Holy Face of Jesus
Encyclopedia
The Holy Face of Jesus is a title for specific images which some Catholics believe to have been miraculously formed representations of the face of Jesus Christ. The image obtained from the Shroud of Turin
is associated with a specific medal worn by some Roman Catholics and is also one of the Catholic Devotions to Christ.
Various Acheiropoieta
(literally "not-handmade") items relating to Christ have been reported throughout the centuries, and devotions to the face of Jesus have been practiced. Devotions to the Holy Face were approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1895 and Pope Pius XII in 1958.
In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Holy Face of Jesus is used in conjunction with Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ
with specific institutions whose focus is such reparations, e.g. the Pontifical Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of the Reparation of the Holy Face. In his address to this Congregation, Pope John Paul II
referred to such Acts of Reparation
as the "unceasing effort to stand beside the endless crosses on which the Son of God continues to be crucified".
The Holy Face image used today as a Devotion to Christ is based on the Shroud of Turin
which the faithful assume to be the burial cloth of Jesus. It is different from the likeness of Jesus on the Veil of Veronica
, although the veil image had earlier been used in devotions. Since the Holy Face image is said to have been obtained from the burial cloth of Jesus, it is assumed to be a post-crucifixion
image. However, the likeness on the Veil of Veronica
is by definition pre-crucifixion
, for it is assumed to have been imprinted when Saint Veronica
encountered Jesus in Jerusalem along the Via Dolorosa
on the way to Calvary
.
Although the Shroud of Turin has been publicly displayed by Roman Catholics at least since the 16th century (and perhaps before) the faint image of the Holy Face on it can not 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.
Hence devotions to the Holy Face prior to that year relied on earlier images, based on paintings of the Veil of Veronica.
The devotions to the Holy Face of Jesus involve two European nuns, both named after Saint Mary
but who lived almost one hundred years apart. Both nuns reported visions of Jesus and Mary
. The first nun was called Sister Marie of St Peter
from Tours
France and lived in the 1840s. The second nun was called Sister Maria Pierina
De Micheli and lived in the 1930s in Milan
Italy.
In 1843, the first nun, Sister Marie of St Peter, who was a Carmelite nun in Tours
France, reported a vision in which Jesus spoke to her. She later reported further visions and conversations with Jesus and the Virgin Mary in which she was urged to spread the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus, in reparation for the many insults Jesus suffered in His Passion.
According to Sister Marie of St Peter, in 1844 she had a vision in which Jesus told her:
. This prayer and the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus started to spread among Roman Catholics in France as of 1844.
The Venerable Leo Dupont
was a religious man from a noble family who had moved to Tours
. In 1849 he had started the nightly Eucharistic Adoration
movement in Tours, from where it spread within France. He later came to be known as the "Holy Man of Tours". Upon hearing of Sister Marie of St Peter
’s reported visions, he started to burn a vigil lamp continuously before a picture of the Holy Face of Jesus, but at that time he used an image based on the Veil of Veronica
.
Dupont prayed for and promoted the case for a devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus for around 30 years. But the documents pertaining to the life of sister Marie of St. Peter and the devotion were kept by the Church and not released. Yet Dupont persisted. Eventually, in 1874 Charles-Théodore Colet
was appointed as the new Archbishop of Tours
. Archbishop Colet examined the documents and in 1876 gave permission for them to be published and the devotion encouraged, shortly before Dupont died. Dupont was thereafter at times referred to as the Apostle of the Holy Face.
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 Oratory of the Holy Face
. The oratory is administered by an order of priests called the Priests of the Holy Face
, canonically erected in 1876. The Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus was approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1885, who expressed a desire to establish a similar oratory in Rome.
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux was also a French nun who received the Carmelite habit in 1889 and later became known by the religious name "St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face". She was introduced to the Holy Face devotion through her blood sister Pauline, Sister Agnès of Jesus. Saint Thérèse wrote many prayers to express the devotion to the Holy Face. She wrote the words "Make me resemble you, Jesus!" on a small card and attached a stamp of the Holy Face to it. She pinned the prayer in a small container over her heart since at that time the Holy Face Medal did not exist. In August 1895, in her "Canticle to the Holy Face" she wrote:
Saint Thérèse also composed the Holy Face prayer for sinners:
Over 90 years after the first reported visions of Jesus by Sister Marie of St Peter
in Tours
France, other Holy Face visions were reported in Italy. On the first Friday in Lent 1936, Sister Maria Pierina
De Micheli, who was born near Milan
Italy, reported a vision in which Jesus told her: “I will that My Face, which reflects the intimate pains of My Spirit, the suffering and the love of My Heart, be more honored. He who meditates upon Me, consoles Me”.
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", i.e. "May, O Lord, the light of Thy countenance shine upon us". 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" i.e. "Stay with us, O Lord".
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.
Decades earlier, Sister Marie of St Peter
had referred to a Holy Face Coin, writing that Jesus told her:
After some effort Sister Maria Pierina
managed to obtain permission to cast the medal and its use started to grow in Italy. As World War II
started, many soldiers and sailors were given a Holy Face Medal as a means of protection. Sister Maria Pierina herself died in 1945 at the end of the war.
who approved 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 Secondo Pia
's (May 28, 1898) first photograph of the Shroud of Turin
, on Sunday May 24, 1998 Pope John Paul II visited the Turin Cathedral. In his address on that day, he said:
The Holy Face devotion and the Holy Face Medal have now spread among Roman Catholics worldwide, with organizations such as the Holy Face Association.
Shroud of Turin
The Shroud of Turin or Turin Shroud is a linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have suffered physical trauma in a manner consistent with crucifixion. It is kept in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, northern Italy. The image on the shroud is...
is associated with a specific medal worn by some Roman Catholics and is also one of the Catholic Devotions to Christ.
Various Acheiropoieta
Acheiropoieta
Acheiropoieta — also called Icons Made Without Hands — are a particular kind of icon which are alleged to have come into existence miraculously, not created by a human painter. Invariably these are images of Jesus or the Virgin Mary...
(literally "not-handmade") items relating to Christ have been reported throughout the centuries, and devotions to the face of Jesus have been practiced. Devotions to the Holy Face were approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1895 and Pope Pius XII in 1958.
In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Holy Face of Jesus is used in conjunction with Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ
Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ
Roman Catholic tradition includes specific prayers and devotions as Acts of Reparation for insults and blasphemies against Jesus Christ and the Holy Name of Jesus. These include the sufferings during the Passion of Jesus...
with specific institutions whose focus is such reparations, e.g. the Pontifical Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of the Reparation of the Holy Face. In his address to this Congregation, Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
referred to such Acts of Reparation
Acts of reparation
In the Roman Catholic tradition, an Act of Reparation is a prayer or devotion with the intent to repair the "sins of others", e.g. for the repair of the sin of blasphemy, the sufferings of Jesus Christ or as Acts of Reparation to the Virgin Mary...
as the "unceasing effort to stand beside the endless crosses on which the Son of God continues to be crucified".
The images
Shroud of Turin
The Shroud of Turin or Turin Shroud is a linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have suffered physical trauma in a manner consistent with crucifixion. It is kept in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, northern Italy. The image on the shroud is...
which the faithful assume to be the burial cloth of Jesus. It is different from the likeness of Jesus on the Veil of Veronica
Veil of Veronica
The Veil of Veronica, or Sudarium , often called simply "The Veronica" and known in Italian as the Volto Santo or Holy Face is a Catholic relic, which, according to legend, bears the likeness of the Face of Jesus not made by human hand The Veil of Veronica, or Sudarium (Latin for sweat-cloth),...
, although the veil image had earlier been used in devotions. Since the Holy Face image is said to have been obtained from the burial cloth of Jesus, it is assumed to be a post-crucifixion
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
image. However, the likeness on the Veil of Veronica
Veil of Veronica
The Veil of Veronica, or Sudarium , often called simply "The Veronica" and known in Italian as the Volto Santo or Holy Face is a Catholic relic, which, according to legend, bears the likeness of the Face of Jesus not made by human hand The Veil of Veronica, or Sudarium (Latin for sweat-cloth),...
is by definition pre-crucifixion
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
, for it is assumed to have been imprinted when Saint Veronica
Saint Veronica
Saint Veronica or Berenice, according to the "Acta Sanctorum" published by the Bollandists , was a pious woman of Jerusalem who, moved with pity as Jesus carried his cross to Golgotha, gave him her veil that he might wipe his forehead...
encountered Jesus in Jerusalem along the Via Dolorosa
Via Dolorosa
The Via Dolorosa is a street, in two parts, within the Old City of Jerusalem, held to be the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, on the way to his crucifixion. The current route has been established since the 18th century, replacing various earlier versions...
on the way to Calvary
Calvary
Calvary or Golgotha was the site, outside of ancient Jerusalem’s early first century walls, at which the crucifixion of Jesus is said to have occurred. Calvary and Golgotha are the English names for the site used in Western Christianity...
.
Although the Shroud of Turin has been publicly displayed by Roman Catholics at least since the 16th century (and perhaps before) the faint image of the Holy Face on it can not be clearly seen with the naked eye and was only observed with the advent of photography. In 1898, amateur Italian photographer Secondo Pia
Secondo Pia
Secondo Pia was an Italian lawyer and amateur photographer. He is best known for taking the first photographs of the Shroud of Turin on May 28, 1898...
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.
Hence devotions to the Holy Face prior to that year relied on earlier images, based on paintings of the Veil of Veronica.
The visions
Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic)
Roman Catholic veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary is based on Holy Scripture: In the fullness of time, God sent his son, born of a virgin. The mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God through Mary thus signifies her honour as Mother of God...
but who lived almost one hundred years apart. Both nuns reported visions of Jesus and Mary
Visions of Jesus and Mary
Since the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Calvary until today, a number of people have claimed to have had visions of Christ and personal conversations with him. Some people make similar claims regarding the Blessed Virgin Mary. Discussions about the authenticity of these visions have often invited...
. The first nun was called Sister Marie of St Peter
Marie of St Peter
Sister Marie of St Peter was a Carmelite nun who lived in Tours, France. She is best known for starting the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus which is now one of the approved Catholic devotions and for the Golden Arrow Prayer....
from Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
France and lived in the 1840s. The second nun was called Sister Maria Pierina
Maria Pierina
Blessed Maria Pierina De Micheli was a Roman Catholic religious Sister who was born near Milan in Italy. She is best known for her association with the Holy Face of Jesus and for introducing a medal bearing an image from the Shroud of Turin as part of this devotion.In April 2009 Pope Benedict XVI...
De Micheli and lived in the 1930s in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
Italy.
In 1843, the first nun, Sister Marie of St Peter, who was a Carmelite nun in Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
France, reported a vision in which Jesus spoke to her. She later reported further visions and conversations with Jesus and the Virgin Mary in which she was urged to spread the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus, in reparation for the many insults Jesus suffered in His Passion.
According to Sister Marie of St Peter, in 1844 she had a vision in which Jesus told her:
Oh if you only knew what great merit you acquire by saying even once, Admirable is the Name of God, in a spirit of reparation for blasphemy.Her visions reportedly included the words to a specific prayer as an Act of Reparation to Jesus Christ which came to be known as The Golden Arrow Holy Face Devotion (Prayer)
The Golden Arrow Holy Face Devotion (Prayer)
The Golden Arrow Holy Face Devotion is a prayer in the Roman Catholic Church which is believed to have been dictated by Jesus to Sr. Marie of St Peter and of the Holy Family, a Carmelite nun of Tours, in 1843. It is an Act of Praise and Reparation for Blasphemy...
. This prayer and the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus started to spread among Roman Catholics in France as of 1844.
Early devotions
Leo Dupont
Venerable Leo Dupont , also known as "The Holy Man of Tours," or the "Apostle of the Holy Face", was a religious figure in the Roman Catholic faith who helped spread various Catholic devotions such as the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus and nightly Eucharistic Adoration...
was a religious man from a noble family who had moved to Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
. In 1849 he had started the nightly Eucharistic Adoration
Eucharistic adoration
Eucharistic adoration is a practice in the Roman Catholic Church, and in a few Anglican and Lutheran churches, in which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed to and adored by the faithful....
movement in Tours, from where it spread within France. He later came to be known as the "Holy Man of Tours". Upon hearing of Sister Marie of St Peter
Marie of St Peter
Sister Marie of St Peter was a Carmelite nun who lived in Tours, France. She is best known for starting the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus which is now one of the approved Catholic devotions and for the Golden Arrow Prayer....
’s reported visions, he started to burn a vigil lamp continuously before a picture of the Holy Face of Jesus, but at that time he used an image based on the Veil of Veronica
Veil of Veronica
The Veil of Veronica, or Sudarium , often called simply "The Veronica" and known in Italian as the Volto Santo or Holy Face is a Catholic relic, which, according to legend, bears the likeness of the Face of Jesus not made by human hand The Veil of Veronica, or Sudarium (Latin for sweat-cloth),...
.
Dupont prayed for and promoted the case for a devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus for around 30 years. But the documents pertaining to the life of sister Marie of St. Peter and the devotion were kept by the Church and not released. Yet Dupont persisted. Eventually, in 1874 Charles-Théodore Colet
Charles-Théodore Colet
Charles-Théodore Colet was a French Roman Catholic Archbishop.He was born in Gérardmer in France and was ordained a priest in 1831. He was appointed Bishop of Luçon in 1861 and the Archbishop of Tours in 1874....
was appointed as the new Archbishop of Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
. Archbishop Colet examined the documents and in 1876 gave permission for them to be published and the devotion encouraged, shortly before Dupont died. Dupont was thereafter at times referred to as the Apostle of the Holy Face.
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 Oratory of the Holy Face
Oratory of the Holy Face
The Oratory of the Holy Face is a Roman Catholic prayer oratory in Tours France. It is the site where devotions to the Holy Face of Jesus started in Tours by Venerable Leo Dupont based on messages reported by Sister Marie of St. Peter...
. The oratory is administered by an order of priests called the Priests of the Holy Face
Priests of the Holy Face
Priests of the Holy Face is a Roman Catholic religious order. It was canonically erected on December 8, 1876.The order was started in 1876 by Archbishop Charles-Théodore Colet of Tours in order to administer the Oratory of the Holy Face, where prayers to the Holy Face of Jesus are recited...
, canonically erected in 1876. The Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus was approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1885, who expressed a desire to establish a similar oratory in Rome.
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux was also a French nun who received the Carmelite habit in 1889 and later became known by the religious name "St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face". She was introduced to the Holy Face devotion through her blood sister Pauline, Sister Agnès of Jesus. Saint Thérèse wrote many prayers to express the devotion to the Holy Face. She wrote the words "Make me resemble you, Jesus!" on a small card and attached a stamp of the Holy Face to it. She pinned the prayer in a small container over her heart since at that time the Holy Face Medal did not exist. In August 1895, in her "Canticle to the Holy Face" she wrote:
Jesus, 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.
Saint 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.
The Holy Face medal
Marie of St Peter
Sister Marie of St Peter was a Carmelite nun who lived in Tours, France. She is best known for starting the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus which is now one of the approved Catholic devotions and for the Golden Arrow Prayer....
in Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
France, other Holy Face visions were reported in Italy. On the first Friday in Lent 1936, Sister Maria Pierina
Maria Pierina
Blessed Maria Pierina De Micheli was a Roman Catholic religious Sister who was born near Milan in Italy. She is best known for her association with the Holy Face of Jesus and for introducing a medal bearing an image from the Shroud of Turin as part of this devotion.In April 2009 Pope Benedict XVI...
De Micheli, who was born near Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
Italy, reported a vision in which Jesus told her: “I will that My Face, which reflects the intimate pains of My Spirit, the suffering and the love of My Heart, be more honored. He who meditates upon Me, consoles Me”.
Further reported visions of Jesus and Mary
Visions of Jesus and Mary
Since the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Calvary until today, a number of people have claimed to have had visions of Christ and personal conversations with him. Some people make similar claims regarding the Blessed Virgin Mary. Discussions about the authenticity of these visions have often invited...
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
Shroud of Turin
The Shroud of Turin or Turin Shroud is a linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have suffered physical trauma in a manner consistent with crucifixion. It is kept in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, northern Italy. The image on the shroud is...
and an inscription based on Psalm 66:2: "Illumina, Domine, vultum tuum super nos", i.e. "May, O Lord, the light of Thy countenance shine upon us". 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" i.e. "Stay with us, O Lord".
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
Novena
In the Catholic Church, a novena is a devotion consisting of a prayer repeated on nine successive days, asking to obtain special graces. The prayers may come from prayer books, or consist of the recitation of the Rosary , or of short prayers through the day...
(9 days) of prayers.
Decades earlier, Sister Marie of St Peter
Marie of St Peter
Sister Marie of St Peter was a Carmelite nun who lived in Tours, France. She is best known for starting the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus which is now one of the approved Catholic devotions and for the Golden Arrow Prayer....
had referred to a Holy Face Coin, writing that Jesus told her:
- "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."
After some effort Sister Maria Pierina
Maria Pierina
Blessed Maria Pierina De Micheli was a Roman Catholic religious Sister who was born near Milan in Italy. She is best known for her association with the Holy Face of Jesus and for introducing a medal bearing an image from the Shroud of Turin as part of this devotion.In April 2009 Pope Benedict XVI...
managed to obtain permission to cast the medal and its use started to grow in Italy. As World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
started, many soldiers and sailors were given a Holy Face Medal as a means of protection. Sister Maria Pierina herself died in 1945 at the end of the war.
Vatican approval
The first medal of the Holy Face was offered to Pope Pius XIIPope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
who approved 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 Secondo Pia
Secondo Pia
Secondo Pia was an Italian lawyer and amateur photographer. He is best known for taking the first photographs of the Shroud of Turin on May 28, 1898...
's (May 28, 1898) first photograph of the Shroud of Turin
Shroud of Turin
The Shroud of Turin or Turin Shroud is a linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have suffered physical trauma in a manner consistent with crucifixion. It is kept in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, northern Italy. The image on the shroud is...
, on Sunday May 24, 1998 Pope John Paul II visited the Turin Cathedral. In his address on that day, he said:
- "the Shroud is an image of God's love as well as of human sin"
- "it is an icon of the suffering of the innocent in every age."
The Holy Face devotion and the Holy Face Medal have now spread among Roman Catholics worldwide, with organizations such as the Holy Face Association.
See also
- Oratory of the Holy FaceOratory of the Holy FaceThe Oratory of the Holy Face is a Roman Catholic prayer oratory in Tours France. It is the site where devotions to the Holy Face of Jesus started in Tours by Venerable Leo Dupont based on messages reported by Sister Marie of St. Peter...
- Holy Name of JesusHoly Name of JesusIn Christianity, the Holy Name of Jesus refers to the theological and devotional use of the name of Jesus. The reverence and affection with which Christians have regarded the Holy Name of Jesus goes back to the earliest days of Christianity....
- Holy WoundsHoly WoundsThe Five Holy Wounds or Five Sacred Wounds refer to what are believed to be the five piercing wounds that was suffered during the crucifixion of Jesus....
- Image of EdessaImage of EdessaAccording to Christian legend, the Image of Edessa was a holy relic consisting of a square or rectangle of cloth upon which a miraculous image of the face of Jesus was imprinted — the first icon ....
- Chaplet of Holy Wounds
- Pontifical Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of the Reparation of the Holy FaceSisters of the Reparation of the Holy FaceThe Pontifical Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of the Reparation of the Holy Face is a Roman Catholic order whose focus is providing Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ....
- Holy Face of LuccaHoly Face of LuccaThe Holy Face of Lucca is a venerated wooden corpus of a crucifix, located in the free-standing octagonal Carrara marble chapel , which was built in 1484 by Matteo Civitali, the sculptor-architect of Lucca, to contain it. The tempietto stands in the right-hand nave of the cathedral of San...
- Holy Face of Montreuil
- Little SachetLittle SachetThe Little Sachet, or the Gospel of the Holy Name of Jesus, is a Roman Catholic devotion based on a sacramental that, according to tradition, was mystically revealed by Jesus Christ to a Discalced Carmelite nun, Sister Marie of St Peter and of the Holy Family, in 1847, in a monastery in Tours,...
- Scapular of the Holy FaceScapular of the Holy FaceThis Scapular of the Holy Face is a Roman Catholic devotional scapular based on the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus.This scapular is also known as The Veronica based on the association of the Holy Face of Jesus with Saint Veronica...
Sources
- Joan Carroll Cruz, OCDS. Saintly Men of Modern Times. (2003) ISBN 1931709777
- Dorothy Scallan. The Holy Man of Tours. (1990) ISBN 0895553902
- Dorothy Scallan, et al. 1994 The Life & Revelations of Sr. Mary of St. Peter ISBN 0895553899
- Bernard Ruffin, 1999, The Shroud of Turin ISBN 0879736178
- Céline Martin. My Sister Therese of the Holy Face. (1997) ISBN 0895555980