The Holy Face Devotion

The Holy Face Devotion is a Work of Reparation revealed by Our Lord to a Carmelite nun in the mid-nineteenth century. Sr. Mary of St. Peter received a series of revelations from 1843 to 1848, during which Jesus made known to her that the sins of blasphemy and the profanation of Holy days are those that offend God the most in these modern times. In the later years of revelation, He added that this devotion would also make reparation for the atheistic error of Communism. Our Lord told Sr. Mary that these crimes against the Majesty of God had never before reached such soaring heights. In her autobiography, Sr. Mary wrote that Jesus made her understand that these sins directly violate God's first 3 Commandments:

• “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:2-3).
• “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” (Exodus 20:7).
• “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8).

Jesus said these violations had aroused the anger of His Father. “The crimes … [of blasphemy] against God's Holy Name and the profanation of Sundays … have reached to the very throne of Almighty God and they have provoked His wrath” (St. Peter, The Golden Arrow 129).

We call this the Holy Face Devotion because Christ specified that the exterior object of The Work of Reparation is His Holy Face, which is inextricably connected to the Name of God, worthy of all our praise. The Holy Face is “the mirror of those unutterable Divine perfections comprised and contained in the Most Holy Name of God” (ibid 156).

M. L'Abbé Janvier, director of the Priests of the Holy Face wrote, “[T]he veneration of this adorable Face [will] be the great means of preventing and repairing the impious outrages committed against the Majesty of God, [against] the divinity of Jesus Christ, and [against] the authority of the Church” (Manual of the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face XXI).

Devotion to The Holy Face of Jesus harkens back to the Veil of Veronica, the courageous woman who braved the crowds and the vicious Roman soldiers to approach Jesus on the Way of the Cross. She presented her veil to Our Lord so that He may wipe His sacred face covered with blood, dust, sweat, and spittle. When Jesus wiped His adorable Face, He left Its imprint on the Veil. The relic of Veronica's Veil is still with us in St. Peter's Basilica, along with the relics of the True Cross and the spear of St. Longinus. It has been venerated over the centuries by many popes and pilgrims and is remembered by the Church in the Sixth Station of the Cross.

On August 26, 1843, two years after her profession as a Carmelite nun, Jesus revealed to Sr. Mary of St. Peter a great Work of Reparation that would save France and ultimately the world from the punishment due for blasphemy and the profanation of Sundays and Holy days. In her autobiography, The Golden Arrow, Sr. Mary writes that Jesus said to her,“My Name is everywhere blasphemed. There are even children who blaspheme!” He showed Sr. Mary that the sin of blasphemy “wounds His Divine Heart more grievously than all other sins … by blasphemy, the sinner curses Him to His face, attacks Him publicly, nullifies his redemption, and pronounces his own judgment and condemnation.” It is “a poisoned arrow continually wounding His divine Heart.” To remedy this outrage, Our Lord gave Sr. Mary The Golden Arrow, an Act of Praise that would “wound His Heart delightfully, [healing] the wounds inflicted by the malice of sinners” (113).

Over the next 5 years, Our Lord would unfold His will for the great Work of Reparation, calling the Sisters of the Carmel of Tours, and through them, the faithful, to do penance through sacrifices and specific prayers. Through this reparation, blasphemers and profaners of Our Lord's day would be converted and saved. As mentioned above, Our Lord revealed to Sr. Mary that the exterior object of adoration for this Work was to be His Holy Face. He gave her St. Veronica as patron and protectress, confiding to her the following. “I seek Veronicas to wipe and venerate My Divine Face which has few adorers”(St. Peter, The Golden Arrow 157). Jesus assured her that those who will make reparation do the same service to Him as the pious Veronica; and that He looks upon those persons with the same [kindness] as that with which He looked on St. Veronica during His passion (ibid 153).

Sr. Mary wrote everything down, not trusting herself, but submitting it all to her confessor and her Mother Superior, Marie of the Incarnation. Although Mother Superior tested Sister and her motives, sometimes forbidding her from praying the reparation prayers, she and Sr. Mary received multiple confirmations that this work was authentically Catholic and had come from Christ. Eventually, the Reverend Mother gave Sr. Mary full permission to make reparation through the prayers inspired by Our Lord and allowed the entire convent to participate. Already, a miracle had been attributed to the prayers, and many more would come. Mother also permitted Sr. Mary to meet with the Archbishop in obedience to Christ to explain the Work and request that a Confraternity be established for its propagation in Tours.

In 1847, Our Lord deepened Sister's understanding of the need for reparation by addressing another rebellion brewing against the Church. This atheistic movement was focused on attacking what faith remained in the culture, already ravaged by revolutionaries. Our Lord explained to Sr. Mary that the evil spirit opposing God and His Church was rising once again under the name of Communism (St. Peter, Life of Sr. Mary, 318-319). Christ lamented to his little Carmelite, “[I]t is the Communists who have dragged me from my tabernacles, profaned and despoiled my sanctuaries, and have even dared to raise their hands against the anointed of the Lord, but their designs shall be frustrated” (ibid 321). Sr. Mary wrote to her Superior, “He has commanded me to cross swords with the Communists, who, as he told me, were the sworn enemies of the Church, and of his Christ” (ibid 320).

Throughout Sister Mary's brief life as a Carmelite nun, Our Lord repeatedly impressed upon her that a public association or Confraternity must be established. Yet, she was to remain in obedience to her superiors. Sister experienced great anxiety each time she approached the Reverend Mother on this subject - and more so when Mother sent her to speak with the Archbishop. The little cloistered nun did not feel worthy or capable of being the spokesperson for this great Work. But Christ reassured her, giving her the grace to set aside her discomfort and carry on His mission.

Sr. Mary was greatly consoled when the Archbishop finally approved the printing and circulation of the reparation prayers given to her by Jesus. At her request, it was not revealed through whom the prayers came. Most of her confreres did not even know it was Sr. Mary who was receiving these revelations. The Confraternity of Tours, however, for which Our Lord specifically asked, would not come about until after Sister's death. She commended this to Christ, having been faithful to all He commanded, and died in peace on July 8, 1848.

“I am entirely consecrated as a victim to the cause of the Work of Reparation” (Sister Mary of St. Peter).

The Carmelite monastery had a very good friend and benefactor, Mr. Leo Dupont, a wealthy man of great faith. He was known by all as the Holy Man of Tours, leading pilgrimages and organizing Adoration in reparation for the sins of the culture. It seems God's Providence brought him to the Carmelite nuns to join forces with them in the Work of Reparation, for from his youth he had a great love and reverence for the Holy Name of God. He often defended God's Name against profanities in common conversation and spoke out vehemently upon hearing blasphemy.

In 1845, Mother Marie of the Incarnation began sharing the revelations received by Sr. Mary with Mr. Dupont. He was permitted to read the letters submitted to Mother Marie documenting Christ's communications (Janvier, The Life of Leon Papin-Dupont 34, 227). He reverently pondered all that was being revealed to this faithful nun. Our Lord's words to Sr. Mary resonated with Mr. Dupont's own desire to do penance for the mounting sins of his time. In response to what he believed was the calling of Christ, he advanced the spirit of reparation among his friends and acquaintances. Reading of the urgency with which Our Lord was requesting the Confraternity to atone for the sins against the first three Commandments, Mr. Dupont met with the Archbishop of Tours, with whom he was well acquainted. The Archbishop, already aware of Sr. Mary's revelations, saw them as having “the seal of God” and “no stamp of deception” (St. Peter, The Golden Arrow 98). Yet, he hesitated to act on the request due to perceived obstacles.

Convinced of her holiness, Mr. Dupont remained a great supporter and friend of Sr. Mary, although only through correspondence. Meditating on the power residing in the Holy Face of Jesus, he was particularly moved by Our Lord's promises to Sr. Mary: "By this Holy Face you will perform prodigies." And again, “According to the care you will take to repair My visage disfigured by blasphemers, so will I take care of yours which has been disfigured by sin. I will imprint My visage afresh upon it” (Janvier, The Life 228-229). Captivated by these thoughts, his heart was set aflame with the desire to spread the Work of Reparation through Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. But it was not clear to him how this would come about.

In 1851, after the death of Sr. Mary, he received two copies of the Holy Face artistically reproduced during a miracle of the relic of Veronica's Veil at the Vatican. He gave one copy to an order of priests and kept the other for himself, setting up a little oratory in his home with an oil lamp burning before It around the clock. There, countless visitors prayed with him and received untold miracles and answers to prayer. News of these miracles spread and drew a steady stream of pilgrims. Those who could not travel wrote to Mr. Dupont, who faithfully returned their letters enclosed with a small vial of oil from the lamp that burned night and day. Thus, this little sacred shrine became the center from which the rays of the Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus would shine out to all the world (ibid 231-235).

Although the Association requested by Our Lord through Sr. Mary would not be established in Tours during her lifetime, in the nearby town of Langres, Bishop Parisis established the Confraternity of Reparation on June 28, 1847. He sent to Rome to request indulgences from the Holy Father, Pope Pius IX, who promptly granted the request.

Over the next thirty years, the miracles associated with the image of the Holy Face continued and were carefully documented by Mr. Dupont. After his death, his little oratory was consecrated by the current Archbishop Charles Colet as a public devotional site. The Archbishop also established a society of the Priests of the Holy Face to continue the reparatory work of Sr. Mary and the Holy Man of Tours. Eventually, Pope Leo XIII, having noted the documented miracles, erected the worldwide Archconfraternity. St. Therese and her family were some of the earliest official members (St. Peter, Life449-450).

As Our Lord is never outgiven and expresses mercy and compassion on all who hear and obey His commands, He did not hesitate to make the following promises to Sr. Mary and all who would honor His Holy Face.

• “By my Holy Face you will work marvels” (Janvier, The Life 228).
• “Through this Holy Face you will obtain the conversion of many sinners” (St. Peter, The Golden Arrow 182).
• All those who devote themselves to this Work of Reparation will be considered by Our Lord as performing the same office as Veronica and will be regarded by Him with that love and affection with which he looked upon her (St. Peter, Life 227, 246).
• The Holy Face of Jesus will appease the wrath of God (ibid 256).
• “According to the diligence you will manifest in repairing [M]y image disfigured by blasphemers, so will I have the same care in repairing your soul which has been disfigured by sin; I will imprint thereon my image, and will render it as beautiful as when it came forth from the baptismal font” (ibid 254).
• “As in an earthly kingdom we can procure all that we desire by having a coin stamped with the image of the king, so also with … [M]y adorable Face, you will obtain in the kingdom of heaven, all that your heart can desire” (ibid 251).
• “Those who, in reparation for blasphemy, would defend [Christ's] cause by prayers, words, or writings, would be defended by Him before His Heavenly Father and He would make them partakers of his kingdom” (ibid 263-264).
• “Those of His ministers who preach this work … [and] endeavor to … honor His Holy Face in reparation for the blasphemy of sinners … at the hour of death He would purify their souls by effacing the stains of sin, [sic] and would restore to them their primitive beauty” (ibid 264).

In some sense, the Holy Face Devotion has existed since Our Lord's birth. Our Lady, St. Joseph, and the shepherds expressed their adoration for His glorious Face in the stable of Bethlehem. Throughout the centuries, many saints and pious souls have adored Its Image. Now in these modern times, by His great mercy, Christ has especially given us His Face to offer to the Father in reparation for grave violations against His first 3 Commandments. In nearly two centuries since Our Lord's communications to Sr. Mary, we have witnessed a greater increase in the sins that so grieve His Heart. Yet God, in His patience, has continued to beckon, promise, warn, and urge us to fight against the spirit of this world through prayer, sacrifice, and a holy life.

Now, as we wonder what can be done to change the course of the culture and how our prayers and sacrifices can be effective against the storms of blasphemy, indifference, and atheism that threaten to stamp out all reverence for God, we can take courage by this devotion. By joining the Archconfraternity and praying the prayers given to Sr. Mary by Jesus Himself, we offer our small reparation through the infinite merits of that Sacred Face, which God the Father cannot resist. “Oh if you only knew how pleasing is the sight of my Face to my Father!” (St. Peter, The Golden Arrow 182) Let us heed His call, take up this devotion, and express our great love for Christ and His Church by honoring the Commandments of God through the Holy Face of Jesus. May His promises be fulfilled in us.

“Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore!” (Psalm 113:2).

Janvier, L'Abbe. The Manual of the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face followed by The Little Office of the Holy Name of God. Translated by A.R. Bennett, Tours, The Oratory of the Holy Face, 1887.

Janvier, Pierre. The Life of Léon Papin-Dupont: The Holy Man of Tours. Edited by Edward Healy Thompson, vol. VIII, London, Burns and Oats, 1882. archive.org, https://archive.org/details/thelifeoflaeonpa00leonuoft/page/228/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater. Accessed 15 January 2025.

Sister Mary St. Peter. The Golden Arrow: The Autobiography and Revelations of Sister Mary of St. Peter (1816-1848) on Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. Edited by Dorothy Scallan, translated by Fr. Emeric B. Scallan, STB, Elkhorn, St. Jerome Library Press, 2019.

Sister Mary St. Peter. Life of Sister Mary St. Peter Carmelite of Tours. Edited by L'Abbe Janvier, Revised Edition ed., 1884. archive.org, https://archive.org/details/lifeofsistermary00janvuoft/page/n3/mode/2up. Accessed 24 January 2025.