During Advent the Church celebrates the longing to see God’s Face, together with the Blessed Virgin Mary, with a Triduum (three days of prayer beginning on December 15) and a Feast on December 18th –It is called The Feast of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Longing to See His Face.  (a bit of the history may be found here.) The prayer may also be continued  until Christmas.

On the days leading up to Christmas we are invited to contemplate, together with Mary, the Divine Child within her womb, who is Our Savior.  We too, through sanctifying grace, bear the supernatural image of God within us. Like Mary, we desire to become a peaceful sanctuary for the living God. We are called to be attentive, in prayer, to the faint stirrings of His presence in our hearts, which will fill us with a deep longing to see His Face as we pray:

Prayer for the Triduum and Feast of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Longing to See His Face

“Mary, your life with Jesus was one of the purest, most fervent, most perfect emotions of longing and most eager expectation of the Birth of the Divine Child! How great must have been that longing!  You were longing to see the Face of God and to be happy in the vision.  You were soon really to see the Face of God, the created image of divine perfection, the sight of which rejoices heaven and earth, from which all being derive life and joy; the Face whose features enraptured God from all eternity, the Face for which all ages expectantly yearned.  You were to see this Face unveiled, in all the beauty and grace as the face of your own child. 

Most just indeed it is, O Holy Mother of God, that we should unite in that ardent desire which you had to see Him, who had been concealed for nine months in your chaste womb; to know the features of this Son of the heavenly Father, who is also your own; to come to that blissful hour of His birth, which will give glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to men of good will.  Yes, dear Mother, the time is fast approaching, though not fast enough to satisfy your desires and ours.  Make us re-double our attention to the great mystery; complete our preparation by your powerful prayers for us, so that when the solemn hour has come, our Jesus may find no obstacle to His entrance into our hearts.  Amen.” (Prayer by Rev. Lawrence Lovasik, S.V.D.)

A Prophecy is fulfilled…

Paul Badde, who has written so much about the Holy Face Veil of Manoppello, has sent this prophetic quote from Pope St. John Paul II, on the occasion of the 36th World Communications Day, “Internet: A New Forum for proclaiming the Gospel,” 2002:

“For the Church the new world of cyberspace is a summons to the great adventure of using its potential to proclaim the Gospel message… The Internet causes billions of images to appear on millions of computer monitors around the planet. From this galaxy of sight and sound will the face of Christ emerge and the voice of Christ be heard.”

— Pope St. John Paul II

Pope Benedict XVI echoed the words of John Paul II in Verbum Domini:

In the world of the internet, which enables billions of images to appear on millions of screens throughout the world, the face of Christ needs to be seen and his voice heard, for “if there is no room for Christ, there is no room for man”.

–Pope Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini

The Gospel message is indeed being proclaimed; “the face of Christ” seen, and His voice heard. A four part documentary series is now available on Netflix — “Mysteries of the Faith” — which explores the legendary relics and treasures of Christianity, including the miraculous Veil of the Holy Face of Manoppello, Italy: Il Volto Santo. Antonio Bini, has written on Holyfaceofmanoppelloblogspot.com :

“Millions of people — in over 190 countries of the world — were able to watch the documentary “Mysteries of the Faith.” Unprecedented access was given for the makers of the documentary to the most sacred places of the world. (Full article by Antonio Bini: click here). The official trailer is found below:

“Visible before to God alone and not to the world, God made the Word visible so that the world could be saved by seeing Him.  This mind that entered our world was made known as the Son of God.”

–St. Hippolytus