St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face
Her family were enrolled in the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face. Her parents, Louis and Zelie Martin, prayed at the Oratory of the Holy Face, Venerable Leo Dupont formed.
Her parents, Mother: Blessed Marie-Azelie Guerin; Father: Blessed Louis Martin are expected to be canonized by Pope Francis during the world Synod of Bishops on the family in October (2015).
Her parents, Mother: Blessed Marie-Azelie Guerin; Father: Blessed Louis Martin are expected to be canonized by Pope Francis during the world Synod of Bishops on the family in October (2015).
A case for her sister, Leonie Martin - canonization has also been opened.
As St. Therese, herself tells in The Story of a Soul; she had a fervent devotion to the Holy Face, where she found unfathomable "depths of treasures hidden." She wrote:
"Ah, I desired that, like the face of Jesus, my face be truly hidden that no one on earth would know me."
"The just will recognize Him not only by the cross - symbol of salvation, which will precede His coming, but more exactly, by His Face, which will shine on the last day."
On August 5, 1899, just a few weeks before her death, to celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration her sisters brought to the infirmary, from the choir the picture of the Holy Face she so much loved and hung it where she could see it. Looking at the picture, she said:
On August 5, 1899, just a few weeks before her death, to celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration her sisters brought to the infirmary, from the choir the picture of the Holy Face she so much loved and hung it where she could see it. Looking at the picture, she said:
"Oh, how much good that holy face has done me in my life!"
As she lay dying on her bed; August 1897, a picture of the Holy Face was brought from the choir and attached to her bed curtains. so that she could see and contemplate our Blessed Saviour.
St. Therese's sister Celine, wrote:
"Devotion to the Holy Face was, for Therese, the crown and complement of her love for the Sacred Humanity of Our Lord. The Blessed Face was the mirror wherein she beheld the Heart and Soul of her Well-Beloved. Just as the picture of a loved one serves to bring the whole person before us, so in the Holy Face of Christ Therese beheld the entire Humanity of Jesus. We can say unequivocally that this devotion was the burning inspiration of the Saint's life. ...Her devotion to the Holy Face transcended, or more accurately, embraced, all the other attractions of her spiritual life."
"Devotion to the Holy Face was the Servant of God's Special attraction. As tender as was her devotion to the child Jesus, it cannot be compared to her devotion to the Holy Face"
-Testimony of Mother Agnes at the Beatification.
"These words of Isaiah... "There is no beauty in Him, no comeliness etc., "(are) the whole foundation of my devotion to the Holy Face, or to express it better, the whole foundation of my devotion to the Holy Face or to express it better, the foundation of all my piety. I, too have desired to be without beauty, alone in treading the winepress, unknown to everyone."
-Last Conversations of St. Therese. 135.
"Your Face, oh my sweet Savior, is the divine bouquet of myrrh I want to keep on my heart!"
-St. Therese
St. Therese - as later on she would be known - was a member of the confraternity. St. Therese was introduced to the Holy Face Devotion by her blood sister Pauline, also known as Sister Agnes of Jesus.
St. Therese wrote the words "Make me resemble you, Jesus!" on a small card and attached a stamp with an image of the Holy Face. She pinned the prayer in a small container over her heart.
Every August 6th, the Carmelites exposed the image of the Holy Face in their choir and prayed before it.
St. Therese wrote the words "Make me resemble you, Jesus!" on a small card and attached a stamp with an image of the Holy Face. She pinned the prayer in a small container over her heart.
The Carmelite sisters of Lisieux venerated the Holy Face Image every August 6th, forty days before the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 14th.
Prayers by St. Therese to the Holy Face
"O adorable face of Jesus,
sole beauty which ravishes my heart,
vouchsafe to impress on my soul
Your divine likeness
so that it may not be possible
for You to look at Your spouse
without beholding Yourself!
O my Beloved,
for love of You I am content
not to see here on earth
the sweetness of Your glance,
nor to feel the ineffable kiss
of Your sacred lips,
but I beg of You
to inflame me with Your love
so that it may consume me quickly
and that soon I (name) may behold
Your glorious countenance in heaven."
"O Jesus, who in Thy bitter Passion didst become "the most abject of men, a man of sorrows", I venerate Thy Sacred Face whereon there once did shine the beauty and sweetness of the Godhead; but now it has become for me as if it were the face of a leper! Nevertheless, under those disfigured features, I recognize Thy infinite Love and I am consumed with the desire to love Thee and make Thee loved by all men.
The tears which well up abundantly in Thy sacred eyes appear to me as so many precious pearls that I love to gather up, in order to purchase the souls of poor sinners by means of their infinite value. O Jesus, whose adorable face ravishes my heart, I implore Thee to fix deep within me Thy divine image and to set me on fire with Thy Love, that I may be found worthy to come to the contemplation of Thy glorious Face in Heaven. Amen."
Poems of St. Therese on the Holy Face
"Living on Love is wiping your Face,
It’s obtaining the pardon of sinners.
O God of Love! may they return to your grace,
And may they forever bless your Name…
Even in my heart the blasphemy resounds.
To efface it, I always want to sing :
"I adore and love your Sacred Name.
I live on Love!…"
-Stanza 11.
"Remember that your divine Face
was always unknown to your own people;
But you left your sweet image for me,
And, you know it well, I did recognize you.......
Yes, I know you, all veiled in tears.
Face of the Eternal One, I discover your charms.
Jesus, all the hearts
Who gather your tears,
Remember."
-Stanza 24.
Above excerpts taken from the book:
The Poetry of St. Therese of Lisieux:
Complete Works of Saint Therese of Lisieux.
Poem: Jesus, My Beloved Remember.
AN ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY FACE
-Written for the Novices -
O Adorable Face of Jesus, since Thou hast deigned to make special choice of our souls, in order to give Thyself to them, we come to consecrate these souls to Thee. We seem, O Jesus, to hear Thee say: "Open to Me, My Sisters, My Spouses, for My Face is wet with the dew, and My Locks with the drops of the night." Our souls understand Thy language of love; we desire to wipe Thy sweet Face, and to console Thee for the contempt of the wicked. In their eyes Thou art still "as it were hidden . . . they esteem Thee an object of reproach."
O Blessed Face, more lovely than the lilies and the roses of the spring, Thou art not hidden from us. The tears which dim Thine Eyes are as precious pearls which we delight to gather, and, through their infinite value, to purchase the souls of our brethren.
From Thy Adorable Lips we have heard Thy loving plaint: "I thirst." Since we know that this thirst which consumes Thee is a thirst for love, to quench it we would wish to possess an infinite love.
Dear Spouse of our souls, if we could love with the love of all hearts, that love would be Thine. . . . Give us, O Lord, this love! Then come to thy Spouses and satisfy Thy Thirst.
And give to us souls, dear Lord . . . We thirst for souls! -- Above all for the souls of Apostles and Martyrs . . . that through them we may inflame all poor sinners with love of Thee.
O Adorable Face, we shall succeed in winning this grace from Thee! Unmindful of our exile, "by the rivers of Babylon," we will sing in Thine Ears the sweetest of melodies. Since Thou art the true and only Home of our souls, our songs shall not be sung in a strange land. O Beloved Face of Jesus, while we await the Eternal Day when we shall gaze upon Thine Infinite Glory, our only desire is to delight Thy Divine Eyes by keeping our faces hidden too, so that no one on earth may recognize us . . . Dear Jesus, Heaven for us is Thy Hidden Face!
-Composed by St. Therese
Canticle to the Holy Face by St. Therese
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.
Oh! To console You I want
To live unknown on earth!
Your beauty, which You know how to veil,
Discloses for me all its mystery.
I would like to fly away to You!
Your Face is my only homeland.
It's my Kingdom of love.
It's my cheerful meadow.
Each day, my sweet sun.
It's the Lily of the Valley
Whose mysterious perfume
Consoles my exiled soul,
Making it taste the peace of Heaven.
It's my Rest, my Sweetness
And my melodious Lyre
Your Face, O my Sweet Savior,
Is the Divine Bouquet of Myrrh
I want to keep on my heart!
Your Face is my only wealth.
I ask for nothing more.
Hiding myself in it unceasingly,
I will resemble You, Jesus
Leave in me, the Divine Impress
Of Your features filled with sweetness,
And soon I'll become holy.
I shall draw hearts to You.
So that I may gather
A beautiful golden harvest,
Deign to set me aflame with Your Fire.
With Your adorned mouth,
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