Archconfraternity of the Holy Face

Pope Leo XIII Established the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face in Tours, France, 1885  

BRIEF OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIII

Establishing THE ARCHCONFRATERNITY OF THE HOLY FACE

Leo XIII Pope.

For a perpetual remembrance. According to the usages of Roman Pontiffs, our predecessors, we are accustomed to decorate and enrich with special honors and privileges the pious associations instituted for the practice of works of piety and charity. Our beloved sons, the directors and associates of the pious Confraternity known as that of the Holy Face, canonically established in the sanctuary of the same name, in the town of Tours, and enriched by us and the holy See with numerous privileges, have expressed to us the desire, that making use of the plenitude of our apostolic power, we should honor his association with the title of Archconfraternity and with the preeminence which is it’s due Desirous of giving to each and all of those in whose favor these letters are delivered a special mark of our benevolence, and only as regards the present case, considering them has absolved, and to be absolved from all sentences of excommunication and interdict, and from all the censures and ecclesiastical penalties which they may have incurred and which may have been inflicted on them in any manner or for any cause whatsoever, we, by our apostolical authority, in virtue of these presents, establish and constitute as a perpetual Archconfraternity, with the accustomed privileges, the so-called Confraternity of the Holy Face, established in the town of Tours. And by the same our authority, in virtue of these letters, we concede in grant in perpetuity, to the directors and colleagues present and future of the Archconfraternity, the power, validly and lawfully, to aggregate to itself, throughout the whole world, excepting in our glorious city, all the other Confraternities existing in the same name and having the same object, observing always the form prescribed by the Constitution of Pope Clement VIII, our predecessor of happy memory, and the other apostolical ordinances drawn up on the subject, as well as to communicate to all and each the Indulgences, remissions of sins and dispensations of penance, which have been granted by the holy apostolical See to the association so erected by us into an Archconfraternity, and which are susceptible of being communicated to others. We decree that are present letters shall be, for the present and the future, fixed, valid and efficacious; that they shall obtain and possess their full and entire effects, that they shall fully favor all and for all, whom they concern and shall concern hereafter in accordance with what has been previously enumerated, and shall be judged and defined by ordinary judges and delegates, whoever they may be, even the auditors of the suits of the apostolic Palace, the Nuncios of the holy See, the Cardinals of the holy Roman Church, even legates a latere and all other personages, whatever their dignity and their power may be; entire power and authority to judge and interpret otherwise being withdrawn from them in general and in particular, so that if any one, whatever be the authority with which he is invested, attacks any of these clauses knowingly or through ignorance, his act shall be null and void. And this notwithstanding the Constitutions and Apostolic ordinances, and, in as far as is necessary, the statutes, customs and uses contrary to the above named Confraternity and all others soever, even when they have been confirmed by apostolic oath or any other decision whatever.

PLENARY INDULGENCES 

1. On the day of admission; 

2. At the hour of death; 

3. For every yearly pilgrimage made to the Oratory of the Holy Face; 

4. On the feast of St. Peter, or on a day during the Octave; 

5. On the feast of the Transfiguration, only day during the octave; 

6. On Passion Sunday, or any other day fixed by the Ordinary.

In order to gain these last 3 indulgences, it is necessary to visit the seat of their Confraternity.

PARTIAL INDULGENCES

7 years and 7 quarantines for each assistance at the monthly reunions.

60 days: 1. For each pious exercise performed at the seat of the Confraternity; 

2. For any other work of piety offered in union with the object of the Association; 

3. Each time a member devoutly kisses the effigy of the Holy Face repeating the invocation: Lord, show us that thy Face, and we shall be saved.

100 days for every prayer said before in effigy of the Holy Face. (Pius IX. December 11, 1876.)

40 days each time a member assists at any of the daily morning or evening exercises in the chapel of the Holy Face at Tours. (The Archbishop of Tours, November 15th 1876.)

The above indulgences which require that a visit should be made to the church, maybe gained by sick persons by virtue of some other act prescribes by the confessor. (Brief of the 30th March 1885.)

N. B. - The associates will endeavor to be faithful to their pious engagements, although these engagements, as they all know, do not impose an obligation of conscience, that is to say, do not oblige under penalty of sin.

ADVICE TO THE ASSOCIATES

I. To wear on their persons a picture of the Holy Face, to kiss it devoutly the 1st thing in the morning on awaking and at night before going to sleep, to consecrate their actions during the day to the divine Face, to resolve to perform them in its presence and before its eyes.

II. At the commencement of their prayers, or of any exercise of piety, has an easy means of placing themselves in the presence of God, and of combating distractions, to think of the Holy Face whose eyes are open and fixed upon us, to adore it with faith, to look at it with love.

III. In presence of the Blessed Sacrament, to recall to our remembrance the fact that the Face of the Savior is present there in the sacred Host: that it sees us, listens to us, blesses us, speaks to us interiorly.

IV. To endeavor in their conduct to imitate the virtues of patience, of gentleness, of serenity, of modesty, which shine in the Holy Face. Listen to the divine Master who said learn of me, and seeing me, that I am meek in face and humble of heart: knowing that, in fact the gentleness and humility of the heart of Jesus are, as in a very clear mirror, admirably reflected on the Face of the Man God.

V. In trials, sicknesses, accidents, temptations, to prostrate themselves before the picture of the Holy Face whether in their private Oratory, or above all, in the church of the Confraternity where it is specially exposed.

VI. To have in their houses a picture of the Holy Face which they shall honor as the protector of the family and the Guardian of the domestic hearth; to recite before it the prayers which are habitually said in common by the household.

VII. When they shall hear any blasphemies pronounced, or shall see and act of impious sacrilege which they cannot prevent, to recollect themselves and to pronounce with their hearts, if they cannot with their lips, the words: Behold, O God, our protector, and look upon the Face of thy Christ, or: May the Name of the Lord be blessed! Sit Nomen Domini benedictum!

VIII. To propagate the worship of the Holy Face in their locality, amongst their friends and acquaintances, and to make use of it in order to combat, in every possible manner, the terrible effects of indifference and irreligion.

Engraving of the Holy Face

The engravings of the Holy Face are the reproduction of the veil of Veronica at the Vatican. No one is ignorant of the respect paid by the Church to the relic. Every year, two Cardinals, delegated for that purpose, give the same benediction with it to the kneeling people, as that given with the Blessed Sacrament, and with the sacred wood of the true Cross. An authentic attestation of the divinity of Jesus Christ, this blessed veil has been left to the Church, to be, as it were, a precious coin, marked with the effigy of the King of kings, intended to call down upon the world which is ceaselessly impending towards its ruin, the mercies of the Lord. 

Earthly coins have engraved upon them the effigy of their princes, in order to enable the kingdoms of the world freely to exchange their different products. Wherefore then, should not the kingdom of heaven also have, like the kingdoms of the earth, a coin by means of which everlasting goods may be purchased? 0 God! our Protector, look upon us, and cast thine eyes upon the Face of thy Christ, ought to be our frequent cry.

Every soul attached to Holy Church, and with it to the dogma of the divinity of our Lord, ought to make it a law of love, to have in its own little oratory, a picture of the Holy Face. Ah! if this devotion did but reign in all hearts, we should soon see the last remnants disappear of the odious blasphemy which has come down even to our own days: the denial namely of the Divinity of Jesus! The devotion to the Holy Face is a sign of predestination, for what soul is there which after having loved and venerated this august Face on earth may not rest assured of one day venerating it amidst the triumphs of its glory? (Letter of Mr. Dupont.)

N. B. — These engravings come from Rome, where they are engraved under the guarantee of the proper authority. Moreover they have attached to them an authentication bearing the signature and the seal of a Cardinal, attesting that they have touched the veil of Veronica, the wood of the true Cross and the iron of the spear which transfixed our Lord. This authentication ought to be carefully preserved. The word gratis, painted on them in large characters, is to show that the favour of touching these holy relics is gratuitously bestowed, and that the blessing attached thereto is not sold; but it does not mean to imply that the engravings themselves are not to be sold at a proper price, calculated to cover the expenses of the paper, linen or silk of the engraving, of the carriage, etc.; these prices are, moreover, made as low as possible and ought never to be an object of speculation.

Source: Manual of the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face.

More here: Manual of the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face (1887)

Join or Establish your own Confraternity

Try to Establish the Holy Face Devotion in your Local community, with like minded brothers and sisters in communion with your Local Catholic Priest;

and or- other officially appointed members of the cloth.

Perhaps, there is a charitable room, oratory that could be used to accommodate and thus venerate this Blessed Devotion.

The members can meet on an agreed time, and pray, meditate, and in addition pray the Holy Face Chaplet before the Holy Face Image.

For further reverence- you could light a candle close beneath or there close by the Image of the Holy Face to be venerated.

You can of course privately, or with family and or friends practice this Devotion to the Holy Face.

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