I recently found a book by a priest, Fr. Lawrence Daniel Carney III, ‘The Secrets of the Holy Face, the devotion destined to save society.’ It has been in publication for about 3 years. The title caught my attention. I had never heard of such a devotion. * (I have since obtained four other books on the subject.)
Every person, whether they acknowledge it or not, is on a spiritual journey. Those who recognize it will usually advance in the spiritual life, beyond just attending church. Learning about Saints has helped me tremendously. Not only have I learned about their virtues, which we are called to imitate, but also how they managed challenges.
Throughout history, saints have brought us insights into deepening our faith. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French nun, brought us the devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. (1670’s). Jesus visited her in private revelations. As a result of this devotion, the Church dedicates the month of June to Jesus’ Sacred Heart. As a side note, in the Gay community, June is “celebrated” as Pride Month. Somehow, I do not think this is just a mere coincidence, but a slap in the face to Catholics by Satan. What was the reason for Satan’s fall? Pride. Margaret Mary was not canonized as a saint until 1920. The Church takes her time proclaiming saints, apparitions, and devotions.
Leaving church one day, I stopped to talk to another parishioner I had just recently become acquainted with. I asked her if she had heard about the Holy Face book. (I had just ordered it.) She told me to wait there. She went to her car and brought me out a little gold medal. The kind you wear on a necklace. It was round, with the face of Jesus on one side and Latin writing on the back. “Mane nobiscum Domine” or “Stay with us, O’ Lord.” She knew all about it but had not read the book. That affirmed for me that I should look further into this devotion.
The Holy Face Tradition
This story begins over 2,000 years ago. A woman, “Veronica,” was said to have wiped the face of Jesus during His Passion. He left an image of His suffering face on it. Tradition says a woman broke through the crowd to aid Jesus as He carried His cross. She offered her veil to wipe His face of sweat, dirt, blood, and spittle. In gratitude, he left the image of his face on it. Her name was not Veronica. But she became known as Veronica because Veronica was Latin for Vera Icon, or “true image.”
This snapshot of history is in every Catholic church in the 6th Station of the Cross. You will find every Catholic church with 14 Stations of the Cross (14 pictures, wall sculptures, or stained-glass images of Jesus’ passion from arrest to being placed in the tomb). This image, though His eyes are closed, shows His living, suffering face. The image on the Shroud of Turin is of His face after death. The two line up perfectly.
Veronica held on to the veil, and miracles occurred when placing it on the sick or infirmed. Several legends involve an emperor and a cure. In one such story, the fame of this Holy relic reached a king who summoned her to bring it to him to cure his sick son. She traveled to the King, and the King’s faith in it cured his son. He offered her many riches, which she declined, and from thence forward she sought anonymity.
The veil was thought to have been kept secret in the catacombs for many years. The veil was guarded and passed on to survive the past 2 millennia. This fragile relic has been kept at the Vatican for many centuries. On special occasions or times of trial, the veil is brought out for public veneration.
The Carmelite Revelations in Tours
The Holy Face of Jesus devotion, as we know it today, is Church-approved and began most notably with another French nun, Sr. (Sister) Marie St. Peter, a Carmelite nun in Tours, France, in the mid-1800s. The story involves not only her but also a very wealthy religious man, Ven. (Venerable) Leo DuPont.
From 1843 to 1848, Sr. Marie St. Peter, a cloistered Carmelite nun in Tours, France, received private revelations from Jesus. He was warning her about His Father’s wrath against France for its blasphemies against God’s holy name, the profanation of Holy days (especially Sunday), and the decline in belief in God. (Sins against the first three commandments.) He said that if France did not make reparation for these offenses, it would pay not only with natural disasters, but also with men of revolutionary means.
Jesus asked her to offer herself up for her beloved France by praying in reparation to His Holy Face. Our Lord said that blasphemy is a public offense in the face of God. He gave her prayers to pray and meditate on. She was also told to share them and make this devotion known to prevent the spread of socialism.
The Miracle of 1849
In 1849, during the Christmas season, Veronica’s veil was on display at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. (Italy as we know it today did not exist, but was fractured and in multiple states of uprisings.) The veil was faded and fragile, with the image barely visible. To protect the veil, a second veil shielded the original, making it even harder to detect any image. On January 6th, the veil suddenly took on the clear image of Christ’s face. The church bells rang out, and many came to witness the miracle. Since photography was not available to capture this miraculous event, which lasted 3 hours, Pope Pius IX authorized artists to draw the miraculous image and issued copies to be printed.
These authorized copies were printed on linen or silk. Hundreds were distributed throughout Europe, with most landing in convents and churches or with very wealthy Church benefactors. Venable Leo DuPont received two copies from a convent in Tours, France, of which he was a benefactor. (Sr. Marie St. Peter’s convent.) It was an authenticated copy with a red papal wax seal that, like all true copies, was touched to the veil, the lance that speared Jesus’ side, and a piece of the true cross. Those three items are first-class relics because they touched Jesus. They also contained authentication papers signed by a Cardinal.
Leo Dupont kept one on display in his home, with an oil lamp lit day and night in front of it, because it was considered a first-class relic. People came from all over to view and venerate it.
One of the first women to visit had an irritating affliction in her eyes, and Leo offered the oil to help soothe it. Her eyes were immediately healed. People heard of this miraculous healing, and, with faith, those afflicted with ailments asked to be touched with the oil in his lamp. Leo, being a lawyer, kept documentation of these miracles. They eventually numbered in the thousands. His piety, humility, and generosity earned him the name “Holy man of Tours.” He opened his home for over 25 years to thousands of pilgrims who wanted to pray for healing before the suffering Face of Jesus.
France had been the “favored Daughter of the Church” because of her fidelity to Christ, but much had changed by the early 1800s because of the revolution and anti-Catholicism. By mid-century, the populous were beginning to embrace the ideals of socialism.
It was no coincidence that the miracle of Veronica’s Veil of the Holy Face in Rome happened on the heels of the revelations to Sr. Marie St. Peter. It was providence that connected the generous and devout Leo Dupont to the Nuns of the Carmelite Convent in Tours, France. Sr. Marie of St. Peter died in 1848 before this great miracle of the veil. For Mr. Dupont and others, the miracle confirmed the authenticity of the Holy Face devotion and Sr. Marie of St. Peter’s private revelations from Jesus.
Jesus had asked for this devotion to spread throughout the world as soon as possible. Because some local bishops acted slowly and failed to contact the Pope, the devotion was not immediately permitted for public promotion. (Though convents were practicing it and Leo shared it with all his visitors.) It was over 30 years before another bishop filed the necessary paperwork with Rome to promote this much-needed devotion.
The Archconfraternity and Modern Practice
In 1885, Pope Leo XIII enthusiastically established it as an Archconfraternity worldwide. But perhaps it was a bit too late for France. Sadly, France ultimately suffered at the hands of revolutionary men. By 1870, the Prussians were attacking France.
After learning of this devotion, I joined the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face of Jesus. (An Archconfraternity is basically a standard of practices and prayers established for devotion, which must be approved first through a local bishop and then by Rome. (Dominican Priests in France run this one.)
It is practiced worldwide. In Georgia, a local group meets monthly to pray the prayers of reparation and to help spread the devotion. Our group has members from churches throughout the Atlanta area. One member has one of those authentic prints and brings it to the meeting. As Jesus told Sr. Marie St. Peter in the first book I read, ‘Secrets of the Holy Face,’ the devotion would fade, but resurface when it was most needed. I believe we are living in that most needed time.
Prayers of Reparation
The Golden Arrow
Two main prayers are associated with the Holy Face devotion. One is known as the “Golden Arrow” prayer. It directly pierces Jesus’ heart with love, making up for the painful piercing His sacred Heart receives from Blasphemies against the Holy name of God. The Golden Arrow goes as follows:
“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 under the earth, by all creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ in the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen.”
The Chaplet
The second prayer is in chaplet form: How to pray the Chaplet.
The Chaplet is prayed on a special set of beads with certain prayers for each bead, similar to a rosary. Pray the prayers while meditating on Christ’s 5 senses during His Passion: touch, hearing, sight, smell, and taste.
*Note, if all these prayers in chaplet form are a bit much to retain at first, start with a few quick, short aspirations, especially if you hear blasphemy. When I hear someone take the name of our Lord in vain, I say, “Blessed be His Holy Name. When I hear of socialistic tactics, I say, “May the thrice holy name of God overthrow all their plans,” or “Arise, O Lord, and let thy enemies be scattered.” The point is we are called to be “Veronicas,” to make reparation to Our Lord in the sufferings he endured for our sins.
The Chaplet:
On a cross it begins,” Oh God, come to my assistance. Oh Lord, make haste to help me.” “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.”
Next, before each group of senses, we pray, “In honor of the sense of …. (touch, hearing, sight, smell, or taste) “Oh Lord, my Jesus, Mercy.” “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Then, repeat the following prayer while contemplating six different experiences of that one sense Jesus felt, each time saying, “Arise, O Lord, and let thy enemies be scattered, and let all who hate thee, flee from before thy face.” (If this sounds familiar, it is taken from Psalm 68:2)
After all, the five senses are complete; three more beads end the prayer, signifying his 3 years of public life, with the “Arise” prayers. The Final Prayer is “God our protector, look upon us and cast Thine eyes upon the Face of Thy Christ”. This prayer puzzled me at first. I did not understand how God could look at us and also see Christ. But then I began to understand.
The fruit of this daily devotion is a closer relationship to our Lord through contemplating his sufferings. Empathy and love for Him continue to deepen in one’s heart, extending mercy and compassion to others and becoming more like Him.
It is simpler than it sounds, and very moving. It takes less than 15 minutes to pray. We are free to meditate on any of the sufferings Jesus may have encountered during his Passion. I think of a timeline of events. For example, with the sense of touch, the first thing I think of is Judas’ kiss of betrayal on Jesus’ cheek. A second, Jesus feeling ropes tighten around his wrists while being arrested; a third, his scourging for our sins, etc. At first, it takes time to meditate and can sound a bit morose, but it truly brings you closer to Jesus’ sacrifice for us. We can relate to his human emotions and sufferings. It also takes us from his agony to our own present-day failings.
The purpose of this devotion is twofold. 1. For reparation of offenses to the first three of the Ten Commandments. Sadly, this has only worsened in the last 175 years. Jesus told Sr. Marie St. Peter that even children blaspheme. Secondly, to defend against Socialists. An optional three prayers may be prayed, and this directly combats socialism.
- “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 God of eternity stamp out all their Godlessness!”
Jesus said these prayers of reparation would thwart socialism. It was also revealed to Sr. Marie St. Peter that the devotion would spread and be kept for some time, but eventually lessen in popularity and be all but forgotten. (It was little practiced by the 1940’s.) When it was needed the most, it would experience a revival.
Perhaps now you can understand the title given to the book by Father Carney, The Secrets of the Holy Face, the devotion destined to save society.’
References and Further Reading
‘The Secret of the Holy Face’ The Devotion Destined to Save Society by Fr. Lawrence Daniel Carney III
‘The Holy Man of Tours’ The life of Venerable Leo DuPont by Dorthy Scallan
‘The Golden Arrow’ The autobiography and revelations of Sr. Mary of St. Peter edited by Dorothy Scallan
‘Chronology of the Holy Face Devotion’ History, People, Places and Prayer by Vicki Schreiner
‘Unveiling the Sixth Station of the Cross’ Reparation to the Holy Face, Mother of all Devotions by Mary Jane Zuzolo
