Devotion to the Holy Face
Sister Marie of Saint Pierre (from the Carmel of Tours) and the Golden Arrow
In Tours, France during the 1840's a young Carmelite nun, Sister Marie of Saint Pierre, received a series of revelations from Our Lord about a powerful devotion He wished to be established worldwide - the devotion to his Holy Face. The express purpose of this devotion was to make reparation for the blasphemies and outrages of 'Revolutionary men' (the Communists), as well as for the blasphemies of atheists and freethinkers and others, plus, for blasphemy and the profanation of Sundays by Christians.
This devotion is also an instrument given to the individual devotee as a seemingly unfailing method of appealing to God in prayer - through adoration of His Holy Face and Name.
The following prayer was dictated by our Lord Himself to Sister Marie of Saint Pierre. Opening His Heart to her, our Saviour complained of blasphemy, saying that this frightful sin wounds His Divine Heart more grievously than all other sins, for it was like a "poisoned arrow".
After that, our Saviour dictated the following prayer, which he called "The Golden Arrow", saying that those who would recite this prayer would pierce Him delightfully, and also heal those other wounds inflicted on Him by the malice of sinners. This prayer is regarded as the very basis of the Work of Reparation.
The Golden Arrow Prayer
"May the most holy, most sacred,
most adorable, most mysterious
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
Quotations from Sister Saint Pierre Carmelite of Tours
"He told me that He wished to give me a "Golden Arrow" wherewith to wound His Heart delightfully, and heal those wounds inflicted by sinner's malice."
"He has given it to me as a "Golden Arrow," assuring me that each time I would say it, I would open His Heart with a wound of love."
"At that moment it seemed to me I behald issuing from the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by this "Arrow," torrents of graces for the conversion of sinners."
"Our Lord has promised me that He will imprint His divine likeness on the souls of those who honour his most holy Countenance."
"All those who honour My Holy Face in a spirit of reparation, will be so doing perform the office of the pious Veronica."
"According to the care you take in making reparation to My Face disfigured by blasphemies, so will I take care of yours which has been disfigured by sin. I will reprint therein My image and render it as beautiful as it was on leaving the Baptismal font."
"Our Lord has promised me, that all those who defend His cause in this work of reparation, by words, by prayers, or in writing. He will defend them before His Father; at their death He will purify their souls by effacing all the blots of sin and will restore to them their primitive beauty.
The Holy Face Devotion and Prayer in St. Louis, Missouri
From an old holy card presented by the Carmel of St. Joseph
with Ecclesiastical Approbation by John J. Glennon Archbishop of St. Louis
Act of Reparation for Blasphemy
The Golden Arrow
May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most mysterious and unutterable Name of God be praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified in heaven, on earth and in hell, by all God's creatures and by the Sacred Heart of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, in the most Holly Sacrament of the Altar. - Amen.
Indulgence: To anyone piously reciting the above preayer, an indulgence of fourty (40) days is herby granted. - John J. Glennon Archbishop of St. Louis, Octover 13, 1906
Prayer of St. Pius IX
"O My Jesus, cast upon us a look of mercy; turn Thy Face towards each of us as Thou did to Veronica; not that we may see it with our bodily eyes, for this we do not deserve; but turn it towards our hearts, so that remembering Thee we may ever draw from this fountain the strength the vior necessary to sustain the combats of life. Amen."
Aspiration to the Holy Face
To pray to the Holy Face for the dying and agonizing is a great aisstance to them, this was revealed to Our Lord to Sr. Saint Pierre. How precious, then, is devotion to the sorrowful, Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ, during sickness, and at the hour of death! It will win our eternal joy and recompense.
"Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Adorable Face of Thy Beloved Son for the honor and glory of Thy Holy Name, for the conversion of sinners and the salvation of dying souls."
-- Sister Saint-Pierre
Prayer to the Holy Face
Composed by Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face
As she herself tells in The Story of a Soul, St. Thérèse had a fervent devotion to the Holy Face, where she found unfathomable "depths of treasures hidden". She wrote:
"Ah, I desired that, like the face of Jesus, my face be truly hidden that no one on earth would know me."
On August 5, 1899, just a few weeks before her death, to celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration her sisters brought to the infirmary from the choir the "picture of the holy face she so much loved and hung it where she could see it". Looking at the picture, she said, "Oh, how much good that holy face has done me in my life!"
"O adorable face of Jesus,
sole beauty which ravishes my heart,
vouchsafe to impress on my soul
Your divine likeness
so that it may not be possible
for You to look at Your spouse
without beholding Yourself!
O my Beloved,
for love of You I am content
not to see here on earth
the sweetness of Your glance,
nor to feel the ineffable kiss
of Your sacred lips,
but I beg of You
to inflame me with Your love
so that it may consume me quickly
and that soon I (name) may behold
Your glorious countenance in heaven."
"O 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 leper! Nevertheless, under those disfigured features, I recognize 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. O 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."
Thérèse's sister Celine wrote about her:
"Devotion to the Holy Face was, for Therese, the crown and complement of her love for the Sacred Humanity of Our Lord. The Blessed Face was the mirror wherein she beheld the Heart and Soul of her Well-Beloved. Just as the picture of a loved one serves to bring the whole person before us, so in the Holy Face of Christ Therese beheld the entire Humanity of Jesus. We can say unequivocally that this devotion was the burning inspiration of the Saint's life. ...Her devotion to the Holy Face transcended, or more accurately, embraced, all the other attractions of her spiritual life."
Canticle to the Holy Face
Composed by Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face
12 August 1895Jesus, Your ineffable image
Is the star which guides my steps.
Ah, You know, Your sweet Face
Is for me Heaven on earth.
My love discovers the charms
Of Your Face adorned with tears.
I smile through my own tears
When I contemplate Your sorrows.
Oh! To console You I want
To live unknown on earth!
Your beauty, which You know how to veil,
Discloses for me all its mystery.
I would like to fly away to You!
Your Face is my only homeland.
It's my Kingdom of love.
It's my cheerful meadow.
Each day, my sweet sun.
It's the Lily of the Valley
Whose mysterious perfume
Consoles my exiled soul,
Making it taste the peace of Heaven.
It's my Rest, my Sweetness
And my melodious Lyre
Your Face, O my Sweet Savior,
Is the Divine Bouquet of Myrrh
I want to keep on my heart!
Your Face is my only wealth.
I ask for nothing more.
Hiding myself in it unceasingly,
I will resemble You, Jesus
Leave in me, the Divine Impress
Of Your features filled with sweetness,
And soon I'll become holy.
I shall draw hearts to You.
So that I may gather
A beautiful golden harvest,
Deign to set me aflame with Your Fire.
With Your adorned mouth,
Give me soon the Eternal Kiss!
Biblical References to the Holy Face
Numbers 6:24-26
"The Lord bless thee, and keep thee. The Lord shew His Face to thee, and have mercy on thee. The Lord turn His Countenance to thee, and give thee peace."
Psalm 26:8
"My heart hath said to thee: My face hath sought Thee: Thy Face, O Lord, will I still seek."
Psalm 30:20-21
"O how great is the multitude of Thy sweetness, O Lord, which Thou hast hidden for them that fear Thee! Which Thou hast wrought for them that hope in Thee, in the sight of the sons of men. Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy Face, from the disturbance of men. Thou shalt protect them in Thy tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues."
Psalm 67:2
"Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered: and let them that hate Him flee from before His Face."
I Corinthians 13:12
"We see now through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to Face. Now I know I part; but then I shall know even as I am known."
