ACTION ITEM: 7-15 July Novena to the Holy Face of Jesus – for the preservation of the Traditional Latin Mass

Every once in a while, more and more often as a matter of fact, references to devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus are surfacing.

I received this email:

Dear Fr Z,
From today’s Mass: “Quia óculi Dómini super iustos, et aures eius in preces eórum: vultus autem Dómini super faciéntes mala.

Suggested action item: Novena to the Holy Face of Jesus from 7 July to 15 July for the preservation of the TLM. A devotion entrusted to the Carmelites to defeat revolutionary men.
https://theholyface.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Holy-Face-9Day-Novena.pdf

One of my great favorites, a saint who has been good to me and who has helped me and given me signs of her intercession, St. Thérèse of Lisieux was devoted to the Holy Face. Her full religious name was Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face. Her sister Pauline (aka Sister Agnès of Jesus) introduced Thérèse to this devotion. St. Thérèse wrote many prayers about the Holy Face. She wrote, “Make me resemble you, Jesus!” on a small card with an image of the Holy Face to it which pinned over her heart. In 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.”

And she composed the prayer

“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.”

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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8 Comments

  1. RosaryRose says:

    I’m in.

  2. JonS says:

    I would highly recommend Father Carney’s book:
    The Secret of the Holy Face: The Devotion Destined to Save Society.
    Our Lord told Sr. Mary of St. Peter that He would use this devotion to destroy communism. Let us pray that the re-emergence of this devotion is a hopeful sign of that promise’s fulfilment.

  3. Andrew says:

    óculi Dómini super iustos
    That is an interesting mishmash: putting little accent marks over the vowels, which the romans would not have done while avoiding the letter “j” which the romans would also not have done.
    Here is a good and useful article on proper Latin spelling:

    https://www.hieronymus.us.com/latinweb/Grammatica/LatinSpelling.htm

  4. grateful says:

    …” I have felt the Lord tell me that our worship when churches shut down should consist of praying the Rosary and the adoration of the Holy Face.”…
    from this website:
    https://veilofveronica.blog/2024/06/24/goin-fishing/

    and …”It is time to look at His Holy Face. It is time to see that He is the one who calms and keeps the storm. Promulgate this devotion. Jesus Himself left us His face during the Passion with the Veil of Veronica, in His death on the Shroud of Turin, and in His resurrection on the Veil of Manopello. “…
    from: https://veilofveronica.blog/2023/09/22/fighting-communism/

  5. colorado says:

    It would be helpful if this were to be reposted on July 6 as a reminder to start. Some of us are not as organized as some others.

  6. Sue in soCal says:

    Here is the website with a link to the prayer app that has the novena.

    https://hisholyface.com/

  7. KAS says:

    Fr Lawrence Carney has a second book, PREPARATION FOR TOTAL CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY FACE, but I am finding it difficult to find a link. I think I purchased through Amazon but those are now “unavailable”. I love the devotion to the Holy Face and the chaplet. I purchased my chaplet from https://RomanCatholicGear.com. It is nice and unbreakable. I added a lovely medal of the Veil of Veronica to it (from https://www.etsy.com/shop/SixthStation). Fr Lawrence Carney (League of St Martin, https://www.martinians.org) has lots of links, (ArchConfraternity of the Holy Face, etc) and a nice video on YouTube on how to pray the chaplet (https://youtu.be/xVep_ql0aUU?si=T9kQoCbTTsJK9oxC), although as he says elsewhere, there are several variations on how to pray it and each has good things. I also like: youtu.be/7SqbICTr4-c . Quite enriching and so nice to pray live with a group when there are none in my community.

  8. Tina in Ashburn Whoville says:

    KAS:
    Attended a conference a couple of weeks ago. Fr. Carney mentioned having great difficulty getting the Consecration book out. There are some on Amazon according to a friend who just purchased one – but that’s it until TAN and Fr. Carney prevail over the present obstacles in getting out more of the books.

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