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January 28, 2020

Devotions to the Holy Face and its special significance for the Lenten Season



Holy Face Shroud of Turin--------Holy Face from Veronica's Veil
The  devotion to the Holy Face is one of the earliest devotions in the Church during which the devotee contemplates the face of Christ in His Passion - A face most glorious from birth, but disfigured in consequence of the sins of men. The two major relics of this devotion as seen above are: the winding Cloth of Our Lord's burial, known as the Shroud of Turin; and the Miraculous Image of Jesus imprinted on the Veil of holy Veronica, who compassionately wiped Our Lord's face, when He was bearing the cross. These relics have been carefully, and miraculously, preserved in the Church for millennia, through to the present day

There is a significant  call in the Providence of God linking Lenten observances with the Holy Face devotions. Studying the historical timeline we are looking also into the  messages of Our Lady at Salette and Fatima to show that the enemies Our Lady warned us against are the same that Our Lord told Sr. Mary Peter of Tours, in the 1840's atheistic communists.

The Tuesday  before Ash Wednesday (fat Tuesday) in past centuries was also called Shrove Tuesday. It was considered to be a day of examination and repentance. It was a time for the faithful to decide on their Lenten penances and to go to confession in order to prepare to make a good Lent 

Last year Shrove Tuesday, fell on February 13th. I was researching the historical timeline then and I mistakenly made a false assumption.  I just realized I needed to correct my error of calling Shrove Tuesday a feast or memorial of the Holy Face. I thought because the Devotions and Novena to the Holy Face  are approved,  that the Church also gave Our Lord what he asked for in the 1840's. I was wrong the church never officially declared Shrove Tuesday a Memorial or Feast of the Holy Face. I apologize for that that error and would have corrected it earlier if it was brought to my attention.

I was surprised because as I looked for information on the Devotions I  discovered a PDF. copy of the 1887 Manuel of the Arch Confraternity of the Holy Face   In it, on page 256, there is a Mass written in honor of the Holy Face in the Tridentine (extraordinary form). 

Until I learn differently,  I am assuming that  the Mass written for the Holy Face in the 1887 Arch-Confraternity Manuel was at one time approved for use by the Arch-Confraternity in Tours. I am making inquiries to see if it still is and if  permissions may be obtained for the Mass to  be said by Confraternites of the Holy Face attached to the arch-confraternity. I am hoping to learn how we may spread Confraternites of the Holy Face in the church.

In the meantime let us be happy that we can participated another year in the Novena in order  to make Reparation. Let us continue to do what we can to spread the Holy Face Devotions to those around us.

In 2018, Shrove Tuesday 
fell on February 13th. The anniversary of the death of Servant of God Sr. Lucia of Fatima.
We should not let this significant timing pass unnoticed. It is not a random coincidence. 
Nothing in the unfolding of Divine Providence 
is random or chance.

Fatima Sanctuary Statue
Golden Star under Rosary
The number 13 was prominent during the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima, Our Lady appeared in each of her six apparitions to the three shepherd children on the 13th of each month. Early Fatima scholars recognized it as a sign linking the Fatima Message with the book of Ester. Another visible sign in each of her apparitions was a star embedded in her pure white gown just below her knees. It was under the crucifix which dangled from the Rosary that she held in her hands. This star signified her as a Jewish Princess. Theologians from the early beginnings of the apparitions called it the Star of Esther, in reference to the Old Testament Book of Esther. Here Queen Esther is a type for the Virgin Mary, and personifies, Our Lady especially under her titles of Our Lady of Fatima. 

Sr. Lucia of Fatima
The magnitude of February 13th, or “the 13th of Adar”, could not be fully realized, even by Fatima scholars until the death of Sr. Lucia, the last surviving Fatima seer. In the Book of Esther the Jewish people were to be exterminated on the 13th of the Month of Adar in the Hebrew Calendar. Queen Esther asked her people to pray and fast for her as she approached the king to have the edict rescinded. (See Addendum II at the end of the post for an account of the variations between the Hebrew and Gregorian Calendar.)

Sr. Lucia lived to be 97 years of age and was called to eternal life on February 13, 2005. The timing of Sr. Lucia’s death is the final stamp by God linking the Fatima Messages with the Book of Esther. The date of Sr. Lucia’s death has been before our eyes for some time but few in the Church realize its significance. This is a silent symbolic call from God that shouts for prayer and penance. Individually, our prayers and penances bring the grace and mercy of God. However, we need the whole community of the faithful to pray together to defeat the evil around us. Let us wake up and answer this call and pray it will be also heard and presented in the Church.

Events in Book of Ester link 
The Holy Face Devotions with the 
Messages of Fatima and La Salette 
We are assuming the reader is familiar with the story in the book of Ester. At some point it would be good to read and meditate over the scriptures once more in the light of the Fatima Message.
Sr. Mary Peters of Tours with Golden Arrow

If we read over the historical account of the Holy Face Devotions over the centuries we see that our Lord came first to Sr. Mary Peter of Tours from 1843-1847. Sr. Mary Peters was a discalced Carmelite Nun from Tours and is best known for starting the devotions to the Holy Face ofJesus and for the Golden Arrow Prayer. She also introduced the Little Sachet Sacramental.

Our Lord asked her to promote the Devotion to His Holy Face as a means of Reparation for "Revolutionary men" -- the communists through whom God is allowing the world to be chastised for its unbelief’. The express purpose of this devotion was to make reparation for their idolatry, and blasphemies in the abuse of His Holy Name and the profanation of Sundays, all sins against His Divine Majesty in the first three commandments.

"The earth is steeped in crime! The Holy Name of the Lord is blasphemed; the very day of Sunday itself is profaned: these fill the measure of iniquity. In no age has crime been so malignant. My Name is every where blasphemed; even by the little children!"
 
(Words of Our Lord to Sr. Mary Peter of Tours mid 1840’s) 
What will our Lord say about us?

Is this not also included in the Fatima Message?
Our Lady came to Fatima to ask us to help her to prevent Russia from spreading her errors throughout the world, namely atheistic communism. She expressed in various ways the urgent need to make reparation to God for poor sinners who have no one to pray for them. She asked us not to offend God anymore for he is already deeply offended! The Holy Face Devotion and the appearance of Our Lady at La Salette with the prophecies of impending chastisement are reflected with the same urgency today in the Fatima message. Our Lady came to Fatima remind us of our duties towards God who is already deeply offended. Spend some time in prayer meditating on the Message of La Salette and of Our Lord to Sr. Mary Peter of Tours in the light of the Fatima Message.

Examining the various symbols in the apparitions; The Holy Face, La Salette and Fatima, we also see that the prophecies point to the time of the apparitions as well as possibilities for a future fulfillment. Similar to the prophecies contained throughout scripture. The Apparitions of Our Lord or Lady over the course of time no matter how far in the past are always present to God. With God there is no past or future there is only the eternal present. The symbols and gestures as well as the dates and times during these apparitions are not coincidences. There is a measure and a message to proclaim, in the timing of God's manifestations within the historical context, of the moment and again in the unfolding of history. There are mysteries that will be understood only as the Church prays and meditates over the events. With the help of the Holy Spirit we will be able to penetrate the hidden meaning that God shares with those who pray. In prayer and meditation the Church may discover the meaning for the present time and also see the possibilities of a future fulfillment of the prophecies. They are always conditional, dependent on our responses to the call for penance.

Establishment of the Confraternity of the Holy Face as works of Reparation 
Our Lord also revealed to Sr. Mary Peters: "works of reparation” that can be utilized in our time. (Manual of the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face in Tours, 1887 - an Archconfraternity erected in perpetuity by the Holy See by Pope Leo XIII. This richly indulgenced work of reparation emphasizes reparation to Our Lord in his agony and is the Divine tool given by God to defeat Communism, but it 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 Statutes of the Archconfraternity, submitted to Pope Leo XIII, declare: "...the veneration of this adorable Face to be the great means of preventing and repairing the impious outrages committed against the Majesty of God, the Divinity of Jesus Christ, and the Authority of the Church." The Archconfraternity had in mind particularly the crimes perpetrated by free-masonry, and later by communism. The Archconfraternity adopts as its motto the invocation to which the Holy Father has attached an indulgence:

"Lord, show us Thy face, and we shall be saved," from Psalm 79.4 
"Deus converte nos, et ostende faciem tuam, et salvi erimus." 
"O God, convert us, and show us Thy face, and we shall be saved."

Please follow the links here and at the end this post for information and copies of the original ArchConfraternity Statutes published in 1887. You may with the help of God’s grace be called to establish a confraternity of the Holy Face in your diocese or parish.  1887 Manuel of the Arch Confraternity of the Holy Face

                                   
Our Lord also dictated to Sr. Mary of St. Peter the following "Golden Arrow" Prayer, which, as He promised, would so touch His most loving Heart as to bring forth from It streams of grace for the conversion of sinners. “This prayer will wound my heart delightfully and will heal the wounds inflicted by blasphemy” 



"May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable,most incomprehensible 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."


Venerable Leo Dupont-Holy Man of Tours 

Many Catholics are unaware of the providential connection between the public devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus (received by Sr. Mary St. Peter of Tours from 1843-1847) and the church approved apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at La Salette in 1846. This was recorded by the Holy Man of Tours Leo Dupont, He was the friend and confidant of Sr. Mary Peters. He record her communications with Our Lord and wrote her biography. He was called the "Apostle of the Holy Face", and helped spread the devotion after the death of Sr. Mary Pete,  He was declared Venerable by the Holy See during Pope Pius XII’s Pontificate and currently awaits beatification. There is a link below to read the original book he wrote on the life of Sr. Mary Peter of Tours published in 1884. 




Here are selected parts from Chapter XVI “La Salette from the 480 page scanned copy of the book Ven. Leop Dupont wrote on the: “The Life of Sr. Mary Peter Carmelite of Tours”,1884 Imprimatur.


Sr. Mary Peter was overwhelmed at the enormity of the approaching chastisement that was awaiting France, and begged Our Lord and Lady to send another soul outside of the cloister who would be in better position to make the warnings from Heaven to others: 

“All my prayers, all my communions, all my aspirations and all my thoughts were offered for the establishment of this work of reparation so dear to my heart, (The Holy Face devotions). if it were possible, to proclaim it all over France, by making my countrymen know the misfortunes that menaced them, Oh how I suffer in being the only confidant in a matter of such importance, and which I am obliged to keep within the secret walls of the cloister! Oh most Holy Virgin I implore you to come to some pious soul in the world, and make her a partaker of that which was communicated to me in reference to France!"


A little while later, in answer to her prayer, Our Lady appeared to two shepherd on September 19, 1846, at La Salette, a remote mountain village in France. Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, while grazing their cows on the steep mountain slopes of La Salette saw a woman bathed in light. As they approached closer they observed her seated on a rock with her head in her hands weeping bitterly. Our Lady here as well as at Fatima, shows herself as the refuge of sinners. She interposes herself as an afflicted mother between the wrath of God and her guilty children.

“If my people will not submit I shall be forced to let fall the avenging arm of my Son," She told them. “Oh! If you only knew how much I suffer for you” The tears streamed from her eyes and fell on the image of an unusual crucifix resting near her heart with a hammer and pincers affixed to it. During the course of the long apparition our Lady spoke and walked with them. She gave them a public message and each child also received a private secret message that was to be revealed at a later time. The crucifix our Lady wore seemed to be alive, at times the image of our Lord was in agony, and at other times, he appeared motionless and dead.


When word of the apparition of Our Lady at La Salette finally reached Sr. Mary Peter she wrote again in thanksgiving: “I render thee thanks Divine Mother for having given me these two little shepherds as sounding trumpets, to cause the mountains to re-echo in the ears of France, that which was made known to me in solitude. The voices of my two little associates were soon heard over all the earth, and their announcements produced a great impression on mankind.”

Reflecting on Our Lady of La Sallete who was seated upon a rock weeping: May we say Our Lady was weeping over the church and her errant children whose sins are bringing upon themselves and the world God’s chastisement? When she finished giving Her message to them she departed Her final sorrowful glance as She left was east toward the direction of Rome. Through simple shepherd children in the apparitions of La Salette and Fatima, the Blessed Virgin rebukes the people for their impiety, manifested in their contempt for the commandments of God. May we also say that she not only wept over the sins of that time, but she also wept and continues to weep over the sins that we are committing today as well?


Rev. Michael Gasnier, O.P., in his study of "The Roses of the Apparition of La Salette", said: "Certain details even though they remain subordinate to the essential value of an apparition, have nevertheless, a proper signification. This signification has a bearing on the end of Mary's message, completing and interpreting it, and which, in consequence, should be considered separately. These particulars, when considered in their entire value, possess many a touching lesson. Not only do they give a greater comprehension of the inexhaustible mystery of the Apparition but they also permit one to advance more and more into the intentions and desires, and I would almost say, into the maternal psychology of Our Blessed Mother."


Meditating in the line of Providence once more, let us consider the La Salette crucifix in order to find its true significance outside of the obvious indication for the time of the Passion of Our Lord and Lent. Melanie said that: "The Lady had a very small chain to which was attached a crucifix: at the right, of the corpus were pincers and on the left, a hammer"



The hammer and pincers placed on either side of the cross, on which Jesus hanged crucified, have relations to the great mystery of the Crucifixion. Recall that Our Lord said that on His right would stand the blessed on the last day and on His left those destined for hell. It was the hammer that was used by the executioners charged with the task of crucifying Jesus. However, indirectly, it was moved also by all of us sinners of the earth. The hammer, therefore, was the instrument of God's enemies and of his enemies alone. 

Love destroyed the work of hate represented by the pincers which Joseph of Arimathea used to detach Jesus from the cross. Love will destroy the work accomplished by the hammer; and it was used only by the friends of Jesus.

Through our prayers and works of reparation we participate in the love that Joseph of Arimathea showed Our Lord when he took him off the cross. We also participate in the consolation that Veronica gave Our Lord when she wiped his bloody sweat from his face on his way to Calvary. 



The Holy Face Devotion forgotten 
During World War I 

Bl. Maria Pierina de Micheli 
Unfortunately, the Holy Face devotion was lost around World War I. Likely because of the sufferings of the time and lack of modern communication. Sometime just before the start of WWII from 1935-1945 our Lord came again to Blessed Maria Pierina de Micheli, a holy nun from the Congregation of The Daughters of the Immaculate Conception. 

Our Lord chose her to give his second plea to the world for devotion to his Holy Face. He urged her in many visions to spread once again the devotion, in reparation for the many insults He suffered in His Passion. He told her he wanted reparation for the times he was slapped, spit upon and kissed by Judas, as well as for the profanation of the Blessed Sacrament through neglect, and sacrileges. Bl. Mother Pierina was beatified on Sunday, May 30, 2010 by Benedict XVI at the Basilica of St. Mary Major the first beatification ever held within its walls.

"Do you see how I suffer? The executioners crucified me on Good Friday, Christians crucify me on Sundays. I have given my heart as the sensible object of my great love to men and I give My Face as the sensible object of my sorrow for all the sins of men. I wish that my Face be venerated by a special feast every year on Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. I wish that the feast be preceded by a novena of nine days which the faithful make reparation with me, joining together and sharing in my sorrow."

“By My Holy Face you will obtain the conversion of numberless sinners. Nothing that you ask in making this offering will be refused you. According to the care you take in making reparation To My Face, disfigured by blasphemers, I will take care of yours, which has been disfigured by sin. I will reprint on it My Image, and render it as beautiful as it was on leaving the Baptismal Font.” 
                           Our Lord to Blessed Maria Pierina de Micheli
                             
© Carmelite Monastery St. Therese,
Clinton Twp. MI
ArchConfraternity in U.S.A.
       What can we do?
Our Lord asked for a novena 9 days before Shrove Tuesday, however, the novena may be said any time there is a great need for reparation. One could also pray the novena nine days before Good Friday while walking with our Lord during his sufferings. However this year the significance of Shrove Tuesday with the Fatima Message and the Book of Ester we should have as many people as possible take part in this work of reparation.The novena this year begins on Sunday February 16th and ends February 24th the day before Shrove Tuesday. Here is the link for the Novena to the Holy Face. 
                   Link for the Novena to the Holy Face:
   https://www.holyface.org.uk/content/holyfacenovena.htm

1885 ArchConfraternity 
       For The Holy Face       
In the revelations to Sister Mary of St. Peter, Our Lord was very specific in stating the extreme importance of this devotion to his Holy Face for making reparation to God, for holding back the justice of God during the evils of the day, and for obtaining the resolution to all of the problems in our families. To His priests He promises He will defend them before His Father in Heaven and give them His kingdom if they, through words, prayers or writings, defend His cause in this work of "reparation." Pastors, therefore, and priests who desire to answer this call should endeavor, through regular procedure, to establish the Confraternity of the Holy Face in their parishesFollow link how to establish confraternities:   http://www.holyfacedevotion.com/confraternity.htm

Addendums: 
The Public Message of La Salette
Similar to the Fatima Message, Our Lady also gave the children of La Salette a public message which was given told to the bishop and made public. After an initial period of investigation by the local authorities, the apparitions were declared to be worthy of belief in 1851 by the bishop of Grenoble. This legitimized devotion to Our Lady of 
La Salette.

At the same time Cardinal de Boland instructed, Melanie and Maximin to write down the content of the secrets, which were then sealed in envelopes and transmitted to Pope Pius IX. These secrets remain buried in the Vatican secret archives for nearly a century and a half, until they were finally unearthed by Fr Michel Corteville in 1999, who working together with Fr Rene Laurentin, eventually revealed the messages to the public in 2002 in their book Découverte du secret de La Salette, (Discovery of the Secret of La Salette, Fayard, 2002).”
Read More…. http://unveilingtheapocalypse.blogspot.com/2011/09/our-lady-of-la-salette.html

The Secrets of La Salette
Time does not allow for a full expose on the various versions of the secrets in circulation on La Salatte. Which ones are authentic and which are not. In essence they all say the same thing with varying degrees of embellishment. It is too convoluted and will not serve our purpose here to address this except to say that there were secrets and they have been revealed. To correct these common misunderstandings of the La Salette secrets, it is essential to return to the original accounts, in their various versions, to distinguish the primitive version from later embellishments. This has become possible for the first time in over a century, thanks to the rediscovery of the original secrets submitted by the children directly to Pope Pius IX in 1851. They compared the authentic secrets to other versions that appeared over the years, and explain the relationship of these to the originals, thereby constructing a documentary history of the revelations of La Salette. Follow this link for details:  Public and Secret messages of La Sallette  http://www.arcaneknowledge.org/catholic/lasalette.htm

Controversies


We should not let the controversy over the secrets of La Salette detract from the importance of the message itself. It is a plea for men to stop offending God and for reparation. It is the same plea given at Fatima.

The Fatima Message also suffered similar controversies over the Collegial Consecration of Russia that detracted from the essence of the message. The people looked at what they thought the pope should have done instead of incorporating the Message of Penance into their daily lives. Where ever the Holy Spirit is poured out you can be sure the evil spirit will not be far causing confusion and divisions. His time is short. For us to argue over these opinions and it takes us away from doing the work of reparation and the devil wins. Some truths will only be known in Heaven.

Teaching the importance of personal reformation is what we need to accomplish this reawakening in the Church to the beauty and power of reparation contained in the devotions to the Holy Face. The spread and reawakening of this devotion may be the means used by God to help bring about the necessary reparation needed for the longed for Triumph of the Immaculate Heart.

Addendum II  
A friend of mine who speaks fluent Latin wrote to remind me that the two calendars, (Hebrew and Gregorian) do not often line up. I sighed and thought; Ok Lord, she is not the only one who will have this observation, so I am back to the computer screen preparing another addendum.

I avoided the subject because of the time I needed to get this out before February 4th, the start of the Holy Face Novena and because It would have unduly lengthened an already long post if I brought out the  calendar variations. I also feared that some people would dismiss this as fancy imaginings, (putting things together on my part) and not look the post over with a prayerful discernment. I decided I would deal with the subject if it was brought up. It was and I expect there are others like my friend in the cyber world, so with Gods help here is the second addendum.

I was aware that the dates in the Hebrew Calendar and the Gregorian calendars do not often align. This is because the Hebrew calendar is Lunar while the western calendar (Gregorian) is Solar. Every four years the western calendar has to add a day ( 29th February ) leap year. This keeps the calendar in step with the Earth's progress around the Sun. The Hebrew calendar is about ten days short of a solar year, so every seven years they add an extra month. This ensures that the seasonal feasts keep to their correct season. This extra month is added at the end of the Jewish Year after the month of Adar II. The leap year month is called Adar I Purim must be celebrated in Adar II in a leap year, so Adar I is considered the "extra" month.

In current 2018 Hebrew calendar, the 13th of Adar falls on 1 March 2018, so the Jews will celebrate their Purim feast after sunset on 28 February 2018 (Wednesday of the second week of Lent).This day is celebrated as the Jewish Feast of Purim-"lots," in reference to the lots cast by Haman in choosing the day on which the Jewish People were to be slain (Esther 3.7-12). The chosen date was the 13th of Adar. The Month of Adar in the Holy Scriptures comprises in Esther: 09, 21.

Adar and Adar II Is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It occurs during anytime during February–March on the Gregorian calendar. Based on a line in the Mishnah declaring that Purim must be celebrated in Adar II in a leap year (Megillah 1:4), Adar I is always considered the "extra" Leap year month. The next Jewish leap year will be in 2020. Incidentally, the Jewish calendar is calculated from Creation and therefore needs no BC or AD. Jewish reference to the Western, Gregorian, calendar are CE or BCE; CE standing for Common Era and Before Common Era.

There are people who are exacting types and may dismiss the whole account just because Adar 13 and February 13 are not the exactly same day this year. So if I may make a plea in defense of God’s silent language in the unfolding of His Divine Providence. God knew in advance that the calendars would not line up every year when he sent Our Lady on the 13th of each month to Fatima for six months. He also knew the calendars would not align when God placed the star on Our Lady’s dress signifying her as a Jewish Princess/Queen. He also realized this when he called Sr. Lucia home on the February 13, 2005. Of all the days of the year to choose he chose this date, placing the final stamp implying that the Fatima Message and the Book of Ester are related

Finally, God foresaw that in 2018 the feast that He requested to honor His Holy Face would fall on Shrove Tuesday, February 13th. If God knowing that Adar 13 and February 13 would not always align. Why should we nitpick and just accept the implied reference? It should be enough for us that the timing of the all these events direct us to look at the Book of Ester and follow the example of Queen Ester in relation to the Fatima Message. 

What is indeed interesting to note that this year the Jewish Passover or Seder fall on March 30th, Good Friday, the same time it occurred when Our Lord was crucified.

Information in this post article was compiled from following links:

1887 Manuel of the Arch Confraternity of the Holy Face 



Third Papal Brief (October 1, 1885)

http://www.holyfacedevotion.com/papal_brief3.htm

Indulgences granted
http://www.holyfacedevotion.com/indulgences.htm

Photo Video of La Salette Shrine 5 min
https://youtu.be/VnMWvUmV-TA











The Crucifix of La Sallette





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