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.
Devotion to the Holy Face.
With an increase of desecrations of churches and especially the Blessed Sacrament in France, as well as increasing attacks upon priests along with the genocide in Nigeria, it seems to me prayers in reparation need to be made with greater fervor.
PRAYER TO OFFER THE HOLY FACE OF JESUS TO GOD THE FATHER TO APPEASE HIS JUSTICE AND DRAW DOWN MERCY UPON US
Almighty and Eternal Father, since it has pleased Our Divine Savior to reveal to mankind in modern times the power residing in His Holy Face, we now avail ourselves of this Treasure in our great need. Since our Savior Himself promised that by offering to You His Holy Face disfigured in the Passion we can procure the settlement of all the affairs of our household, and that nothing whatsoever will be refused to us, we now come before Your throne.
Eternal Father, turn away Your angry gaze from our guilty people whose face has become unsightly in Your eyes. Look instead upon the Face of Your Beloved Son; for this is the Face of Him in whom You are well pleased. We now offer You His Holy Face covered with blood, sweat, dust, spittle and shame, in reparation for the worst crimes of our age, which are atheism, blasphemy, and the desecration of Your holy days. We thus hope to appease Your anger justly provoked against us. The All-Merciful Advocate opens His mouth to plead our cause; listen to His cries, behold His tears, O God, and through the merits of His Holy Face hearken to Him when He intercedes for us poor miserable sinners. - Source
Show us your Face O Lord, and we shall be saved.
Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus is a little known and less practiced ritual then most others. At least to me. It seems appropriate, especially in the context you present it here. The Roman Catholic Eucharist remains God's greatest and most enduring gift to mankind. Descreation does seem rampant even unwittingly among believers. I associate it closely with the Hymn, How Great Thou Art. It will be like the ballast that secures the ship in the greatest storm.
ReplyDeleteThe Carmelites were given this particular devotion, which is where I discovered it - S. Therese had the Holy Face as one of her titles, as you know.
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