Holy Face Devotion
What is Devotion to the Holy Face
Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus is a devotion for lovers of the Crucified Lord. It began on the sorrowful road to Calvary, when a pious woman named Veronica, moved by compassion for her suffering Lord, braved the angry mob, and dared to wipe the spittle, dust, and blood from the Countenance of Our Lord. Our Lord Jesus Christ showed his gratitude and love for this supreme act of compassion, by leaving on her veil the imprint of His Holy Face. This sacred relic of the Passion has been venerated by the Church since its earliest days and has been jealously guarded in a column of St. Peter’s Basilica. Upon viewing the Image of our Lord in His Passion, so moving is the impression, that it has been written:
Whoever gazes upon the Holy Face of Jesus, cannot but be moved to repay our Lord’s infinite love, by a wholehearted response of love, and this is what our Lord truly desires of us:
Manifestation
When the Holy Father, Pope Pius IX, fled to Gaeta in 1849 during a revolution which threatened Catholic France and Rome itself, he ordered public prayers to be offered in all of the churches of Rome to implore God’s mercy on the Papal States. Complying with this, a three-day exposition of the Relic of Veronica’s Veil was held for public veneration at St. Peter’s Basilica. On the 3rd day of the showing a miracle occurred. The Canons of the Basilica and a number of the faithful who were praying there noticed a remarkable change on the Veil of the Holy Face, the impression of which was so faint as to be scarcely visible. “Through another veil of silk which covers the true Relic of Veronica’s Veil the Divine Face appeared distinctly, as if living, and was illumined by a soft light; the features assumed a deathlike hue, and the eyes, deep sunken, wore an expression of great pain.” The Canons immediately ordered the bells to be rung, attracting crowds of people who witnessed the three-hour manifestation. An apostolic notary was called in and composed a document testifying to the event.
That same evening, copies of the effigy were made and touched to the veil, and later sent abroad. Two of these pictures of the Holy Face were sent by the Carmelite sisters in Tours, France, to Leo Dupont. After the death of Sister Mary of St. Peter, to whom Our Lord had revealed the devotion of Reparation to His Holy Face, it was the Servant of God Leo Dupont who continued to promote this devotion until the end of his life. Leo hung one of these pictures in his parlor, and placed a crystal oil lamp before it, which he burned continuously as a mark of his reverence, veneration, and love. A few days later on Holy Saturday, the first miracle occurred. A woman afflicted with fiery pain in her eyes prayed with Leo Dupont to the Holy Face of Jesus and anointed her eyes with a little of the oil from the lamp. She was instantly cured. The oil had no curative powers. The anointing simply expressed exterior faith and was active piety. Within several weeks twenty more persons had been relieved of serious illnesses, cured instantly the same way. The miracles continued for 30 years! They became so numerous that Pope Pius IX declared Leo Dupont to be perhaps the greatest miracle worker in Church history.
