Devotion & Novena to the Holy Face of Jesus 

By: Elaine Jordan

In Tours, France a young Carmelite nun, Sister Marie de Saint-Pierre (1816-1848), received a series of revelations in the 1840s from Our Lord about a powerful devotion He wished to be established worldwide – the devotion to his Holy Face.

 

The Holy Face on the Shroud of Turin

The express purpose of this devotion was to make reparation for the blasphemies and outrages of the ‘revolutionaries’ of that time, the blasphemies of atheists, freethinkers and Masons, and for blasphemy and the profanation of Sundays by Catholics.

We read in her autobiography:

“Then He unfolded His Heart to me, concentrating therein the powers of my soul, and addressed me thus: ‘My Name is everywhere blasphemed; even little children blaspheme it.’ And He made me understand how that dreadful sin pierced and wounded His Heart more than all other crimes.

“By blasphemy, the sinner outrages Him to His Face, attacks Him openly, and pronounces upon himself his own judgment and condemnation. Blasphemy is a poisoned arrow, wounding His Divine Heart continually. He told me that He would give me a “Golden Arrow” with which to wound Him delightfully and heal the poisonous wounds caused by sin.”

Our Lord then dictated to Sr. Mary the following Golden Arrow prayer, assuring her that every time she said it, she would lovingly wound His Heart.

The Golden Arrow Prayer

May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most incomprehensible and ineffable Name of God be forever praised, blessed, loved, adored, and glorified in Heaven, on earth and in Hell, 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.

Our Lord told Sr. Mary on March 16, 1844: “Oh if you only knew what great merit you acquire by saying even once, ‘Admirable is the Name of God!’ in the spirit of reparation for blasphemy.”

Promises of Our Lord to Sister Marie de Saint-Pierre

St. Therese had a special devotion
to the Holy Face of Jesus

*  “By My Holy Face you shall work wonders.” (October 27, 1845)

*  “All those who honor My Holy Face in a spirit of reparation will thus perform the office of the pious Veronica.” (October 27, 1845)

*  “According to the care you take in making Reparation to My Face, disfigured by blasphemies, so will I care for yours, which has been disfigured by sin. I will reprint on it My Image and render it as beautiful as it was on leaving the baptismal font.” (November 3, 1845)

*  “Our Lord has promised me for all those who defend His cause in this Work of Reparation, by words, by prayers or in writing, that He will defend them before His Father. At their death He will purify their souls by effacing all blots of sin and will restore to them their primitive beauty.” (March 12, 1846)

*  “By My Holy Face you will obtain the conversion of many sinners. Nothing that you ask in making this offering will be refused to you. No one can know how pleasing the sight of My Face is to My Father!” (November 22, 1846)

*  “Our Lord has promised me that He will imprint His Divine likeness on the souls of those who honor His Holy Countenance.” (January 21, 1847)

NOVENA TO THE HOLY FACE

(The novena can also be said anytime – but especially in the nine days leading up to the Feast of the Holy Face on Shrove Tuesday. This year, 2015, begin the novena on Sunday, February 8)

O Lord Jesus Christ, in presenting ourselves before Thy adorable Face, to ask of Thee the graces of which we stand in most need, we beseech Thee above all, to grant us that interior disposition of never refusing at any time what Thou requires of us by Thy holy commandments and divine inspirations. Amen.

O Good Jesus, who has said, “Ask and you shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you,” grant us O Lord, that faith which obtains all, or supply in us what may be deficient. Grant us, by the pure effect of Thy charity, and for Thy eternal glory, the graces that we need and that we seek from Thy infinite mercy. Amen.

Be merciful to us, O my God, and reject not our prayers, when amid our afflictions, we call upon Thy Holy Name and seek with love and confidence Thy adorable Face. Amen.

O Almighty and Eternal God, look upon the Face of Thy Son Jesus. We present It to Thee with confidence to implore Thy pardon. The All-Merciful Advocate opens His Lips to plead our cause. Hearken to His cries, behold His tears, O God, and through His infinite merits, hear Him when He intercedes for us poor miserable sinners. Amen.

Adorable Face of Jesus, my only love, my light and my life, grant that I may know Thee, love Thee and serve Thee alone, that I may live with Thee, by Thee and for Thee. Amen.

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the adorable Face of Thy Beloved Son for the honor and glory of Thy Name, for the conversion of sinners and the salvation of the dying. O Divine Jesus, through Thy Face and Name, save us. Our Hope is in the virtue of Thy Holy Name! Amen.