on us!

Leader: My Jesus mercy! (“Our Father” bead)

All:  Glory be 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.

(On the next six beads)

Leader:  Arise, O Lord, and let Thy enemies be scattered.

R:  And let those that hate Thee, flee from before Thy Face!

5 – Leader: O Jesus, whose adorable mouth was filled with vinegar and gall  ….Have Mercy on us!

Leader: My Jesus mercy! (“Our Father” bead)

All:  Glory be 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.

(On the next six beads)

Leader: Arise, O Lord, and let Thy enemies be scattered.

R: And let those that hate Thee, flee from before Thy Face!

Conclusion

Leader: O God, our protector, look upon us.

R: And look upon the Face of Thy Christ.  

Glory Be to the Father…

Additional prayers that may be said at the end of the Chaplet. We ask the Blessed Mother to place in the midst of the Church’s enemies all the instruments of the passion. A kingdom divided against itself will fall, so may the enemies of the Church be divided.

May God arise and let His enemies be scattered, and let those that hate Thee, flee from before Thy Face!  

May the thrice holy name of God overcome 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 stamp out all their godlessness.

And because God wills not the death of a sinner, but that they may be converted and live, we pray —  Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.

The Golden Arrow Prayer

All:  MAY the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most incomprehensible andineffable Name of God, be forever praised, blessed, adored, loved and glorified, in heaven, on earth, and in the hells, by all the creatures of God, and by theSacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen.

Jesus, may I seek your Face, may I learn to find it and to reflect it to others. May I know how to discover you in the ordinary happenings of my daily life.  Amen.

“Behold God’s Love For You!” – Part Two

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(Continued from Part One) “On January 26, 1902, at the parish church of Saint-André, a city on the island of La Réunion (French Colony), Abbot Henry Lacombe, pastor of the church, was witness to the miracle that he would recount to thousands of people during the Eucharistic Congress of Angouleme (1904), as well as to the group of priests gathered for a spiritual retreat in the town of Perigueux. The Face of Jesus appeared in the Host which was for many hours witnessed by thousands of people.”

Abbott Lacombe gave this report: “It was January 26, 1902. We were celebrating Perpetual Adoration. The Most Holy Sacrament was exposed in the tabernacle. I began to celebrate the Mass. After the elevation, at the moment of the Our Father, my eyes were lifted toward the Host and I saw a bright halo around the rays of the monstrance. I continued to recite the prayers of the Mass with great agitation in my soul but which I tried to overcome. We came to the moment for Communion and again I looked toward the monstrance. This time I saw a human face, with lowered eyes and a crown of thorns on the forehead. What moved me the most was the dolorous expression painted on the face. The eyelashes were long and thick. I tried not to let on to the presence of the turmoil agitating inside of me. After Mass, I went to the sacristy and summoned the older children from the choir to go to the altar and closely observe the monstrance. The children raced back and told me, ‘Father, we see the head of a man in the host. It is the good Lord revealing Himself!’

A young man of 16, Adam de Villiers, who had studied in a college in France, also arrived. I said to him as well: ‘Go in the church and see if you notice something strange in the Tabernacle.’ The young student went to the sacristy and returned immediately, saying: ‘Father, it is the good Lord who appears in the Host. I see His divine face.’ Since then, all my doubts disappeared. Slowly the entire town went to the church to see the miracle.

Journalists and people from the capital of St. Denis also arrived. The face on the Host suddenly became animated and the crown of thorns disappeared. I used every possible precaution, and fearing the effects from the rays of light, I had all the candles extinguished and the shutters closed. The phenomenon became even more clear. There was a young artist among the visitors who faithfully reproduced the face in the Host. Later, the vision changed again and a crucifix appeared which covered the entire Host from top to bottom. After the Eucharistic blessing and recital of the Tantum Ergo, the vision disappeared.”  (The Eucharistic Miracle of the Island of Reunion)

A second example of the Face of Christ on a Host, which has been recently under investigation, occurred on November 15, 2013 at Christ the King Parish in Kerala, India.  The Face of Christ appeared on the Host as the pastor, Rev. Fr. Thomas Pathickal, was saying the morning Mass.  According to  Christ the King Parish Vilakkannur website   ” A Theological Commission of Syro-Malabar Church made a detailed study of the miraculous incident as per the guidelines of the Holy See and declared that the Eucharist is a Relic of Divinity.”

The archbishop also asked the parish to document “signs and supernatural” occurrences resulting from the alleged Eucharistic miracle. The International Theological Commission also studied the host, saying the Church could approve the miracle.

It was Pope St. John Paul II who first used the phrase, “Eucharistic Face of Christ,” which was previously unknown in the Church.  Pope St. John Paul II, by dedicating the millennium to the Face of Christ, drew back the veil for us, so that like disciples on the road to Emmaus, who recognized Jesus in the “breaking of the bread” (Luke 24:30-32), we too, may seek, find and adore His Face present and hidden in the Eucharist where we may gaze on Him freely in faith.

“May, O Lord, the light of Thy Face shine upon us.”  These words were the inspiration for Pope St. John Paul II to place  the third Millennium under “the radiant sign of  the Face of Christ.” He emphasized the importance of contemplation of the Face of Christ by stating:  “And it is the Church’s task to reflect the light of Christ in every historical period, to make His face shine also before the generations of the new millennium. Our witness, however, would be hopelessly inadequate if we ourselves had not first contemplated His Face.”  One way to do so is by contemplating His Holy Face in His Presence in the Eucharist.

At the age eleven Ven. Carlo Acutis wrote, “The more we receive the Eucharist, the more we become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of Heaven.” A miracle has recently been approved in the cause for his sainthood, and it is a strong possibility that he will be beatified sometime this year, drawing our attention to the miracle of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.  A Joyous Update!: It was just announced that Carlo Acutis will be beatified in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assissi (Where Carlo is buried), on Saturday October 10th, at 4 pm — In the presence of his parents and siblings. 

“Behold God’s Love for You!”

Hands holding a Chalice and Host viewed through the Face on Holy Veil of Manoppello in Italy. (Photo: Paul Badde/EWTN)

 

Restoring the Image of God in Our Souls

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+Prayer for liberation from the Coronavirus by Archbishop Bruno Forte click here.

“Il Volto Santo” The Holy Face of Manoppello. (Photo by Paul Badde/EWTN)

Contemplate the Face of Jesus in His Passion

“There was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him; nor appearance that would attract us to him. He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity. One of those from whom men hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem.” (Isaiah 53:2-3)

(Detail) painting by Hans Holbein the elder.

The sins of humanity against the Face of God are related to the first three commandments: Idolatry, blasphemy, profanation of the Holy Name and of the Holy Day of Sunday. 

Mankind has turned from the Face of God and toward idols. We have turned away from the Face of God by blaspheming Him, destroying other human beings made in His image, and using God’s life-giving Name as a curse. We have rejected Him on the one day out of seven that He has given us to rest, and a spend time with Him. Like Jesus’s  tormentors in His Passion, humanity has blindfolded Jesus; striking Him, and spitting in His Face; while at the same time, refusing to look upon Him who is the Truth. 

While we cannot change the whole of humanity, we can begin with ourselves. God looks at our souls; broken, disfigured, and in various states of decay. When we “turn back to His Face,” the Divine Artist looks on us with love and restores His image in us.

Our Lord revealed the work of reparation, which is devotion to the Holy Face, “the most beautiful work under the sun,” to Sr. Marie St. Pierre, a Carmelite nun.  Jesus told her that the image of His Holy Face is like a Divine stamp, which, if applied to souls through prayer, has the power of imprinting anew within them the image of God.

This is Sr. Marie St. Pierre’s beautiful 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 that the image of God may once more be reproduced in our souls.  Amen.”

 

Miraculous Veil, the “Vera Icon” or True Image of the”Holy Face of Manoppello” in Italy Photo:Paul Badde/EWTN

“St. Veronica”

“St. Veronica,” refers to an unknown woman, not mentioned in the Bible, yet immortalized in every Catholic church at the Sixth Station of the Cross, for her act of compassion to Jesus who left the image of His Face on her veil.

Pope St. John Paul II wrote this beautiful meditation on 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.

Prayer of St. Alphonsus Liguori, from the Sixth Station of the Cross:

My most beloved Jesus, Thy Face was beautiful before, but in this journey it has lost all it’s beauty, and wounds and blood have disfigured it. Alas, my soul also was once beautiful, when it received Thy grace in Baptism; but I have disfigured it by my sins; Thou alone, my Redeemer, can restore it to its former beauty. Do this by Thy Passion, O Jesus.

When we turn to His Face, in prayer, and by acts love and service to our neighbor, He is beautifying and restoring our own souls.

The Holy Face of Manoppello- photo: Paul Badde/EWTN

 

The Shroud of Turin will be displayed via live stream on Holy Saturday: Information here.

Beautiful video also airing on EWTN — from Vaticano — “The Face of God:”

Fr. John Paul Mary, MFVA – homily April 3, 2020

 

Pope St. John Paul II and “the Veronica”

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Paul Badde pondering the Holy Veil of Manoppello Photo: Alan Holdren

Paul Badde has written another fine article, “Veronica’s Heart or The True Canvas of God” which first appeared in the Italian Monthly Tempi. In the article Paul explores the roots of Pope St. John Paul II’s deep devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus, which led to his dedicating the millennium to the Face of Christ, as well as the connection to the rediscovery of the Veil of Manoppello, Italy — believed to be “the Veronica” or the true image of the Face of Christ.

The fact that Pope St. John Paul II and both his successors Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis strongly emphasized devotion to the Face of Christ is something that should cause every Christian to ask themselves “why?” What is its importance for the Church, and for each individual to seek the “true Face of Christ?” Raymond Frost, who writes the Holy Face of Manoppello Blog has translated Paul’s article into English. It is certainly worth a read… click here to read…

Veronica’s Heart

 

 

 

 

Transfigured

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And He was Transfigured before them, and His Face shone like the sun… –Matthew 17:2

Transfiguration – Raphael

 

Please pray today for men and women in every vocation in life, that in seeking God’s Will, they may transfigured into the image of Christ, and become faithful witnesses to Him in the Church and in the world:

Good Father, in Christ Your Son You reveal to us Your love, You embrace us as Your children and You offer to us the possibility of discovering in Your Will the lines of our true face.

Father, help us to be holy as You are holy.  We pray You, never allow Your Church to lack holy ministers and apostles who, with the word and the sacraments, may open the way to the encounter with You. 

Merciful Father, give to lost humanity men and women who, through the witness of a life transfigured to the image of Your Son, may walk joyfully with their other brothers and sisters towards our heavenly homeland.

Our Father, with the voice of the Holy Spirit, and trusting in the maternal intercessions of Mary, we earnestly beseech You; send to your Church priests who will be courageous witnesses to Your infinite beauty.  Amen!

–Pope St. John Paul II, Prayer for Vocations

Holy Veil of Manoppello
Photo: Paul Badde/EWTN

Veil of Manoppello Photo: Paul Badde/EWTN

” O God, you have scattered the darkness with your light and have poured your light into our hearts so that we might look upon the radiant Face of Jesus Christ, –Nourish in us the desire to contemplate your beloved Son. –Lord, in your light may we see light.” –from Divine Office

Holy Veil of Manoppello, photo: Patricia Enk

Peace is Within Our Reach – Contemplating the Face of Christ with Mary

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Dear Readers,  

Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has asked the faithful to join him on May 1st in praying the rosary for peace, especially in Syria, and to pray the rosary each day in May with peace as the intention.  So, for the beautiful month of May, dedicated to Our Mother Mary, I hope you will not mind this re-post from Oct. 7. 2017, “To Bring Peace to the World.”  Please join in the Holy Father’s intention in praying the Rosary…peace is within our reach!

(Please include in your rosary intentions: “Protect Ireland from abortion” Peace in the womb)

                        “To Bring Peace to the World”

“Do not be afraid, I will not harm you.  I come from heaven…Are you willing to offer yourselves to God and bear all sufferings He wills to send you, as an act of reparation for the conversion of sinners?  Then you are going to have much to suffer, but the grace of God will be your comfort.” –The words of Our Lady to the three shepherd children of Fatima.

One hundred years ago, on May 13th, 1917, the Blessed Mother appeared to three children in Portugal with a message from Heaven for the world.  She requested that the children, Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco, come on the 13th of the month for the next six months. Our Lady told the children that Jesus wanted to use the children to make His mother known and loved, and to establish devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary throughout the world.  In each apparition, the Blessed Mother asked that the Rosary be prayed every day “to bring peace to the world.” In her last visit on October 13th, 1917, she told the children, “I am the Lady of the Rosary.”

“To bring peace to the world” is no little thing.  The world is filled with division, violence, and death.  It would take a miracle of God to bring peace from the chaos that surrounds us.  God has always willed to show forth His power and glory through the smallest and weakest.  He has sent his own Mother to earth with a delicate Rosary in her hands as an unlikely but powerful weapon against evil, if only we co-operate with His Divine Plan by praying it.  It is not a vain repetition of words, but the contemplation of the Face of Christ through the eyes of His Mother; and therein lies its power.

Contemplating the Face of Christ with Mary

Pope St. John Paul II

When he placed the New Millennium under “the Radiant sign of the Face of Christ” Pope St. John Paul II wrote:

“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.” 

The Rosary is a traditional Christian prayer directed to the contemplation of Christ’s Face. “Without contemplation, the Rosary is a body without a soul,” says Pope St. John Paul II, “and runs the risk of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas, in violation of the admonition of Christ.”

Virgin and Child,1510

Contemplation is a gift, a grace, from God. It is a communion in which God transforms a soul into His likeness. To put it more simply, as St. Teresa of Jesus says, contemplation is “a close sharing between friends…taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us.”  Contemplation is not something beyond our reach however–we have an incomparable model in Mary; the eyes of her heart were always turned toward His Face. To dispose our souls to receive this great gift of God we need only reach for a Rosary and pray it with humility, listening attentively in the Spirit together with Mary, in silent love–that veil of mystery–to the Father’s voice. When we contemplate the scenes or mysteries of the Rosary in union with Mary, the Rosary becomes an unceasing praise of God; a way to learn from her about her son, Jesus, to discover His secrets and understand His message for us.

To recite the Rosary, which can be called a compendium of the Gospel, Pope St. John Paul II says, “is to contemplate the Face of Christ in union with, and at the school of, His Most Holy Mother…Against the background of the words of the Ave Maria the principal events of the life of Jesus Christ pass before the eyes of the soul. They take shape in the complete seriesIMG_0915-1 of the joyful, [luminous,] sorrowful and glorious mysteries, and they put us in living communion with Jesus through–we might say through the heart of his Mother…The Rosary belongs among the finest and most praiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation…To look upon the Face of Christ, to recognize its mystery amid the daily events and sufferings of His human life, and then to grasp the divine splendor definitively revealed in the Risen Lord, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father; this is the task of every follower of Christ and therefore the task of each one of us. In contemplating Christ’s Face we become open to receiving the mystery of Trinitarian life, experiencing ever anew the love of the Father and delighting in the joy of the Holy Spirit. St. Paul’s words can then be applied to us ‘Beholding the glory of the Lord, we are being changed into His likeness, from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.’” (Rosarium Virginus Mariae) 

"The contemplation of Christ's Face cannot stop at the image of the Crucified One. He is the Risen One!"~St. Pope John Paul II
“The contemplation of Christ’s Face cannot stop at the image of the Crucified One. He is the Risen One!”~ Pope St. John Paul II, ( Holy Face of Manoppello – the Sudarium of Christ, Photo: Patricia Enk)

By keeping our eyes fixed on the Face of Jesus as we pray the Rosary, together with Mary, through her maternal intercession, we may obtain great victories through the heart of her Son Jesus, who obtained for all mankind the greatest victory over sin and death by His Resurrection.

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“I dare to summon the whole Church bravely to cross this new threshold, to put into the deep…so that now as in the past the great engagement of the Gospel and culture may show to the world ‘the glory of God on the Face of Christ’ (2 Cor 4:6). May the Lord bless all those who work for this aim.”  ~Pope St. John Paul II

The Deepest Truth About “St. Veronica”

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St. Veronica statue by Francesco Mochi, 1629

Within the center of St. Peter’s Basilica are four massive niches. In each niche there are four titanic statues of saints, standing 10 meters high: St. Andrew, the first disciple called by Christ, St. Longinus, the soldier who pierced Jesus’s side with his lance, St. Helena, who discovered the True Cross. The fourth statue depicts “St. Veronica,” an unknown woman, not mentioned in the Bible, yet immortalized in every Catholic church at the Sixth Station of the Cross, for her act of compassion to Jesus who left the image of His Face on her veil.

Pope St. John Paul II wrote this beautiful meditation on 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.

 

 

 

Jesus’s Self-Portrait

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The Beatitudes by Carl Bloch

Did you know that there exists, in this world, a self-portrait of Jesus?  Yes, it is true. Pope St. John Paul II has written about this self-portrait in Veritatis Splendor, and so did Pope Benedict XVI in Jesus of Nazareth.  Jesus painted this masterpiece of Himself on a mountain, where He prayed “face-to-face with the Father.” On the mountain of the Beatitudes, Jesus painted in deep, rich hues, a self-portrait of crucified love for us to contemplate and imitate:     

The Beatitudes

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.  Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Mt. 5:1-12)

The Beatitudes, Pope St. John Paul II says in Veritatis Splendor, “are a sort of self- portrait of Christ, and for this very reason are invitations to discipleship and to communion of life with Christ.”  In Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI describes the Sermon on the Mount as a “hidden Christology.” He writes, “Anyone who reads Matthew’s text attentively will realize that the Beatitudes present a sort of veiled interior biography of Jesus, a kind of portrait of His figure.  He who had no place to lay his head (Mt. 8:20) is truly poor; he who can say, “Come to me…for I am meek and lowly of heart” (Mt. 11:28-29) is truly meek; he is the one who is pure of heart and so unceasingly beholds God.  He is the peacemaker, he is the one who suffers for God’s sake.”  

The brushstrokes of the Master are the Christian virtues by which He reveals His Face: Justice, Mercy, Humility, Meekness, Purity of Heart.  Jesus painted this self-portrait as an invitation for those who seek His Face to follow Him as His disciples, calling us to communion with Him, accompanying Him to the Cross. 

“If you say, ‘show me your God,’ I should like to answer you, ‘show me the man who is in you’… For God is perceived by men who are capable of seeing Him, who have the eyes of their spirit open…Man’s soul must be as pure as a shining mirror.”  –Theophilus of Antioch 

“Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God” (Mt. 5)
Holy Face “Il Volto Santo” of Manoppello, photo: Paul Badde/EWTN