Reparation to the Holy Face
“O My Jesus! Cast upon us a look of mercy; turn Thy Face upon each one of us, even as Thou didst upon Veronica; not that we may see It with the eyes of our body, for we do not deserve this; but turn IT towards our hearts, that being sustained by Thee, we may draw from that powerful source strength for the combats we must ever wage on earth. Eternal Father, we offer Thee the Adorable Face of Thy Well-Beloved Son for the honor and glory of Thy Holy Name and for the salvation of all men.”
– Prayer of Pope Pius IX
Dear Friends of Carmel,
The winter has been difficult and long for many. And the thought of Lent beginning may be daunting to our weakness. But let us cast off sadness and gloom and welcome this season nonetheless, remembering the goodness and compassion of God and His whole purpose in sending it. Jesus Our Lord leads us!
We encourage you to read past Lenten Newsletters, which tell of the liturgical history of these sacred days, along with suggested prayers, practices, reading. In our present letter, we wish to re-visit and renew a particular devotion that is apt not only for this time of year, but especially for these days in Church and world history: devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus Christ. Please read again our original newsletter about this important devotion, since today we will be adding to, and not repeating, the basic, introductory information of that newsletter.
Devotion to the Holy Face belongs in a special way to the Carmelite Order. Early apparitions, devotions, and prayers, were given to a Carmelite nun, Sister Mary of St. Peter in the mid-19th century. In these revelations, Our Lord foretold approaching political unrest, revolutions, and the scourge of Communism, all as punishment for the sins of men. He impressed upon her the need for reparation, lamenting two sins in particular – blasphemy and the desecration of Sunday – sins against the 2nd and 3rd Commandments: “Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord in vain. Keep holy the Lord’s day.”
Shortly after Sister Mary of St. Peter’s death, Freemasonic riots broke out in Rome, forcing Pope Pius IX to flee the city. In his exile, the pope ordered public prayers to be offered in all of the Churches of Rome and to implore God’s mercy on the Papal States. He also ordered that the Veil of Veronica should be displayed for public veneration for three days. On the final day, January 6th, a stupendous miracle occurred: the Holy Face imprinted on the veil became highly distinct, so much so that it looked alive, glowing with a soft light. The features took on a death-like hue, and the eyes wore an expression of great pain.
Stunned, the canons rang the bells of the church, calling all of the people of the city to witness the miracle which lasted for three hours. On that same evening, artists made detailed images of the miracle, and these were touched to the Veil of Veronica and sent to France and other places abroad for veneration and devotion.
For the next 75 years, additional copies were made of the veil in the same manner and sent to churches and convents in order to promote and spread the devotion. This is the story behind our own image the veil’s image of the Holy Face in our own oratory. It is one of those early original drawings from the miracle. As we mentioned in our past newsletter, we received it as a gift from a good friend of our Community, and it bears the personal seal of Pope Pius IX. It is from this very image that we make the ancient Holy Face plaques that we offer to you. And today, as we begin The Holy Forty Days of Lent, we present a new relic badge. But the story behind the new badge goes a little deeper.
When we received the gift of the image in 2020, we felt that it was Our Lord’s way of renewing this devotion in our Community. That was when we sent the newsletter initially. But recently, when Our Mother Prioress was on her annual retreat, she re-read the book, The Golden Arrow. She was so moved by the words of Our Lord, so much more poignant now than before, in view of what is happening in the world and in the Church today, that she told us all, “We should do more to spread this devotion.”
This work recounts the life, revelations, and writings of Sr. Mary of Saint Peter, the Carmelite nun who received the revelations of Our Lord concerning the Holy Face, including the powerful prayer called the Golden Arrow for reparation of blasphemy and sanctification of souls.
So we brainstormed and started making plans to compose and print more informational/devotional materials; ideas were many and creative. But then, just a few days later, very providentially, we received a largish package in the mail – filled with informational/devotional materials for the Holy Face devotion! The enclosed courteous letter revealed that the writer possessed a relic similar to our own: “I am a curator of a Vatican-sanctioned Relic of St. Veronica’s Veil of the Holy Face of Jesus under the Pontificate of Pope Pius IX in 1855. It is my mission to spread this devotion throughout the 50 states in America…” She movingly related the great need of this devotion in our times, offering us her own packets of materials at no cost, as many as we wanted, if we would only distribute them to as many souls as we could reach. YOU are those souls, dear Friends of Carmel! This unmistakable confirmation from Our Lord of the inspiration and decision of Mother Prioress after her retreat had all the simple-but-divine about it.
So it is with awe and reverence for God’s quiet working in souls to accomplish His designs, we tell the story and offer the packets. These are now available on our website – we only ask the cost of shipping it and the online transactional fee to get it to you. There is a wealth of information in this little packet! Supplies will be limited until after Lent, but we will continue to offer them and renew our supply as she has more available.
A complete prayer book for devotion to the Holy Face – including official documents of the confraternity, litanies, numerous prayers, Stations of the Cross, the chaplet, Mass of the Holy Face, Hymns, Little Office, and more.
This easy to understand book, by a Carmelite nun, details the history of the devotion, connecting it to Sacred Scripture, pointing out its importance for our times and giving easy ways to practice it in modern day society.
A beautiful little booklet about the devotion, including chapters about its importance, meditations, the promises of Our Lord, and many beautiful prayers.
We would also encourage you once again to read our original newsletter about the Holy Face devotion which contains so much more about it. Here, in order to impress on you the importance of this devotion in our days as it was recently impressed upon us, we will only share with you here a few citations from Sister Mary of St. Peter. She writes in her diary:
“God has imposed on me a new mission, at which I would be disturbed were I of any consequence, but as I am nothing but a feeble instrument in his all-powerful hand, I am not alarmed. He has commanded me to cross swords with the Communists, who, as he told me, were the sworn enemies of the Church, and of his Christ. He gave me to understand that the greater number of these renegades were born in the bosom of the Church, of whom they now declare themselves the most bitter enemies….
“What filled my soul with sadness was an interior light which our Lord granted me by which I saw that God’s justice was preparing to send us still other chastisements [there had just been a terrible flooding of the river Loire, which Christ had revealed to her as a punishment for the profanation of Sundays]. Our Lord communicated to me that this time He would use as the instruments of punishment, not the elements, but ‘the malice of revolutionary men.’
“Man is invited to repair the outrages made to His God, and in loving return He promises to restore His image in our souls! Let us, therefore, wipe the august Face of the Savior, soiled with the spittle of blasphemers, and He will wipe our soul, soiled with the spittle of sin.”
The best summary of this timely devotion is the prayer given by Our Lord to Sister Mary, which He called the “golden arrow.” He said to Sister Mary of St. Peter: “My Name is everywhere blasphemed! There are even children who blaspheme!” He then made me see that this frightful sin wounds His divine Heart more grievously than all other sins, showing me how by blasphemy the sinner curses Him to His Face, attacks Him publicly, nullifies his redemption, and pronounces his own judgment and condemnation.”
Our Lord described the act of blasphemy as a poisoned arrow continually wounding His divine Heart. The “Golden Arrow” prayer would have the power of wounding Him delightfully, and which would also heal those other wounds inflicted by the malice of sinners. We give it to you here (and we also had holy cards made with this prayer) with the exact wording as it came from Our Lord, as He was particularly instant on the phrase “in the hells.” Sister Mary of St. Peter expressed her astonishment at the word “hells”,” but Our Lord made her understand that His Justice was also glorified there, and He used the plural to include purgatory where He is also loved and glorified by His suffering souls.
May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most incomprehensible, and unutterable Name of God be always praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified in heaven, on earth and in the hells, by all the creatures of God and by the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen.
“At the Name of Jesus let every knee bow of those that are in heaven on earth and under the earth.”
The dark, cold winter will carry on for us all – and for some, even long past the coming Spring Equinox next month. We must include ourselves among the latter, since our so-far mild winter is predicted soon to become our quite typical Springtime in the Rockies – snowy, blizzardy and cold! But let us all strive this Lent to find strength, patience, charity and all the rest of the virtues of our Suffering Lord – in the light of His countenance. His Face is the window to His very Heart and Soul!
Blessed Lent, in His Holy Face,
Your Carmelite Sisters
* Holy Face Chaplet*
The chaplet of the Holy Face was given to Sister Mary of St. Peter by Our Lord Himself, for the triumph of the Church and the downfall of Her enemies, especially Communism. The prayer said on the individual beads consists of the opening words of the 67th psalm: “Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered. Let them that hate Him flee from before His face.” It is a battle cry, the prayer that proceeded the Ark of the Covenant whenever Moses set out against the enemies of God. St. Athanasius relates that the devils, on being asked what verse in the whole Scripture they feared most replied with this phrase, adding that it always compels them to take flight. We have long offered Holy Face chaplets but recently added new vintage designs, including new sterling silver ones.
* Holy Face Medal *
“This medal is a weapon of defense, a shield of strength, a pledge of love and mercy which Jesus wishes to give to the world in these times of sensuality and hatred against God and the Church. Diabolic snares are being laid to tear the faith from men’s hearts; and evil spreads. True apostles are few, a Divine remedy is necessary, and this remedy is the Holy Face of Jesus.”
– Blessed Mother to Sr. Maria Pierina De Micheli, May 31, 1938
“Our Lord has promised me that all those who defend His cause in this work of reparation, by words, by prayers, or in writing, He will defend before His Father; at their death He will purify their souls by effacing all the blots of sin and will restore to them their primitive beauty.
– Sister Mary de Saint Pierre, March 12, 1846