Holy Face of Jesus Devotion Booklet

the holy face devotion contents: the story of the holy face: pg 2: the 19th century revelations pg 3-4: the promises and the golden arrow prayer pg 5-6: the miracle of 1849 and the holy face relics pg 6: ven. leo dupont, the holy man of tours pg 7: further 19th century developments pg 8: the holy face of jesus and the turin shroud pg 9-10: the 20th century and the holy face medal pg 11: eucharistic devotion to the holy face of jesus pg 12 (top): the first three commandments prayers of the holy face pg 12-13: opening prayer and prayer to appease god’s justice and draw down mercy on us pg 14: litany to the holy face of jesus pg 17: st thérèse’s prayer to the holy face pg 18-21: chaplet to the holy face pg 21-22: prayer for the settlement of all our needs! get involved wherever you are pg 23: holy face resources pg 24-25: holy face materials order form pg 26: call to apostleship of the holy face... 1

the 19th century revelations see pg 12 for prayers… devotion to the holy face was revealed by jesus to sr. marie of st. peter (1816-1848), a carmelite nun, in tours, france, fifty years after the devastation of the french revolution. the primary purpose of the devotion is to make reparation for the breaking of the first three commandments: (1): denial of god / atheism / communism (2): blasphemy (3): the profaning of sundays and holy days of obligation. jesus urged this 'work of reparation' be spread to every town and lamented any that did not, such is the power of this devotion against evil. he further emphasised that this devotion is both a "weapon and a shield." with sr marie of st peter’s death in 1848, devotee and businessman leo dupont, continued praying that the prayers would be made public. 2

promises given to sr. marie of st. peter to those who pray the prayers 1. all those who honour my face in a spirit of reparation will by doing so perform the office of the pious veronica. according to the care they take in making reparation to my face, disfigured by blasphemers, so will i take care of their souls, which have been disfigured by sin. my face is the seal of the divinity, which has the virtue of reproducing in souls the image of god. 2. those who by words, prayers or writing defend my cause in this work of reparation i will defend before my father, and will give them my kingdom. 3. by offering my face to my eternal father, nothing will be refused, and the conversion of many sinners will be obtained. 4. by my holy face, they will work wonders, appease the anger of god and draw down mercy on sinners. 5. as in a kingdom they can procure all that is desired with a coin stamped with the king’s effigy, so in the kingdom of heaven they will obtain all they desire with the precious coin of my holy face. 3

6. those who on earth contemplate the wounds of my face shall in heaven behold it radiant with glory. 7. they will receive in their souls a bright and constant irradiation of my divinity, that by their likeness to my face they shall shine with particular splendour in heaven. 8. i will defend them, i will preserve them and i assure them of final perseverance. the golden arrow prayer 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 under the earth, 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 dictated this prayer to sr. marie of st. peter to atone for the sins of blasphemy against god’s name. just as blasphemy is like a ‘poisoned arrow’ continually wounding god’s heart, she saw in a vision that this ‘golden arrow’ had the 4

power to wound him ‘delightfully’. our lord also revealed to her the inseparable connection between honouring the unutterable name of god through this prayer and venerating the holy face of jesus. sr. marie of st. peter saw how recitation of the golden arrow prayer, caused torrents of graces to stream for the conversion of sinners. the 1849 miracle and the holy face relics during political unrest, on 6th january 1849, the relic of st. veronica’s veil, was exposed for public veneration in st. peter’s basilica at the vatican. for a three hour period, a vision of the face of jesus appeared distinctly in front of the veil, as if living, illuminated by a soft light and thousands witnessed the miracle, many weeping openly. artists’ drawings of the vision were copied and in turn touched to veronica’s veil itself, the relic of the true cross and the spear that pierced jesus’ side. 5

these new ‘holy face relics’ were framed, with a red wax vatican seal and distributed worldwide. the superior of sr. marie of st. peter’s convent gave one to their zealous patron, venerable leo dupont. the holy man of tours: leo dupont venerable leo dupont, a lawyer, was inspired to burn an oil lamp perpetually before the holy face relic he had received and with a simple blessing with the oil, invited people to pray the holy face prayers with him. a torrent of first class miracles took place over a 30 year period under his patronage. leo worked for publication of the prayers and for jesus’s request: that a praying association or confraternity would be established. yet only when old and infirm himself, were his prayers answered. first in tours, then internationally, the devotion was approved by pope leo xiii in 1885, establishing a global arch-confraternity. its headquarters are based in leo’s old home, now the oratory of the holy face, tours, france. 6

further 19th century developments at 12 years, thérèse martin, was enrolled into the new archconfraternity of the holy face. her love for the holy face impacted her deeply and she added it to her new name on entering religious life, thérèse of the child jesus and the holy face. at her beatification, her sister, pauline noted that: ‘as tender as her devotion was to the child jesus, it cannot be compared with her devotion to the holy face’. in his holy face, she identified in his great suffering, his great love. whereas the year after sr. marie of st. peter’s death, in 1849, the vatican miracle resulted in the generation of the holy face relics, following st. thérèse’s death in 1897, science and faith collided in the first imaging of the shroud of turin, resulting to date, in the conversion of at least one thousand formerly atheistic top scientists to belief in god. 7

the holy face of jesus & the turin shroud prior to 1898, we only had the artists’ representations (right) of the holy face from the vatican miracle of 1849. what is the difference between the above image and the shroud image below? with the advance of modern photographic techniques, the shroud of turin, held to be the authentic face of jesus, appeared on the world stage in 1898. no pigment or paint traces have been found. blood analysis indicate a violent death, while an image of a coin on the eye (a burial custom of the time) was identified as a ’lepton’, minted in ad 30. no scientist can reproduce the shroud to this day and the university of padua has carbon dated it to a period including the life of christ. 8

the 20th century and the holy face medal on the first friday of lent 1936, blessed mother maria pierina de micheli of the daughters of the immaculate conception reported the first of a series of visions of jesus and our lady. our lady asked her to have a medal struck, which the roman curia based on the shroud of turin in 1940. one side has the image of the holy face and the words of ps 66:2: “illumina domine vultum tuum super nos” (may the light of your face, oh lord, shine upon us). the reverse side depicts the sacred host, the letters ihs and “mane nobiscum domine” (stay with us, oh lord). sister also reported jesus’ desire for a special feast day on the tuesday preceding ash wednesday (shrove tuesday), in turn preceded by a nine day novena of prayer. the holy face medal became famous for the miracles and spiritual favours associated with its use. pope pius xii received the first medal publicly and in 1958, declared the feast of the holy face of jesus for all roman catholics on shrove tuesday. 9

our lady told blessed maria pierina that the medal is: “a weapon for defence, a shield for courage, a token of love and mercy in these troubled days of lust, evil, loss of faith and hatred for god and for his church. whoever wears this scapular (medal) and, if possible, pays a weekly visit to the blessed sacrament on tuesdays in a spirit of reparation to the holy face will be granted the gift of a strong faith and the grace to fly to its defence conquering if need be all interior and exterior difficulties. moreover, they will meet their death peacefully, under the loving gaze of my divine son.” st. pio of pietrelcina reportedly handed out these medals saying that the holy face devotion is ‘your ticket or passport to heaven’. soldiers in the second world war, who wore them were also reportedly spared death. 10

eucharistic devotion to the holy face in the 19th century, sr. marie of st. peter wrote: “in the blessed sacrament of the altar, his adorable face is more dazzling than the sun. he then once more promised me to imprint his divine likeness upon the souls of those who honour the features of his face”. our lord also told her: “i seek veronicas to wipe and venerate my divine face, which has but few adorers”. in the 20th century, jesus told blessed maria pierina, that visits to the blessed sacrament on tuesdays in reparation to the holy face, bestows especial graces. another modern saint: st. gaetano catanoso (right) said: “if we wish to adore the real face of jesus..., we can find it in the divine eucharist, where with the body and blood of jesus christ, the face of our lord is hidden under the white veil of the host". pope benedict xvi stated, we must allow ourselves be transformed by “the radiance of his face”. and referred to: “that face concealed in the eucharistic signs”. 11

breaking of the first three commandments for which the holy face devotion makes reparation (1): denial of god: atheism and communism. (2) blasphemy: the abuse of the holy name. (3) disrespect for sundays and holy days of obligation. of note, in the 1840s, jesus warned about the rise of atheistic communism and exhorted prayers for many souls being lost eternally, long before fatima. the prayers of reparation to the holy face of jesus (pray in full on sundays, holy days or any day in your prayer meetings. pray all bold red parts in common). dear lord, through the sorrowful and immaculate heart of mary, we offer you these prayers in reparation for the sins, which offend god the most in these modern times, the sins of blasphemy and the profanation of sundays and your holy days of obligation. 12

prayer to appease god’s justice and draw down mercy on us almighty and eternal father, since it has pleased our divine saviour, to reveal to mankind in modern times the power residing in his holy face, we now avail ourselves of this treasure in our great need. since our saviour, himself promised that by offering to you his holy face, disfigured in the passion, we can procure the settlement of all the affairs of our household and that nothing, whatsoever will be refused to us, we now come before your throne. eternal father, turn away your angry gaze from our guilty people, whose face has become unsightly in your eyes. look instead upon the face of your beloved son; for this is the face of him in whom you are well pleased. we now offer you, his holy face covered with blood, sweat, dust, spittle and shame, in reparation for the worst crimes of our age, which are atheism, blasphemy and the desecration of your holy days. we thus hope to appease your anger justly provoked against us. the all-merciful advocate, opens his mouth, to plead our cause; listen to his cries, behold his tears, oh god and through the merits of his holy face, hearken to him, when he intercedes for us poor miserable sinners. amen. 13

litany of the holy face of jesus i salute thee, i adore thee and i love thee, oh adorable face of jesus, my beloved, noble seal of the divinity! outraged anew by blasphemers, i offer thee, through the heart of thy blessed mother, the worship of all the angels and saints, most humbly beseeching thee to repair and renew in me and in all men thine image disfigured by sin. amen. note: the response to all the following invocations is: r: have mercy on us o adorable face which was adored, with profound respect by mary and joseph when they saw thee for the first time: r: have mercy on us o adorable face which ravished with joy, in the stable of bethlehem, the angels, the shepherds and the magi: r: have mercy on us o adorable face which transpierced with a dart of love in the temple, the saintly old man simeon and the prophetess anna: r: have mercy on us o adorable face which filled with admiration the doctors of the law when thou appeared in the temple at the age of twelve years: r: have mercy on us o adorable face which possesses beauty always ancient and always new: r: have mercy on us 14

o adorable face which is the masterpiece of the holy ghost, in which the eternal father is well pleased: r: have mercy on us o adorable face which is the ineffable mirror of the divine perfections: r: have mercy on us oh adorable face of jesus, which was so mercifully bowed down on the cross on the day of thy passion, for the salvation of the world! once more today in pity bend down towards us poor sinners. cast upon us a glance of compassion and give us thy peace. o adorable face which became brilliant like the sun and radiant with glory on the mountain of tabor: r: have mercy on us o adorable face which wept and was troubled at the tomb of lazarus: r: have mercy on us o adorable face which was rendered sad at the sight of jerusalem, and shed tears on that ungrateful city: r: have mercy on us o adorable face which was bowed down to the ground in the garden of olives and covered with confusion for our sins: r: have mercy on us o adorable face which was covered with the sweat of blood: r: have mercy on us 15

o adorable face which was struck by a vile servant, covered with a veil of shame and profaned by the sacrilegious hands of thine enemies: r: o adorable face which by its divine glance wounded the heart of st. peter with a dart of sorrow and love r: be merciful to us, oh my god! do not reject our prayers, when in the midst of our afflictions, we call upon thy holy name and seek with love and confidence thine adorable face o adorable face which was washed and anointed by mary and the holy women and covered with a shroud: r: have mercy on us o adorable face which was all resplendent with glory and beauty on the day of the resurrection: r: o adorable face which is hidden in the eucharist: r: o adorable face which will appear at the end of time in the clouds with great power and great majesty: r: o adorable face which will make sinners tremble, have mercy on us: r: have mercy on us o adorable face which will fill the just with joy for all eternity: r: have mercy on us o adorable face which merits all our reverence, our homage and our adoration: r: have mercy on us oh lord, show us thy face, and we shall be saved! (x 3 times) 16

prayer of st thérèse of the child jesus to the holy face oh jesus, who in thy bitter passion didst become “the most abject of men, a man of sorrows”, i venerate thy sacred face whereon there once did shine the beauty and sweetness of the godhead; but now it has become for me as if it were the face of a st. thérèse of the child jesus and of the holy face leper! nevertheless, under those disfigured features, i recognise thy infinite love and i am consumed with the desire to love thee and make thee loved by all men. the tears, which well up abundantly, in thy sacred eyes appear to me, as so many precious pearls that i love to gather up, in order to purchase the souls of poor sinners by means of their infinite value. oh 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. amen. 17

chaplet to the holy face of jesus the chaplet of reparation was composed by sister marie of st peter after jesus asked her to battle in prayer against the “enemies of god”, especially the spirits of atheism and communism’s assaults on faith. on the crucifix: introduction: eternal father, i offer you the cross of our lord, jesus christ and all the other instruments of his holy passion, that you may put division in the camp of your enemies for as your beloved son has said “a kingdom divided against itself shall fall”. on the five beads: recite 5 short invocations: 1) may god arise and let his enemies be scattered and let those who hate him flee before his face! 2) may the thrice holy name of god overthrow all their plans! 3) may the holy name of the living god split them up by disagreements! 4) may the terrible name of the god of eternity stamp out all their godlessness! 5) lord, i do not desire the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live. “father, forgive them for they know not what they do”. 18

on the medal: the golden arrow prayer (see pg. 4 for full explanation) 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 under the earth, 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. note: the loop of the chaplet, comprises 33 small beads to honour our lord’s earthly years. these are divided into 5 sets of 6 small beads, to make reparation for the sins of blasphemy against our lord's face through his five senses; sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. the last three beads are in honour of the three years of our lord's public ministry on earth. recite psalm 68:1 on the 33 small beads: arise, oh lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those that hate you flee before your face r. on each of the six beads between each set say: my jesus mercy, glory be to the father etc. 20

returning to the medal: final prayers: eternal father, i offer you the holy face of jesus, covered with blood, sweat, dust and spittle, in reparation for the crimes of communists, blasphemers, and for the profaners of the holy name and of the holy day of sunday. amen. recite jesus’ words to blessed maria pierina: “every time my face is contemplated, i will pour out my love into the heart of those persons and by means of my holy face, the salvation of many souls will be obtained” 21 prayer for the settlement of all our needs oh eternal father, since it has pleased our divine saviour to reveal to mankind in our present century the power residing in his holy face, we now avail ourselves of this treasure in our great need. since our saviour himself promised that by offering to you, oh eternal father, the holy face disfigured in the passion we can procure the settlement of all the

affairs of our household and that nothing whatsoever will be refused us we now come before your throne. offering to you, oh god, this adorable countenance disfigured with painful bruises and covered with shame and confusion, we beg through the merits of this holy face to obtain these our most pressing needs…(state intentions here). grant us pardon eternal father for the worst crimes of our age, which are atheism, blasphemy and the desecration of your holy days. avert from us destruction by war and its consequences, which loom through the malice of revolutionary men, who have risen up to stamp out religion from the face of the earth, through false indoctrination and who now stand ready to impose their wicked designs with militaristic force. may this offering of the holy face of our saviour, before your throne of majesty, obtain for us deliverance from these evils. send us, oh god, zealous and enlightened labourers by conferring many vocations to the priesthood and to religious orders, so that by their prayers, their works and their sacrifices they may spread the blessings of your church and confound your enemies. amen. 22

holy face resources: the golden arrow the writings of 19th century mystic, sr. marie of st. peter. her early life and the revelations of the holy face. €15 plus p & p of: roi and ni: €4; uk: €7 worldwide: €10 god demands reparation a biography of ven. leo dupont, “wonder worker of the 19th century”. his recitation of the holy face prayers resulted in decades of miracles. €15 plus p & p of: roi and ni: €4; uk: €7 worldwide: €10 cd: the holy face of jesus a presentation on the history, promises and miracles of the holy face of jesus featuring patrick mccrystal, hli ireland. €5 plus p & p of: roi and ni: €3; worldwide: €5 23

→ n r u t e r d n a e n i l s i h t g n o l a t u c order holy face materials here recommended donations are in euros  tick items, cut out and return to office and indicate quantity of each item needed  books €15.00 & see cost p & p on pg 23  cd € 5.00 each plus see p & p on pg 23  entire “prayer pack” €12.50 plus p & p: roi and ni €3, uk €6, worldwide €8 includes all the items below and more  blessed holy face medal (€0.35)  blessed holy face image (a4) (€1 )  holy face prayer booklet (€1)  holy face prayer meeting guidelines (free)  nine day novena booklet (€2)  holy face chaplet beads (€3)  holy face chaplet card (€0.25)  golden arrow prayer card (€0.10) or order online at: www.theholyface.com  24

 cut along this line and return name: address:  5 2 email: phone: please tick box to receive our informative newsletters and to receive all our communications. i enclose donation of legal declaration: your information will only be used in pursuit of our mission to enhance our communications with you, will be maintained safely on our secure database and will not be held longer than our retention policies. furnishing your details registers your consent for us to communicate with you across all channels including email, by text, phone and post in the advancement of hli (ireland)’s life, faith and family mission. your information will not be given to a third party. you may request removal from our mailing list at any time. signature: cut out and return form to: human life international (ireland), guadalupe centre, main street, knock, claremorris, co. mayo, f12 k709, ireland. towards these items and your work.

call to apostleship of the holy face: prayer groups: why not include the full holy face prayers (15-20 minutes) in your existing prayer group weekly or monthly? or daily pray one of the five (3 minutes) prayers mon to fri? or start a group at home, in church or online? let us know so we can advertise it for you! public good friday vigils take place around ireland yearly. st. louis marie de montfort noted that public prayer is more powerful than private prayer. some groups now pray publicly weekly or monthly! pray for your leaders: also, st. paul said to pray for your leaders. is there a leader in a particular field you would you like to spiritually adopt in your holy face prayers? sponsorship: why not sponsor a banner for your prayer group, inside or out? or sponsor our holy face postcards in an area, or a temporary or permanent public billboard? 26

why the holy face devotion? our lady to blessed maria pierina de micheli: “in these times of sensuality and hatred against god and the church, a divine remedy is required and that remedy is the holy face of jesus” order more materials from: human life international (ireland), guadalupe centre, main street, knock, claremorris, co. mayo, f12 k709, ireland. tel: (094) 9375993 email: mail@humanlife.ie website: www.humanlife.ie great information and photos at: www.theholyface.com you can also order materials: e.g. medals, booklets & prayer packs, on pg. 24 of this booklet or contact us at: info@theholyface.com / www.facebook.com/ theholyface & www.youtube.com/theholyface (information in this booklet is derived from: “the golden arrow,” tan books, www.holyface.com & www.holyfacedevotion.com) advancing and promoting the authentic teachings of the catholic church in life, faith and family by prayer, service and education. c.r.a. no.: 20029814 charity no: chy 11138