Holy Face of Jesus
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The Holy Face of Jesus is a title for specific images which some
Various
In the
The Veronica
Belief in the existence of authentic images of Christ is connected with the old legend of
According to tradition Veronica encountered Jesus along the
Marie of St Peter
In 1844,
Leo Dupont
Dupont prayed for and promoted the case for a devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus for around 30 years. However, the documents pertaining to the life of sister Marie of St. Peter and the devotion were kept by the Church and not released; despite this, Dupont persisted in her cause. Eventually, in 1874
When Leo Dupont died in 1876, his house on Rue St. Etienne in Tours was purchased by the Archdiocese of Tours and turned into the
Thérèse of Lisieux
Thérèse also composed the Holy Face prayer for sinners: "Eternal Father, since Thou hast given me for my inheritance the adorable Face of Thy Divine Son, I offer that face to Thee and I beg Thee, in exchange for this coin of infinite value, to forget the ingratitude of souls dedicated to Thee and to pardon all poor sinners."[16]
Shroud of Turin
A broader devotion to the Holy Face is based on the image used on the
Although the Shroud of Turin has been publicly displayed by Roman Catholics at least since the 16th century, the faint image of the Holy Face on it cannot be clearly seen with the naked eye and was only observed with the advent of photography. In 1898, amateur Italian photographer Secondo Pia was startled by the negative of the image in his darkroom as he was developing the first photograph of the shroud. The happenstance by which Secondo Pia received the King's approval to attempt the first photograph of the Shroud for an exhibition was unusual in its own right. And Pia later said that on the evening of May 28, 1898, he almost dropped and broke the photographic plate in the darkroom from the shock of seeing the image of a face on the Shroud (for the first time ever) that could not have been clearly observed with the naked eye.[17]
Hence devotions to the Holy Face prior to that year relied on earlier images, based on paintings of the Veil of Veronica.
Maria Pierina De Micheli
On the first Friday in Lent 1936, Sister
Further reported visions of Jesus and Mary urged Sister Maria Pierina to make a medal with the Holy Face of Jesus. This became known as the Holy Face Medal. On one side the medal bears a replica of the Holy Face image from Shroud of Turin and an inscription based on Psalm 66:2: "Illumina, Domine, vultum tuum super nos" ('May, O Lord, the light of Thy countenance shine upon us').[1][5] On the other side of the medal there is an image of a radiant Sacred Host, the monogram of the Holy Name ("IHS"), and the inscription "Mane nobiscum, Domine" ('Stay with us, O Lord').[1]
In another vision, Sister Maria Pierina reported that Jesus told her: "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". She further reported that Jesus wanted a special Feast on the day before Ash Wednesday in honor of His Holy Face, to be preceded by a Novena (9 days) of prayers.[citation needed]
After some effort Sister
In 2000 Pope
Vatican approval and Feast Day
The first medal of the Holy Face was offered to Pope Pius XII who approved of the devotion and the medal. In 1958 he formally declared the Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus as Shrove Tuesday (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday) for all Roman Catholics.
On the occasion of the 100th year of
The Holy Face devotion and the Holy Face Medal spread among Roman Catholics worldwide, with organizations such as the Holy Face Association.
Theological analysis
In his 2005 book On the Way to Jesus Christ, Pope Benedict XVI performed an analysis of Holy Face devotions, and characterized them as having three separate components.[20] The first element is discipleship, and the orientation of one's life towards an encounter with Jesus. The second element is seeing Jesus in the Eucharist. The third element is eschatological, and is interwoven between the other two.[20]
Referring to Matthew 25:31–36 Benedict XVI stated that the first element (i.e. discipleship) involves seeing Jesus in the face of the poor and the oppressed, and caring for them, but to properly see Jesus in the face of those in need, believers first need to become better acquainted with Jesus through the Eucharist.[20] The second element involves relating the Passion of Jesus, and the suffering expressed by the images that represent his wounded face to the Eucharistic experience. Thus the devotion that starts with the images of the face of Jesus leads to his contemplation in the Eucharistic experience.[20] The eschatological element then builds on awakening to Christ by contemplating his face in the Eucharist.[20]
Institute for Holy Face research
The International Institute for Research on the Face of Christ was formed in 1997 by Cardinal
In his message to the 6th annual conference of the Institute held in Rome in October 2002, Pope John Paul II emphasized the spiritual importance of contemplation of the Face of Christ and referred to his Apostolic Letter
And is it not the Church's task to reflect the light of Christ in every historical period, to make his face shine also before the generations of the new millennium? Our witness, however, would be hopelessly inadequate if we ourselves had not first contemplated his face.
In the same message John Paul II also related the theme of the contemplation to that of contemplating the
See also
- Roman Catholic devotions to Jesus Christ
- Holy Wounds
- Oratory of the Holy Face
- Sisters of the Reparation of the Holy Face
- Scapular of the Holy Face
- Veronican Sisters of the Holy Face
- Devotions To The Holy Face
Notes
- ^ ISBN 0-87973-910-Xpages 635 and 239
- ^ a b c "Holy Face nun beatified, remembered by Pope Benedict XVI". Catholic News Agency. May 30, 2010.
- ISBN 1-931709-77-7page 200
- ISBN 0-86012-253-0page 28
- ^ a b c Vatican website: Letter of Pope John Paul II to Sister of the Reparation of the Holy Face, 27 September 2000 Archived May 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Dégert, Antoine. "St. Veronica", The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 9 April 2017 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ISBN 0-87973-910-Xpages 209-210
- ISBN 0-89555-389-9
- ISBN 1-931709-77-7pages 194-197
- ISBN 1-4365-4333-9
- ^ Slater, Thomas. "Reparation." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 9 April. 2017
- ISBN 0879737018page 57
- ^ paperspast.natlib.govt.nz https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=NZT18920304.2.48&l=mi&e=-------10--1----0-all. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
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(help) - ^ Mario Armellini: Chiese di Roma 1891 p.794
- ISBN 1-58051-082-5page 61
- ^ "Holy Face Prayer for Sinners (by St. Therese of Lisieux) - Prayers". Catholic Online. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
- ^ "THE FIRST SHROUD PHOTO". www.shroud.com. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
- ^ "Angelus, 30 May 2010, Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity | BENEDICT XVI". www.vatican.va. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
- ^ Vatican website: Address of John Paul II in Turin Cathedral, 24 May 1998
- ^ ISBN 1586171240pages 28-30
- ^ "To the "Benedictine Sisters of Reparation of the Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ" (October 14, 1999) | John Paul II". www.vatican.va. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
- ^ a b "Message to His Eminence Card. Fiorenzo Angelini (October 19, 2002) | John Paul II". www.vatican.va. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
- ^ Vatican website: Novo Millennio Ineunte, January 6, 2001 Archived April 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. Veronica". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Sources
- Joan Carroll Cruz, Saintly Men of Modern Times. (2003) ISBN 1-931709-77-7
- Dorothy Scallan. The Holy Man of Tours. (1990) ISBN 0-89555-390-2
- Dorothy Scallan, et al. 1994 The Life & Revelations of Sr. Mary of St. Peter ISBN 0-89555-389-9
- Bernard Ruffin, 1999, The Shroud of Turin ISBN 0-87973-617-8
- Céline Martin. My Sister Therese of the Holy Face. (1997) ISBN 0-89555-598-0
- Veronica; or, The Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Historical Notice of This Signal and Most Holy Major Relic of the Basilica of the Vatican. Prayers and Indulgences. Philadelphia 1872