Who are some of the Angels and Saints connected to the Holy Face Devotion?
St Peter is connected to the Holy Face Devotion. Peter denied and lied to his accuser’s faces by twrice saying he did not know Jesus during His Passion. Peter was made whole again after the Resurrection, when Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him three times. Peter answered yes. By looking at Jesus’ Face, Peter made Reparation. Likewise, Jesus wants us to do that now, to make Reparation for ourselves and mankind. Jesus wants us to not wish for the death of our enemies, but to make Reparation for them, so they can be converted and live.
St Michael whose name means “who is like God,” is one of the three key Heavenly warriors in this devotion along with St Martin and St Louis. St Michael originally in a lower class of hierarchy in heaven_ vs Lucifer’s higher position_took up battle against satan, when satan was rebelling against God. He could never have won, without God’s help and through His assistance, he fought and won! One third of the population of angels were cast out of heaven. St Michael believed and trusted in God to help him win the fight. He is now an Archangel.
Veronica whose name means “true icon,” was the woman honored in the Sixth Station of the Stations of the Cross. Veronica was the woman who braved the crowd of people who were anxious to kill Jesus. She broke through the angry mob of people and the cruel Roman soldiers to offer her veil to wipe off the blood, sweat, dust, and spittle from Jesus’ Face. She showed mercy to Jesus, and in return Jesus showed Mercy to her by having the image of His Face imprinted on her veil. Some scholars say that Veronica was the same woman who braved the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus garment during His public ministry, and she was cured of her twelve years of hemorrhaging. If so, Jesus healed her with his cloth, now she in turn was offering help to him with her cloth. Eventually, she gave the Veil to Pope Clement to keep at the Vatican. After the death of Jesus, Veronica brought the veil to Rome in order to cure the Roman emperor, Tiberius Augustus. He’d sent soldiers to Jerusalem to find this Jesus who he heard could cure people. When the soldiers arrived in Jerusalem and found out that Jesus had died, Veronica told the Roman soldiers that this veil will cure him if it would touch the emperor. As soon as the veil touched the emperor, he was cured!
St Dismas the “good thief,” who was crucified and hung next to Jesus. During the horrible insults and blasphemous shouts to Jesus, St Dismas looked at the Holy Face of Jesus and asked for forgiveness, for Reparation for his sins. He proclaimed that Jesus was Divine in front of the crowd. Dismas knew he deserved God’s Justice, but Jesus rewarded Him at that moment with kingdom of Heaven.
St Louis King of France was a defender of the Holy Name of God. It was during his reign that it was the most peaceful in French history. All these three key players of the Holy Face were fighters, ready to do battle for God.
Pope Leo XIII was the pope responsible for taking the Holy Face Devotion and making it an Archconfraternity. By him doing so, this Archconfraternity has church backing and will continue on into perpetuity. Pope Leo XIII did this in record time bypassing the minimal five year waiting period for such a ruling and made the Archconfraternity not only for France, but for the whole world! Pope Leo XIII was also the pope that wrote the well-known, frequently said, St Michael Prayer.
St Martin was born in the 300’s and was a Roman solider before becoming Catholic. In those days, a solider had to pay for half of his cloak and the other half was provided by the military. One day seeing a beggar, St. Louis cut his cloak in half and gave the other half away to the beggar. That night in a dream, Jesus told St. Louis that He was that beggar. He didn’t want to battle anymore on the battlefield, but only fight for God. His superiors thought that he was afraid to go into battle, so he said he would do so in the next battle but not be armed. It ended up that the battle never took place. After that, St. Louis tried to become a hermit and wear tattered clothes. However, through his holiness the people sought him out. When it came time to elect another bishop, the people disagreed with the choice made by the church, and found St. Louis in his tattered clothes. They chanted over and over they wanted him as their new bishop. Much to his chagrin, he became bishop in Tours, France, still fighting for God but now in a new way as bishop.
Sr Marie of St Peter was a Carmelite Nun in Tours, France. She was from Reims, France and wanted to join the Carmelites in Reims, but there was no opening. She prayed one day with the relics of St Martin of Tours and was immediately accepted to the Carmelites in Tours, France. Sr Marie of St Peter received private revelations from Jesus regarding the Holy Face devotion from 1843-1848. Jesus wanted her to spread this devotion to make Reparation for the sins of blasphemy and the profanation of Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. She was given a prayer called the “Golden Arrow Prayer,” which Honors the Name of Jesus. She is usually depicted holding a golden arrow. Jesus wanted her to shoot the golden arrow into His Sacred Heart to combat and to consul His Heart from all the blasphemous remarks against Him. For more information about her, a book called The Golden Arrow has more extensive information regarding her life and her messages from Jesus. She had a short life and did not see her private revelations acknowledged with a brief by the Archbishop to have church backing of the Holy Face Devotion, as requested by Jesus. She was met with resistance by one of the secretaries of the Archbishop and her writings were locked away for a while. Even though she wasn’t able to see everything come to fruition, she did everything that Jesus asked her to do, and was obedient to her superiors. It wasn’t until after her death that her writings came to light and the Archconfraternity was established. Venerable Leo Dupont a contemporary of Sr Marie of St Peter was very instrumental in making this happen.
Venerable Leo Dupont was a wealthy sugar plantation owner and lawyer. After the death of his beloved wife, he moved from Martinique, where the family plantation was, to Tours, France as he promised his late wife he would do so. His wife wanted their only child to be taught like she had by the nuns there. Unfortunately, his daughter died in her childhood, so Leo devoted his life to his work and to God, and mostly God. His office was in his home. After he concluded business for the day, he told his clients they could now only talk about God. He was given two copies (one he gave away) from the miracle at the Vatican of Veronica’s Veil. His relic of the Holy Face had been touched to Veronica’s Veil, the True Cross, and the Lance that pierced Jesus’ side.He kept an oil lamp burning in front of it day and night. Many miracles started happening when people prayed prayers and rubbed the oil from the lamp on their afflictions. He was called the “Holy Man of Tours,” because over 6000 documented medical miracles happened through his intercessions.
Blessed Pope Pius IX was pope when the miracle of 1849 happened at the Vatican. Blessed Pope Pius IX went into exile to a town called Gaeta, because of the murder of the second in command cardinal at the Vatican. While in exile, he asked that the people pray and that the Veil of Veronica which was locked up and secured at the Vatican to be brought out and venerated for three days. The Veil’s image was darkened and no features were seen on it. To protect the image while it was being venerated, a linen cloth was placed in front of it. On the third day, a miracle happened. For three hours, a light emanated from the image and projected an image onto the new linen cloth. It showed a man with sunken eyes in much agony. The Canons of the Vatican were called as well as the Papal Notary. The bells were rung and the people came. Artists then were called making the etching of the image on Vatican linen or silk. These images were then touched to Veronica’s Veil, the True Cross and the Lance that pierced Jesus’ side, and were sent to emissaries and churches around Europe. One of these images is what was hanging in Venerable Leo Dupont’s home where all the miracles took place. Blessed Pope Pius IX said of the Reparation to the Holy Face is a Divine work destined to save modern society. So, the best is yet to come!
Blessed Maria of Pierna de Michelle was a nun from the Institute of the Daughters of the Immaculate Conception. She was visited by Heaven and was told to make scapulars of the Holy Face. Instead of making a scapular of the Holy Face as requested, a medal was made instead. However, this medal which on the front side says “Illuminate, O Lord, your Face above us”, and on the back it says, “Stay with us Lord,” still provided the graces as the scapular. The medal has the Face of Jesus from the Shroud of Turin and not the Holy Face from the Veil of Veronica. Blessed Maria was born at the end of the 19th century and died in the middle of the 20th century. In 2010 she was beatified.
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What will be your story?
Can you offer this small gesture of reparation and join the ranks of those working miracles through the Holy Face of Jesus?