The Golden Arrow Holy Face Devotion (Prayer)

The Golden Arrow Holy Face Devotion

 is a prayer associated with a Roman Catholic devotion. The prayer and the devotion are based on reports of visions of byJesus to Sr. Marie of St Peter, a Carmelite nun of Tours, in 1843. The prayer is an Act of Praise and Reparation for Blasphemy. It is also a reparation for the profanation of Sunday and the Holy Days of Obligation.

On March 16, 1844 Jesus reportedly told Sr. Marie:

"Oh if you only knew what great merit you acquire by saying even once, Admirable is the Name of God , in a spirit of reparation for blasphemy."

Sister Mary stated that Jesus told her that the two sins which offend him the most grievously are blasphemy and the profanation of Sunday. He called this prayer the "Golden Arrow", saying that those who would recite it would pierce Him delightfully, and also heal those other wounds inflicted on Him by the malice of sinners. Sr. Mary of St. Peter saw, "streaming from the Sacred Heart of Jesus, delightfully wounded by this 'Golden Arrow,' torrents of graces for the conversion of sinners.

This prayer is part of the Roman Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus and appears in the book “The Golden Arrow”, the autobiography of Sr. Marie of St Peter. In her book she wrote that in her visions Jesus told her that an act of sacrilege or blasphemy is like a "poisoned arrow", hence the name “Golden Arrow” for this reparatory prayer.

May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable,

most incomprehensible and ineffable Name of God

be forever praised, blessed, loved, adored

and glorified in Heaven, on earth,

and under the earth,

by all the creatures of God,

and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ,

in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

Amen.

Sister Saint-Pierre and the work of reparation : a brief history by the Very Rev. P. Janvier ... Translated by Miss Mary Hoffman Chapter 9. The Confraternity Of The Holy Face

AFTER the death of Sister Saint-Pierre two works, closely allied in spirit to the Reparation and the Adoration of the Holy Sacrament, came from her virginal tomb like two miraculous flowers — the Congregation devoted to Perpetual Adoration, founded by Mile. Dubouche, in religion Mother Mary Teresa ; and the Nocturnal Adoration by men, inaugurated by the celebrated Jew pianist, Hermann, later Father Marie-Augustine, of the Order of Discalced Carmelites. But it was M. Dupont who, in the designs of God, had the special mission to carry out and develop the work shown to the Carmelite of Tours for the salvation of France: the Work of Reparation for blasphemy and the profanation of Sunday by the cultus of the Holy Face.

Towards the close of the Lenten season of 1851 he exposed in his private oratory an engraving of the Sorrowful Face of our Lord, an authentic facsimile of the Veil of Veronica preserved in the Vatican Basilica. Miracles ere long became manifest. The man of God rejoiced, because he beheld in them a proof of the truth of the revelations made to Sister Marie de Saint-Pierre. To the end he hoped the life and writings of the venerable Sister would be published. Understanding their worth, he knew how much good they would effect. His hope was realized. In 1876, before his earthly career ended, he learned that the Archbishop of Tours, Mgr. Colet, had issued orders that insured their being presented to the world. With a radiant face he blessed God, and, with his gaze turned towards the Carmelite convent, peaceably expired on the 18th of March. On his death his oratory, where for twenty-five years the Holy Face had been honored, was at once transformed into a public chapel. Mgr. Colet officiated on the occasion of its dedication. At the same time he established in this sanctuary the Confraternity of the Reparation for Blasphemy and for the Profanation of Sunday, affiliating it to that of St. Dizier already erected. Using his power as Ordinary, he gave to this Confraternity of Tours a distinct character, and made of it, properly speaking, a Confraternity of the Holy Face, which was really the embodiment of Sister Saint-Pierre's inspirations. Finally, to minister to the new chapel and attend to the spiritual wants of the pilgrims who flocked from all parts thither, the worthy successor of St. Martin instituted, under the title of " Priests of the Holy Face," a society of regular clergy living in community in the house formerly occupied by M. Dupont, and who, following in his footsteps and under his auspices, would devote themselves to all the Works of Reparation.

Since then the Oratory of the Holy Face has become a centre of prayers and expiations to which the gaze and hearts of numbers turn, not only from all parts of France, but, in truth, from all Christendom.

Nor was it long before other Confraternities of the Holy Face, similar to the one founded at Tours by Mgr. Colet, were established in many cities. Letters from all parts of the world are received soliciting pictures of the Holy Face like the one so long venerated by M. Dupont, which was an authentic facsimile of the Veil of Veronica. It would be impossible to calculate the number of the holy pictures exposed in various places (and nearly always with a lamp burning before them)—in cathedrals, parish churches, public chapels, private houses and oratories, in hospitals, and in the enclosure of religious communities. The Priests of the Holy Face at Tours have charged themselves with the pious duty of obtaining these pictures (the facsimile of Veronica's Veil) from Rome and facilitating their distribution, or rather, we should say, supplying the demand for them, which is a consequence of the recognition of the wants of our age; so natural is the idea of Reparation, so befitting and salutary, so powerful in attracting souls.

This need of Reparation is urgent; all Catholic hearts welcome its appearance, If it be true that France, God's privileged nation, the Eldest Daughter of the Church, be the most guilty, because " much shall be demanded from her to whom much has been given"; that blasphemy in her midst is more audacious, and profanations of God's Holy Days more perverse; should not every generous Christian soul feel called upon to labor zealously in establishing and propagating this Work of Reparation so urgently demanded, in our Lord's Name, by the Carmelite of Tours ? What is more natural and just than to unite our efforts in repairing what impiety and hatred of God have combined to corrupt and ruin? The Work revealed to the admirable virgin whose history has been related is at the same time, as she herself says, "a necessity of justice and a pledge of mercy." Let our efforts be in common, let us unite ourselves in striving fervently to appease Divine Justice; then it will be our consolation to experience , only the effects of mercy, which will be all the more abundant as our Reparation has been prompt and fervent.

CONDITIONS

For being Received into the Confraternity of 

the Reparation of the Holy Face.

1. To be inscribed on the Register of the Confraternity where it is canonically established.

2. To obtain a copy of the Regulations, wherewith will be found the ticket of admission.

3. To wear at all times the Cross of the Confraternity.

4. Never to blaspheme, and to do all one can to prevent blasphemy.

5. When not possible to prevent these crimes, to make, at least, an interior act of Reparation for them.

6. To recite daily a Pater, Ave, and Gloria Patri, " with the Act of Praise," in union with the Associates, in the spirit of Reparation.

Joining or Starting a Holy Face Confraternity

Sister Saint-Pierre and the work of reparation : a brief history by the Very Rev. P. Janvier ... Translated by Miss Mary Hoffman Chapter 5. Her Prayers For France.

THE year 1846 had dawned upon the world, and yet there was no outward indication that the ardent wishes of Sister Saint-Pierre would be realized. On the 23d of January she was favored with a communication which she hastened in tears to make known to the Mother-Prioress. These are the fearful words the Divine Saviour used : " The face of France has become hideous in my Father's eyes, and she provokes his justice. To obtain mercy for her, offer him the Face of his Son, in whom he takes complacency. Unless this be done she will feel the weight of his wrath in well-merited chastisements. The Holy Face of her Saviour is her salvation. Behold the proof of my goodness to France, who only repays me with ingratitude." Henceforth, docile and frightened, the pious Sister began to say this prayer, which she continually repeated:

"Eternal Father, we offer thee the Adorable Face of thy well-beloved Son for the honor and glory of thy Holy Name and for the salvation of France."

It was now with great anguish that she received new lights. Those warnings of God and the apparent impossibility of seeing his commands obeyed filled her with sorrow and desolation. " My poor heart," she says, " is pierced by a sword of grief. Again has our Blessed Lord centred all the faculties of my soul upon his precious thorn-crowned Head and his Adorable Face, which is made a butt for the outrages of the enemies of God and. his Church. Again have I heard his sorrowful plaints, 'that he seeks souls to atone for the outrages inflicted upon him, and to heal his Divine Wounds by applying to them the wine of compassion and the oil of charity."

Four days later the Divine Master made known to his servant that two persons had rendered him signal service during his Passion: the first, as already mentioned, was the pious Veronica, who glorified his humanity by wiping His Adorable Face on the painful road to Calvary; the second was the " good thief," who from his cross, as from a pulpit, openly defended the Saviour's cause and confessed his divinity, blasphemed by the other thief and the hardened Jews. He presented both as models in the Work of Reparation—Veronica to those of her own sex who are called to defend his cause, not by preaching, but by wiping his Holy, August Face with the veil of prayer, praise, and adoration ; and the " good thief '* as the special model of men and the ministers of his Church, who are called upon to publicly defend the honor of God and to proclaim his glory before those by whom it is outraged. To St. Veronica our Lord gave the impression of his divine features; to the ' ' good thief" an immediate entrance into his celestial kingdom. And he promised the Sister to be no less munificent to those who by their "prayers, words, adorations, or writings defended his cause; he will defend their cause before his Father in heaven and give them his kingdom." And he enjoined her to make these promises known to all, adding: " If you keep these things hidden, without speaking of them, you will commit an injustice." In another communication the Lord urged her to offer herself as a victim for the sins of France. " Pray for her," said he; " immolate yourself for her. I give you anew my Face: offer it to my Father to appease his justice. Ah! if you but knew its power, its virtue.

And wherefore ? Because I have taken upon my Head all the sins of mankind, in order that my members may be spared. Therefore offer my Face to my Father, for this is the means of appeasing him." And he added: "I desire the Work of the Reparation; rest assured it will be firmly established, but the fruit you bear is not yet matured."

In the mission assigned to the daughter of Carmel we see the salvation of France closely linked with the "Work of Reparation ; hence for both our Lord offers the same exterior signs, the same efficacious means—namely, the cultus of his Adorable Face. Such is the subject of the following communication: " My daughter, I take yon for my steward and anew place my Holy Face in your hands, that you may unceasingly offer it to my Father for the salvation of France. Use to advantage the divine talent which in my Holy Face I entrust to you. By so doing you will obtain the conversion of many sinners. Nothing that you ask in virtue of this offering will be refused you. Ah! if you but knew how pleasing to my Father is the sight of my Face." Again, displaying to her the boundless treasures of the infinite merits of his life and Passion, the loving Saviour added: " My daughter, I give you my Face and my Heart, I give you my Blood, I give you my "Wounds; draw from them and pour out upon others; buy freely, for my Blood is the price of souls. Oh! what sorrow for my Heart to behold remedies which have cost me so dearly despised by men. Ask of my Father as many souls as I have shed drops of blood in my Passion."

The prayers of Reparation seemed to the Sister a wall which protected France against the shafts of divine justice; a hundred times daily she offered to God the Adorable Face of Jesus.
Another communication, made on the 27th of January, 1847, binds together
two excellent devotions which in the "Work of Reparation .occupy an essential place. " Our amiable Saviour," says the pious Carmelite, "has made me hear his sighs upon his unappreciated love in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar from the lack of faith among Christians, and he has happily bound my heart and mind at his feet, in order that I may bear him company in this abandonment by adoring his Most Holy Face hidden under the Eucharistic veil. Yes, it is by this august Sacrament that Jesus, our Saviour, wishes to communicate to souls the virtue of his Most Holy Face, which is there more dazzling than the sun. And he has promised me anew to imprint on the souls of those that honor it his Divine Likeness."

Then suddenly our Lord gave to her mind a clear perception of the connection existing between his Most Holy Name and His Adorable Face. "He made me understand," says she, "by a comparison as simple as it is appropriate, how the impious, by their blasphemies, attack his Adorable Face, while the faithful glorify it by the homage and praise they render to his Name and his Sacred Person.

" Behold a man, distinguished for his name and merits, in the presence of his enemies; they do not lift a hand against him, but they heap insults upon him, treat him with contempt, and call him by injurious epithets instead of the titles that justly belong to him. Observe now the face of this injured man; does it not seem that all the opprobrious words uttered against him by his enemies are reflected there and make him suffer a veritable torment? See how his face burns with shame and confusion. Is not the ignominy inflicted upon it harder to bear than physical tortures in other parts of his body? This is a faint picture of the Face of our Lord outraged by the blasphemies of the impious!

" Let us represent to ourselves this same man in the presence of his friends, who, hearing of the insults he has received, hasten to console him by treating him according to his dignity, paying homage to the greatness of his name, and addressing him by all the titles due his exalted rank; does not the face of that man express the sweetness of these praises? Happiness rests upon his brow and beams on his radiant countenance, joy sparkles in his eyes, and a smile is on his lips. In a word, his faithful friends have cured the burning anguish of that Face outraged by his enemies ; glory has taken the place of opprobrium. This is what the friends of Jesus do by the Work of Reparation; the glory they render to his Name rests on his august brow and rejoices his Most Holy Face in a special manner in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar."

In our days the crimes which most outrage our Lord in his Sacraments spring from secret societies. They are designated to the Sister under the general name of Communists, as being the greatest enemies of the Church and France. " He has commanded me," she says, "to make war against these wicked men, who for the most part were born in that Church of which they are now the declared enemies. He has given me to combat them the arms of his Passion, his Cross, and the other instruments of his tortures. i My daughter,' said he, 'they have dragged me from my Tabernacles, they have profaned my Sanctuaries and laid hands on the anointed of the Lord. Have they not committed the crime of Judas ? Have they not sold me for money? Let not this knowledge be without fruit. I make it known to you in order to animate you for the combat. March towards them with the simplicity of a child and the courage of a valiant soldier.'" And the virgin of the cloister repeated with the prophet: " Let God arise and his enemies be dispersed, and let all that hate him flee from before his Face."

This was in 1847. The governments of the period did not appear to be uneasy about the intriguing of these enemies of social order who have since over-turned thrones and brought confusion to Europe. " Alas ! " said the pious Carmelite, unable to restrain her tears, " days of wrath are approaching, and yet this Work of the Reparation, which I have borne for nearly four years under sorrows that God, alone can know, has not appeared. O my God! arise; it is thy cause as well as ours ; we pray thee to defend France with the protection of thy Holy Face, and grant her mercy for the glory of thy Adorable Name. Yes, enlightened from on high, I firmly believe that on this Work of Reparation depends the future of France. I see it always linked to France as the means of salvation that God in his infinite mercy has
chosen for her. Wherefore I would give the last drop of my blood to obtain its establishment, for then the Lord would be appeased and innumerable souls would be saved"

Sister Saint-Pierre and the work of reparation : a brief history by the Very Rev. P. Janvier ... Translated by Miss Mary Hoffman Chapter 3. Her Revelations On The Reparation.

ON" Christmas night of 1843, having obtained the permission of her Superiors, the Sister made, according to the reiterated demands of our Lord, "an act placing all her merits in the hands of the Most Holy Infant Jesus." As a reward she was favored with still more abundant lights and graces. " It seems," she says, " that I hear Jesus from the depths of the tabernacle addressing us these words: ' O ye my friends and faithful children, behold if there be any sorrow like unto mine! My Divine Father and my spouse, the holy Church, the delight of my Heart, are despised and outraged by my enemies. Will no one rise up . to console me by defending them against those who attack them? I can no longer remain in the midst of this ungrateful people. Behold the torrent of tears that flow from my eyes! Can I find none to wipe them away by making reparation to the glory of my Father and imploring the conversion of the guilty ?' Ah!" cries the pious Sister, "if a king, or even his ambassador, be treated with indignity by a foreign power, how quickly the whole nation rushes to arms to avenge the insult! Troops are mustered, and the death of numberless soldiers is accounted as nothing. And yet the holy and terrible Name of the God of hosts, of the King of kings, is despised and blasphemed, his day is profaned by sinners in infinite numbers, and no one is troubled thereat, no one thinks of Reparation. Behold, our Lord Jesus, the Envoy and Son of the God of armies, the Ambassador of the kingdom of heaven, demands a Reparation of honor to his Eternal Father, or war will be declared against us and France will suffer the chastisements of his wrath. "Will we pause to weigh the matter ? Will we hesitate in our choice ?" The Archbishop of Tours, who at that time was Mgr. Morlot, wished to see and examine the*writings of the Carmelite. We say her "writings," because the Mother-Prioress had required her to write all her revelations. The prelate approved in this regard the wisdom of her Superiors, and authorized Rev. Pierre Aileron, Superior of the Carmelites, and at the same time pastor of Notre Dame La Riche, to establish in his parish an Association for the Reparation of Blasphemy. This was on the model of the one in Rome, approved by Gregory XVI. August 8, 1843. Its members were thus enabled to gain the numerous spiritual advantages granted to the Roman association. The permission of Mgr. Morlot is dated March 15, 1844. The association, on being established, took for its patrons St. Michael the Archangel, St. Louis, King of France, and St. Martin. Those that belonged to it were to recite daily a Pater, Ave, Gloria, and the Golden Arrow before mentioned.

This, without doubt, was something— a first step towards the Work of Reparation. But more was required—namely, an archconfraternity similar to that of Our. Lady of Victory for the Conversion of Sinners. The Sister was very sorrowful. They saw her coming from her prayers pale, trembling, and bathed in tears. She continually offered herself in sacrifice to turn away the*divine scourges and obtain the salvation of her country. On learning that the usual prayer of St. Denis was " Give me souls!" she unceasingly repeated it, and begged the Sisters to do the same. In the meantime the Divine Master revealed to her more and more the enormity of blasphemy.

" You cannot understand," He said to her one day, "the malice and abomination of this sin. If my justice were not restrained by my mercy it would instantly crush the guilty, and all creatures, even inanimate ones, would rise up to avenge my outraged honor." " After this," the Sister adds, " he showed me the excellence of the Work of Reparation; how it surpasses all other devotions, is agreeable to God, to the angels, the saints, and is useful to the Church. Ah! if you knew the degree of glory you acquire in making but a single act of Reparation for blasphemy, in saying only once, in the spirit of Reparation, ' Admirable is the Name of God'!"
She again wrote: " This work is within me as a consuming fire. I continually beg our Lord to deign to save France; to establish in all her cities his "Work of Reparation, and to raise up apostolic men for this end. Thou seest, my sweet Jesus, that I, a poor unworthy creature,
can do nothing; vouchsafe, then, to enlighten the heart of him who can render thee this service with the knowledge of all that I suffer."

The Carmelites, forced to leave their monastery, lived for two years in a secular dwelling where cloister enclosure was almost impossible. Sister Saint-Pierre, still in her office . of portress of the interior, had much to suffer. But our Lord, in the very midst of the embarrassments and distractions of her charge, consoled her with new and consoling lights. In her great desire to comfort and strengthen those who came to her with their sorrows, she was inspired to communicate to them the devotion of the Gospel of the Circumcision, and of the Holy Name. Thus she writes of this devotion : " The demon uses all possible means to snatch from our Lord Jesus Christ the inheritance purchased by the cross, and he is ever seeking to rob this Good Shepherd of the lambs obtained at so great a price. To put this ravishing wolf to flight Jesus has made known to me that he wishes his sheep marked with his Holy Name, by bearing on their person the Gospel which announces to all nations that the Incarnate Word was named Jesus. This amiable Saviour has acquainted me with the virtue of his Sacred Name—that it would drive away the demon, and that all those placing themselves under its special protection would receive great graces." Her superiors permitted her to distribute printed sheets of this Gospel on which was stamped an image of the Infant Jesus. To this was added a piece of the palm blessed on Palm Sunday. These sheets were folded and enclosed in a little square sachet, marked upon the outside with the Sacred Heart and the instruments of the Passion. It was to be worn on the person in the same way as a medal attached to a scapular, etc. The pious Carmelite had thus in view the glorification of the Name of Jesus. Numerous graces came to confirm her faith and make her rejoice in the devotion. Every one wished to have these little sachets. On the sheets, beneath the Gospel, these words were inscribed :

" When Jesus was named, Satan, vanquished, was disarmed."

" Our Lord has revealed to me," says the Sister, "how glorious it is to him to have his victory celebrated by these words, for they make the demon tremble with rage; that he will bless all who wear this Gospel, and will defend them against the attacks of Satan. 55 (See p. 202.)
On the 17th of June, 1845, the Divine Master resumed his great design, and encouraged his servant to address the archbishop personally. The prelate very kindly visited the holy Carmelite, whose virtues he held in the highest esteem. Ushered into his presence, she knelt, kissed his feet, and humbly asked him to deign to accomplish the work he had so happily begun in authorizing the Association of Notre Dame La Riche; and she disclosed to him how strongly our Lord had urged her to request the official establishment of the Work of Reparation in the metropolis of Tours, formerly the centre of so many graces for France. In the kindest manner the prelate answered: "" My child, with all my heart I desire to establish the work and give it all necessary and well-deserved publicity; but there are obstacles in the way which are difficult to overcome. It is a hard task for us to incite our people to follow the ordinary practices of piety. Might not the proposal of new and additional devotions provoke the wicked to still greater blasphemy" Nevertheless he reassured her by declaring he saw in her revelations no stamp of illusion, but recognized in them the seal of God; and he exhorted her to still pray and solicit new light on the subject. He permitted her to recite the prayers of Reparation, and some time after accorded permission to have them printed. He also approved of a little book on blasphemy entitled Collection of Prayers, followed by " Little Office of the Holy Name of God," composed by M. Dupont.

"This little book," says the Sister, " authorized by the archbishop, at once became very popular, and by this means in a short time more than twenty-five thousand Prayers of the Reparation were distributed. Tours received numberless applications for them from persons in various cities who wished to propagate this devotion to the Holy Name of God, and everywhere they were recited with the greatest fervor. Our Lord revealed to me that this new harmony appeased his wrath, but that he still wished to have an association established such as he had demanded."

Sister Saint-Pierre and the work of reparation : a brief history by the Very Rev. P. Janvier ... Translated by Miss Mary Hoffman Chapter 2. Her Mission.

IN the Carmelite convent Perrine gratefully felt she was in her proper place. The fire of divine love filled her soul. From the first her companions recognized in her a solid judgment united with a cheerful, equable disposition; she was reserved and very discreet; she shunned all self-seeking and singularity; her modesty, mortification, and obedience were most exemplary. The candor and tranquillity of her face mirrored the innocence and serenity of her soul. A sweet simplicity characterized this elevated nature, as may be judged by the following trait.
On the day of her arrival, during the hour of recreation, she was invited to sing. Without waiting to be urged, she at once began to sing a canticle which, she says, "I had sung in advance while awaiting the fortunate day of my entrance into Carmel; it commences with these words: ' Blessed be God, I am in a refuge.' . . . They were composed of some fifteen stanzas, and I sang them in so joyous a manner that no one thought of interrupting me." The new-comer did not seem disposed to leave one stanza unsung, when suddenly the Mother-Prioress, at first absent, came in. Finding one singing and the others attentively listening, she judged it a fitting opportunity for giving the new postulant her first trial. " Indeed, you have been in a hurry," said she to the latter, "to show off your little talent!" An embarrassing silence followed, which was broken only when the Mother-Prioress turned to the singer and said : " Let us see if you know any more." "Oh! yes, Reverend Mother," she answered; "I have kept the best for you." And without betraying the least annoyance or ill-nature, she began anew. They knew then that the little girl from Brittany, by virtue and temperament, was not one ready to take offence or be easily depressed; that she possessed the cheerfulness which St. Teresa held as one of the proofs of a vocation to Carmel.

Her first interior attraction was a tender devotion to the Divine Infancy of Jesus. " I looked on myself," she says, " as a little servant of the Holy Family, and consecrated myself to them in that capacity." She mentions having still another ambition, which, with a charming candor, she thus explains: " The Reverend Mothers were making their annual retreat, and during that time the postulants and novices took their recreation in the novitiate. One evening during recreation, when we were all collected before a picture of the Holy Family, I proposed to make a little Bethlehem for the Holy Family, each of us to especially consecrate ourselves to serve it in the capacity of that beast of burden which should fall to her lot; for instance, one would represent the ass, another the ox, and so on. The proposal was unanimously adopted.'' The lots were drawn, and, to her great satisfaction, she was chosen to represent the ass of the Infant Jesus. " Thus," she says, "I was his ass in prayer, striving to warm him by my love; and his little servant in my actions, imagining myself in the house of Nazareth, and performing as if for the Holy Family all the daily duties of my state of life."
She was inspired to honor the Infant Jesus each day of the month by meditating, one after another, 'on the different mysteries of this period of his life. Thus the thoughts of the Divine Child followed her in all her actions, and rendered every occupation easy and agreeable.
On the 8th of June, 1841, she made her profession. To the names which she had borne since her novitiate, and which placed her under the protection of the Queen of Angels and the Chief of the Apostles, her devotion for the Holy Family suggested an additional title. Henceforth Perrine Elnere will be known as Sister Marie de Saint-Pierre of the Holy Family.

The Prioress of the Carmelites of Tours at this time was Mother Marie of the Incarnation, a religious as eminent fa' her prudence as for her exalted virtues. She at once employed the newly-professed in different manual labors, and afterwards gave her the office of portress. This office, so contrary to her natural inclinations, was the means Providence used to elevate her to the highest degree of perfection. The pious Sister dreaded its duties, fearing she would not be able to unite with them the spirit of recollection which was so dear to her. Respectfully she made known to the Reverend Mother-Prioress her distaste and fears; notwithstanding which the Mother-Prioress retained her in this employment, and she kept it all her life. This disposition was providential; for thus the humble daughter of the cloister in the performance of her duties frequently found herself in relation with pious secular persons who later on were not slow to aid her in her Work of the Reparation.

This mission, for which, during the four years she had been in the convent, grace was secretly preparing her, was to be conferred on her by our Lord himself. It was the 26th of August, 1843, the day after the Feast of Saint Louis, King of France; in the evening the Sister was meditating at the foot of the cross, when the Saviour said to her:
"I have heard your sighs; I have seen the desire you have to glorify me. My Name is everywhere blasphemed; even the children blaspheme! This frightful sin more deeply than all others wounds my Divine Heart, by blasphemy the sinner scorns me to my face, openly attacks me, annihilates my Redemption, and pronounces his own condemnation and judgment. Blasphemy is an impoisoned arrow which wounds my Heart continually. 1 will give you a Golden Arrow, that with the delicious wounds of love you may heal the wounds of malice which sinners give me" And lie dictated to her the following formula:

"May the most sacred, most adorable, most incomprehensible, and most ineffable Name of God be praised, blessed, loved, adored, and glorified in heaven, on earth, and in hell, by all the creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen."

Such was the Golden Arrow that the Lord gave to his servant, assuring her that every time she repeated this formula of praise she would wound his Heart with a wound of love. "Be watchful of this favor," said he to her; "I shall ask of you an account of it." At that moment it seemed she beheld issuing from the Sacred Heart of Jesus, wounded by this arrow, torrents of graces for the conversion of sinners, which inspired her .with confidence to say: " My Lord, dost thou then give me charge of blasphemers ?" She did not fail to make known all this to the Mother-Prioress, who, being as prudent as she was experienced, wished to prove and assure herself it was not an illusion. She consulted pious and learned ecclesiastics, and closely watched the conduct of the Sister. Far from encouraging her in this extraordinary way, she endeavored to turn her from it. She even forbade her to recite certain prayers which had been recommended. But several incidents which she could not but look upon as miraculous—among them her own cure, obtained by the prayers of the Sister in accordance with the order of our Lord, and in the manner he himself willed—decided her to relax her severity towards her and to permit her at least to say the prayers of Separation.

Our Lord continued to reiterate his orders to his servant. The poor Sister would sometimes exclaim: " Ah! if the Divine Master could suffer bitterness, he would be sorrowful unto death on beholding men, instead of making up for their insufficiency by uniting themselves to him and thus glorifying our Heavenly Father, continually blaspheming his holy Name and united with Lucifer and his reprobates. How satisfied, on the contrary, he would feel to see at least a few faithful and grateful children joined to him to love and bless the Name of that Father whom he so tenderly loves!"

This view of the question brought her to make a heroic act of entire abandonment. "I feel myself," she says, "interiorly urged to make to God the sacrifice of my whole being and all the merits which I can acquire." But she submissively awaited the consent of her Prioress.
On the festival of St. John of the Cross, one of the patrons of Carmel, our Lord made his spouse hear these momentous words: " Till now I have only shown you in part the designs of my Heart, but today I wish to show you them in their entirety. The earth is covered with crimes. The violation of the first three Commandments of God has irritated my Father y the holy Name of God blasphemed, and the holy day of the Lord profaned, fill the measure of iniquities. These sins have mounted to the throne of God and provoked his wrath, which will soon burst forth if his justice is not appeased. At no time have these crimes ascended so high. I desire, with an ardent desire, that there be formed an association, well approved and organized, to honor the Name of my Father" Here the object of the Work of Reparation is clearly indicated: it is to repair the violation of the first three precepts of the Decalogue, which include all crimes that have a special character of hostility against God and the profanation of the Lord's day.

Amazed and confused, the humble .daughter of Carmel hesitated. But our Lord said to her: " Take good care; for if, wanting in simplicity, you put obstacles to my designs, you will be responsible for the salvation of many souls; if, on the contrary, you are faithful, they will embellish your crown." In conclusion lie said: " And to whom should I address myself, if not to a Carmelite, whose very vocation enjoins on her the duty of unceasingly glorifying my Name?"

Thirteen days after, on the eve of the Immaculate Conception (7th of December), the Blessed Saviour returned to the same subject, and this time the culpable nation is named. He made the Sister see how greatly he was incensed against France on account of her blasphemies. " He has declared to me," she says, " that he cannot longer dwell in this France, which, like a viper, tears the bowels of his mercy. He still patiently bears the contempt shown himself, but the outrages committed against his Eternal Father provoke his wrath. France has sucked unto blood the paps of his mercy; this is why justice will now take the place of mercy, and his wrath burst forth with greater fury for having been longer delayed. Filled with terror, I tremblingly said: ' My Lord, permit me to ask if this Reparation which thou desirest be made, wilt thou yet pardon France ?' He answered me: ' I will pardon her once more; but, mark well, once. As this crime of blasphemy extends over the whole kingdom, and as it is public, so also must the Reparation be public and extend to all her cities. Woe to those who will not make this Reparation!'"

What Frenchman's heart could hear unmoved warnings so severe, so solemn ? The reproach, alas! is but too well merited, for the crime is evident and incontestable. Everywhere among us do we hear incessantly uttered with impunity that blasphemy designated by our Lord to his servant as a frightful sin. France is pronounced the most guilty of all nations, because she is the most highly favored by Heaven, the most loved of Christ, and the eldest daughter of the Church. Having become in Europe the principal centre of the spirit of revolution by the practical atheism she professes in her laws and government, she exerts in regard to blasphemy a kind of universal proselytism, as baneful to individuals as it is to society. Is it astonishing, then, that she is especially threatened with the strokes of Divine Justice? After receiving this communication Sister Marie de Saint-Pierre, as we learn from one of the other Carmelites, came from the choir in a state difficult to describe. She was deathly pale and bathed in tears; her countenance, usually so cheerful, bore an impress of suffering which it long retained. She appeared as if crushed, annihilated beneath the weight of divine wrath.
In the midst of her anguish a great consolation was vouchsafed her. She learned that the Sovereign Pontiff, Gregory XVI., had, by a brief dated August 8, 1843, permitted the establishment of pious Confraternities for the Extirpation of Blasphemy. "I no longer doubted," she says, "that the work entrusted to me came from God. What particularly struck me and awakened my admiration was the following happy coincidence in this manifestation of Divine Providence: On the 8th of August the Sovereign Pontiff issued Ms brief at Rome, and on the 26th of the same month, and in the same year, the day after the festival of Saint Louis, our Lord revealed to an obscure little Carmelite this great Work in Reparation for blasphemy with which he wished to enrich France as a means of salvation, to snatch her from the hands of his offended and irritated justice."

Sister Saint-Pierre and the work of reparation : a brief history by the Very Rev. P. Janvier ... Translated by Miss Mary Hoffman Chapter 1. Her Youth

IT is to Catholic Brittany, strong in faith and great in heroic virtues, that we are indebted for having given us Marie de Saint-Pierre. She was born at Rennes on the 4th of October, 1816. At her baptism she was given the same patrons as her father and mother— St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and St. Francis of Assisium : Frangoise-Perrine being derivatives of these names. Her father, Pierre Elnere, was a locksmith by profession. He married Francoise Portier, who bore him twelve children. This couple were fervent Christians. The father daily assisted at Mass, every evening visited the Blessed Sacrament, and during the day still found time to pray. He early taught his little daughter the practice of the Way of the Cross, and the mother instilled in her a tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Little Perrine was often sick and had a disposition difficult to manage. But, thanks to the guidance of her pious parents, she early learned to govern it and to overcome her faults. From childhood she had a deep abhorrence of sin, and bitterly reproached herself for the slightest imperfections. Her eldest sister, finding her one day in tears, asked her the cause of them. "I weep for my sins," she artlessly answered.

Another day a poor blind man, miserably dressed, passed before the house. He had lost his way, and paused at the corner of the street, waiting for some charitable hand to set him right. A secret instinct warned the child that here was an occasion to curb her pride and self-love. Suddenly darting out, she took his arm, and, giving him her hand, she led him whither he wished to go. Whenever anything disagreeable happened to her she checked her impatience, saying : " My God ? I offer thee this in expiation for my sins." She had such a dread of evil that, having at the age of eight years an uneasiness respecting a little story-book that had been loaned to her, she carried it to her parish priest and asked his advice. When she learned from him that, without being bad, it was a frivolous book, she immediately returned it without having read the first page. The remembrance of the sufferings of our Lord deeply affected her. She thought her sins the cause of his sorrows and pains; confused and contrite, she would say: " O my Saviour! didst thou see even then, during your Passion, that I would one day be converted and belong entirely to thee?" She often made the Way of the Cross, kissing the earth at each Station. But her chief attraction was mental prayer. At first, not knowing the method, she recited her prayers with great attention, waiting till God should make known to her this holy exercise. She had not long to wait. When she was but ten years old she heard a sermon on the subject which shed a bright light on her mind and heart, and soon made her proficient in this science of the saints.

At twelve years of age she lost her mother. Like St. Teresa at the same age and under similar circumstances, she ran in her wild grief to Mary, threw herself at her feet, and implored her to be a mother to her in the place of the one that had been taken from her. The Queen of Heaven adopted, in fact, this innocent soul, and gave her through all her life sensible proofs of her maternal care. As her father was burdened with a large family, he confided her to the care of two aunts, who were persons of great piety. They kept a large store for the sale of seamstresses' work, and had a number of young women in their employ. There Perrine made new progress in virtue, was a model to her companions, and even to several of them became a preceptress of the Interior Life, striving to make them love and practise mental prayer, in order to be more united to God. She seized every opportunity of devoting herself to works of mercy, such as succoring the poor and visiting and assisting the dying. Near to Mr. Elnere's house a poor family came to live, consisting of three members—the father (a day-laborer), his blind wife, and a little boy four or five years old. The young girl looked upon them as the image of the Holy Family of Bethlehem. She conceived for them a great affection, and 6pared no care to relieve their poverty; she often visited them, instructed them in their religion, made them approach the Sacraments, and, when there was any disturbance, restored peace in the household. Soon after she devoted herself to nursing a poor young woman, who died in her arms. Receiving her last sigh, she hesitated not with her own hands to prepare her for burial, notwithstanding the fear she had of death, and to which she had never before been in such close proximity.

For a moment, however, this soul so pure was on the point of being seduced by the frivolities of the world. She at first relaxed her fervor and had the misfortune to make a few concessions to vanity. God, in love and mercy, punished her. Pressed by remorse, and having, as a member of the confraternity, to prepare herself for a festival of the Blessed Virgin, she undertook to make a good and serious retreat. She then felt the interior workings of grace, and came forth from these exercises completely changed, resolved more than ever to live for God alone. The desire for a religious life which she had already experienced developed itself strongly in her heart. It was the sole object of her thoughts, of her burning desires. For this end she imposed fasts on herself and made pilgrimages in honor of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph. She also addressed herself to St. Martin, the illustrious Bishop of Tours, for whom she had a great devotion, supplicating him to receive her as a religious in his diocese, though she did not then know that any Carmelites were there.

Still she was agitated by perplexities. Her confessor, who was a man of God, wished to test her vocation. For five years he made her undergo numerous and painful humiliations. At the end of this time she was inspired to make a pilgrimage to a celebrated chapel of the Holy Virgin in the vicinity of Rennes—Our Lady of La Peiniere. There she clearly perceived that God called her to serve him by the practice of religious vows. All her yearnings drew her towards Carmel, while her confessor appeared desirous she should enter the order of the Hospital Sisters. But as she was returning from her pilgrimage our Lord, after Holy Communion, made her interiorly hear these words: " My daughter, I love you too much to abandon you longer to your perplexities. You will not he a Hospitaliere, hut a Carmelite" The interior voice repeated this several times, "You will he a Carmelite ", and she believed the last time was added, " Carmelite at Tours" In the meantime her confessor, without informing her of the fact, had proposed her as an applicant. Therefore what was her astonishment and joy when she heard him say: " My daughter, you are received among the Carmelites " ! She left Rennes on the 11th of November, 1839, under the auspices of St. Martin, whom she had not uselessly invoked. Her virtuous father accompanied and presented her himself. She was then twenty-three years of age.

The true face of Jesus -The Volto Santo- the holy face for true devotion

The true face of jesus shown on this veil in Manoppello, Italy. This image is not man made. It shows Jesus after his resurrection. It shows the same person as the holy shroud of turin. Please publish the knowledge of this image in the world.

Holy Face of Jesus Documentary by Donald Nohs

The Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Part 5.

It, was likewise prohibited under pain of excommunication to reproduce by painting the Holy Image, and we only know of two authentic copies which have been made in times past. One sent in 1249, to the Abbey of Montreuit les Dames, in Tierache by James of Troyes, then chaplain to Innocent IV. and later Urban IV., which is at present venerated in the Church of Notre Dame de Laon; 1 the other given by Gregory XV. in 1621, to a lady of the family of Sforza, who gave it to the professed house of the Jesuits at Rome, where it is at present.
The sovereign Pontiffs appear to have departed a little in these times from their primitive severity. They have allowed to be exposed in different churches of the Catholic world, faithful and authentic reproductions 2 of the Holy Face at Rome, in order to rekindle in the hearts of men, faith and piety almost extinct. We live in an age of coldness and indifference: men are confused by materialism, which dries up the heart and stifles in the soul every germ of religion. " Impiety, corruption of morals, unbridled passions, the contagion of wicked opinions of every sort, all the vices and crimes, the violation of divine and human laws, 3 are everywhere propagated, and to such an extent that not only our holy religion, but even human society are miserably in trouble and confusion." 4

Then nothing is more suitable to stop this torrent of corruption which threatens to draw away by force the entire world than the sight of the Holy Face of our Redeemer. In all places where this devotion is established, piety is enkindled in the souls of men, and with it the love of their neighbour, sweetness, humility, resignation in sufferings, every virtue, in a word, of which our Saviour has given us an example in His Passion. We likewise know that in honouring the Image of our Saviour we honour Himself of whom that Image reminds us; this is why God was pleased to bless this devotion, and make shine forth the wonderful effects of His almighty and holy goodness.

The expositions of the Holy Face in the Vatican Basilica are also more frequent than formerly. They are on the following days :
The Second Sunday after the Epiphany and Whit-Monday, for the brothers of the Arch-Confraternity of the Holy Ghost.
Wednesday of Holy Week, after the Tenebræ.
Many times daring Thursday and Friday of the same week.
Holy Saturday, in the morning after Mass.
Easter Sunday, after the ceremonies, for the Pope, Cardinals, and other persons who took part in them.
The following Monday, before and after Vespers, together with the other relies of the Basilica.
Ascension-day, after Mass.
The 3rd May, the Feast of the Invention of the Holy Cross.
The 18th November, the anniversary of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Peter.
The 18th January, the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter at Rome.
The 22nd February, the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter at Antioch.

Besides, during the calamities of the Church, as in those of Rome, or the Sovereignty of the Holy See, in times of war, earthquakes, pestilence, the overflowing of the Tiber, &c, the Popes expose the Holy Face and the other great relics; likewise in extraordinary jubilees; penitential processions, and also to implore the divine mercy and heavenly assistance.
When the exposition is made in the presence of the Pope, the blessing is not given from the middle but from the side, in respect for the pontifical majesty, "In majestatis pontificiæ reverentiam."

The edifice which encloses the Holy Relics is exteriorly ornamented by a bas-relief representing the Holy Face; below, placed on a base in a large niche, is the colossal statue in marble of St Veronica, whom Mochi has represented as holding in her hands the Ho!y Face, A door situated at the foot of this statue, opens an entrance to a passage by which you ascend to the niche where are deposited the Holy Relics, and in descending some steps, you enter into what are called the holy Vatican Grottoes. It is in these Grottoes that the bodies of SS. Peter and Paul are; the tombs of a great number of Popes, whose mausoleums are above in the new Basilica; there also are the four subterranean chapels, which, by order of Urban VIII. Bernice formed in the interior of the pillars which support the cupola. He decorated them with marble columns of the Ionic order, and placed on he altar pictures in mosaic of great price.
The picture of the altar of the Holy Face represents Veronica presenting the towel or veil to the Redeemer. On the walls we see, two by two, the Holy Virgin and the three Marys. In the first oval arch, Urban VIII is represented as receiving the design of the our chapels ; in the second, Boniface VIII exposes the Holy Face to Charles II. King of Sicily, and James II King of Aragon, in 1296; the third represents the exposition made by order of Nicholas V to the Emperor Frederic III.
On the walls of the corridor, on the Gospel side, is seen St. Veronica presenting he towel or veil to our Saviour; on the ides, Martha and Magdalen, opposite St. Veronica, preparing to set out for Rome with the holy Relic; on the sides, Mary lie Mother of James, and Mary Salome, the Virgin Mary, and Mary of Cleophas.
The paintings in the arches represent, 1st, St. Veronica showing the holy towel to the people ; 2nd, John VII. with the tabernacle constructed by his piety to preserve the holy Relic; and 3rd, the holy Image shewn to Lewis I, King of Hungary, by order of Pope Clement VI.
If, instead of descending to the holy Grottoes, you wish to go where the exposition takes place, you open a metal door, and, to your left, you ascend by a winding stair to the sanctuary of the holy Relics. They are laid on a credence., enclosed in a closet or niche, which has three locks, the : keys of which are confided to the canons who have charge of the holy Relics. The Holy Face is placed in a distinct reliquary, made with a magnificent crystal frame, silver plated, given the 6th of May, 1350, by three gentlemen of Venice, whose names are preserved in an old registry of the benefactors of the Basilica.

By a remarkable coincidence, another "Venetian., Gregory XVI., with his usual forethought, in 1838, substituted, instead of the thin veil which covered the Relic, a plate of crystal, behind which it can be more easily preserved and admired.
The appearance of this holy Image is sufficient to show us the likeness of our divine Saviour; and the innumerable miracles which are performed, also the great veneration in which it has been held in every age, are sufficient to prove the truth of the Catholic tradition. 5
Piazza, in his " Emerologio di Roma," on the 4th of February, after having given the history of the Holy Face, as we have told it, gives a description of the Holy Face of Rome, in 1713, which was confirmed by Gio-Gregorio, lib. 17, du Pretoire de Pilate.
"We there behold, not without being moved by a profound sentiment of compunction, the head of our Saviour pierced by a crown of sharp thorns, the face covered with blood', the eyes swollen and full of blood, the countenance dark and livid; on the right cheek, as well as the bruises, we behold the mark of the gauntlet of Malchus, 6 who so cruelly struck Him in the house of Anna, and on the other cheek, many spots of spittle; the nose is bruised and bloody, the mouth open and full of blood, the teeth are loose, the beard and hair plucked off in many places."
We have compared this description with the copy which we have the happiness to possess in our chapel, and find in it all these characters of resemblance.
So changed, the Divine Face of our Saviour nevertheless presents a mixture 0f grandeur, compassion, love, and sorrow, which vividly impresses all those who behold it. Under these bruises and spittle, the Christian soul recognizes the majesty of his God, and is moved to repentance at the view of this bloody expiation of his ingratitude, and the soul abandons itself without reserve to a sweet confidence and an ardent love for its Most Blessed Redeemer.

1 The Feast of the Holy Face is celebrated at Notre Dame de Laon, on the Sunday after the octave of SS. Peter and Paul with an immense concourse of pilgrims.

2 The copies are printed on linen, or cotton, or silk, white or red, with the sealed stamp of the metropolitan Canon who guard it, accompanied by a letter of its authenticity.

3 The habit of blasphemy and the violation of the Sunday so common in our days, are wicked outrages against the Holy Face of our Divine Saviour. This is why there are formed in many towns, " Reparative associations" of pious persons, who endeavour, as "new Veronicas," to wipe devoutly by their veneration and their love, the disfigured features of the Redeemer, and merit that our Saviour, in recompense, would impress His Divine Image on their souls. Our Saviour has revealed this devotion to many religious who died in the odour of sanctity, and his Vicar on earth, Pius IX. has said: "Reparation is a divine work destined to save society."

4 The Apostolic letter of our holy Father, Pius IX., convoking the (Ecumenical Council on the Feast of the Immaculate conception, 1869.

5 Giacomo Pamelio, in his annotations on Chapter XH. of the Apology of Tertuliian, says : " Effigies ohristi quam Veronica) in Sudario dedisse truditio est, etiam nunc exstat 'anta in veneratione, ut ilia dobitare posthao non modo onracula non permittant sed nee aspectus ipse,"
6 Giovanni Lanspergio, Horn. 19,De Passione, writes; "Quod Christ facies in eodera impressa Sadario digitorum Te stiga impressa retineat, et aspicientibas monstrat, quod Manila mauu Christo Domino inftixere."

The Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Part 4.

To add to the splendour of the basilica 'and increase more and more the veneration of the faithful, Urban VIII, on the 8th of April 1629, wished to add to the image of the Holy Face and Holy Lance, the wood of the true cross, and commanded by a bull f that the three Belies should be always exposed one after the other, he likewise granted a plenary indulgence to those, who, having confessed and worthily communicated, should be present at the exposition. Urban VIII. extended it to the following day, to the twentieth hour, (about two o'clock in the afternoon,) and prostrate before the holy Relics, he venerated them with great devotion, and commanded under pain of excommunication, by a notice which he placed under the niche, that no one should remove the veil which covers the Holy Face, without the authority of the Pope.
We should mention here the arrival at Borne in 1625 of Wladeslas, son of Sigismond III, King of Poland, who was received by Urban VIII, and presented with the cloak and blest sword in recompense for his valorous devotion to the Church. By a special favour, the Pope created him a Canon of St. Peter's, in order that he might be able to venerate, near at hand, the Holy Face. The prince approached the tabernacle in surplice and rochet, but without a stole, because he was not in Holy Orders, and was authorized to show to the people the Holy Belie with the assistance of two other canons. Devenu, King of Poland in 1652, under the name of Wladislas VII, received from the chaplain and canons of St. Peter's a letter of congratulation, to which he made the following beautiful reply:—" We have not forgotten that, during our sojourn in Rome, we were added to your college, to the end that we might contemplate the Holy Face of our Saviour."
The pious Como, grand Duke of Tuscany, having come to Rome in 1700 to gain the indulgence of the general Jubilee, and to venerate the Holy Face, Innocent XII. created him a canon in order that he might be able to hold in his hands the holy Relics. He went to the shrine clothed in a violet soutane, wearing surplice, biretta and red gloves, according to the custom even in our days, and after having devoutly venerated the Holy Relic, he exposed it to the people and standing between two canons blessed them with it. A painting in the Vatican represents him dressed as a canon.
By a brief " Ut carrissimus" of 31st. May, 1717, Clement XI. granted to James III. of England, (commonly called the Pretender, son of James II.) the privilege of venerating the Holy Face in the Vestibule of the oratory where it is religiously preserved.
Pius VII of happy memory, granted that Charles Emmanuel IV. King of Sardinia, afterwards a Jesuit, and the Queen his wife, the Venerable Mary Clotilda of France, should have the consolation of beholding and kissing the Holy Face of our Saviour in the Vestibule of the Sanctuary. If the present representative of this illustrious House of Savoy, this family of Saints, had not repudiated the inheritance of piety which was left him by his ancestors, he would not have caused so much sorrow to the Church, and so many tears to our glorious and beloved Pontiff, Pius IX.
Pius VII. granted a special favour in February 1801, to the pious Archduchess Maria Anne of Austria, who came to receive the most Adorable Eucharist in the Basilica. After having satisfied her devotion, the Canons blest with the Holy Relic, the court, and the people assembled in the temple.
April 7, 1806, the same pope, after the ceremonies of the Monday of the Passover, went with his noble court to the Vatican Basilica; then preceded by lighted torches, assisted by two canons, went to the Sanctuary of the Veronica. After having prayed for some time before the three very Holy Relics he allowed also his suite to approach and venerate so glorious a souvenir of our Lord's Redemption.
We had ourselves the consolation (sweet souvenir) of assisting in 1853 at an exposition of the Holy Face, made before our Most Holy Father Pius IX. On Friday at 10 o'clock, a. m., the pope arrived at the Vatican Basilica; after having adored our Saviour in the chapel of the Most Holy Sacrament, he proceeded with his court to the confessional of St. Peter, and knelt down at the tomb of the glorious Apostles. A canon robed in the costume already described ascended to the Relics, took in his hands successively the Holy Lance, the blessed wood of the Cross, and that of the Holy Face of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Pius IX. the Cardinals and the faithful, prostrated on the floor of the temple, gazed upon, and lovingly bowed under the benediction which he gave them. After having satisfied his devotion, Pius IX. returned to his palace, but not without having first, at the foot of the fisherman, bowed his venerable head, where shone the triple crown of priesthood, sanctity, and martyrdom.
The following year 1854, a year ever memorable on account of the dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Cardinal Patrizzi, Vicar of Rome, announced in the " Invito Sagro," of the 28th of November, that by order of the Holy Father, the three great Belies would be exposed on an altar of the Basilica of St. Peter, the first Sunday of Advent, December the 3rd, and that they would remain exposed till the noon of the Thursday following. The Holy Face and the two other Relics were placed on the altar of the Most Holy Sacrament, under a canopy, in order that as great a number as possible of the bishops who had come to Rome for this solemn occasion, should have the consolation of celebrating there, the Holy Mysteries. It was the first time that the Holy Face was exposed for so many days on an altar in the Vatican Basilica; the Pope wished to signify by this extraordinary favour, the glorious promulgation of the great privilege of our glorious Mother, which was desired for the last eighteen centuries, and which excited so much joy in heaven and on earth. Thus is preserved from the commencement of the Church to the present time, the most Holy Relic of our Lord Jesus Christ, since His Divine Body ascended into heaven. Since the time that Veronica received from the blessed hands of oar Saviour, this everlasting pledge of His love, to the time when she gave it to Pope Clement I. the fourth successor of St. Peter to Pius IX. now gloriously reigning, this image of our Lord has not ceased to be under the guardianship and in the hands of the sovereign Pontiffs. And although the city of Rome had been often pillaged and sacked, Divine Providence did not permit sacrilegious hands to defile this Holy Belie. All the popes have watched it with a jealous care, and guarded it with love and veneration; many composed hymns and prayers in its honour, which are sung in the religious ceremonies, (see p. 52.)
We behold from time to time illustrious princes, kings and renowned emperors making pilgrimages to Rome, to contemplate the adorable features of our Saviour in His dolorous Passion ; we see them lay down their sceptres and crowns, and despoil themselves of their high birth, to venerate on their knees and in tears, the linen all covered with sweat and blood where the divine features were represented, esteeming these holy vestiges more than all the masterpieces of art and -all the other treasures which are accumulated in Rome, and appreciating their own -dignities inasmuch us they procured for them the exceptional favour of beholding more closely this venerable Relic of our Saviour.
The people hastened often in crowds, and exposed themselves to every fatigue and peril, and even looked upon themselves as happy when permitted to venerate even in the distance, the Holy Face. In the years of the general jubilees, and in times of great calamities, the people hurried to the holy Relic as to a powerful Palladium, and cried out, Lord, show us Thy Face, and we shall be saved"—(" Domine ostende faciem tuam, el salvi erimus") Ps. lxxix. 8. They would strike their breasts and shed abundant tears, when they -considered the lamentable state into which their sins had reduced the Redeemer, and entering into themselves, their hearts would be filled with consolation and hope. Often in these circumstances, God displayed His mercy by great miracles, and granted singular favours for this great devotion of the people towards the Holy Face.
The Church always guarded this precious treasure with a jealous care, we were going to say parsimoniously.

The Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Part 3.

In the year 610, during the Pontificate of Boniface IV., the Holy Face was venerated in the church of St. Mary of the Martyrs, commonly called the Rotunda, by reason of its round form. This was the old Pantheon, built by Agrippa to Jupiter the Avenger, and later dedicated to all the Olympic deities. In the year of our Lord 608, Boniface IV., wishing to purify this temple, and to dedicate it to the Mother of God, went into the catacombs, and brought forth from their subterranean habitations a legion of Christian heroes, and sent them in twenty-eight magnificently decorated carriages, amidst the acclamations of all Rome, into the sanctuary of vanquished Paganism. The new church got the name of St. Mary of the Martyrs. Two centuries later, in 830, Gregory IV. consecrated it again to All the Saints, and commanded that, in memory of this consecration, there should be celebrated every year, and on the 1st November, in the entire Catholic world, the Feast of All Saints.

He wished to give St. Mary of the Martyrs the charge of the holy relic, being a place well fortified and very safe, and being likewise situated almost in the centre of the city, and at the same time sufficiently large to accommodate the multitudes of people who would go there to offer their adoration to our Saviour.

They have, even in our time, in this church, the case or shrine where the Holy Face was preserved. The urn which contained this case is placed in pieces on the table of the altar of the holy crucifix, with the following inscription: "Arca in qua sacrum sudarium, olim a diva Veronica delatum Romam ex Palestina, hac in Basilica, annis centum enituit"—" The case in which the Holy Towel brought from Palestine by Blessed Veronica, was kept with honour in this Basilica for a hundred years." This case or shrine had ten locks, the keys of which were entrusted to the care of the chiefs of the ten old Rioni, or Roman regions, so that' the holy Relic was committed to the care of the entire city, and its case could only be opened before its united representatives.

The holy Relic was exposed to the veneration of the faithful once a year, May 18, the anniversary of the first consecration of the church, as also in days of calamity to invoke the pardon and protection of God.

A century later the Holy Face was brought to St„ Peter's. Pope John VII., in the year 707, having built an oratory in the Vatican Basilica, which he dedicated to the Blessed Virgin "del Presepio" and in which he wished to have his- sepulchre, raised an altar in it in honour of the Holy Face, {quod vocatur Veronica) and placed it there in a beautiful, large, and ornamented tabernacle, with marble pillars, and the chapel took the name, and was called " Santa Maria del Sudario".

Grimaldi the notary and archivist of the Basilica, says that the altars of this Oratory were consecrated on the 24tb November, 707, and that Pope John VII. placed the Holy Relic there on the following day.

Torrigio, in a work of his called "Sagre Grotte Vaticane" assigns the same date for the replacing of the Holy Relic in St. Peter's, it having been for some time in the Rotunda or church of St. Mary of the Martyrs.

He also says that, under Adrian I., the tabernacle was enlarged, and surrounded by a balcony from which the Holy Face was exposed to the people for Veneration.

P. Mabillon, in his Museum Italicum, vol. ii., p. 122, inserts a Roman Ceremonial of 1130, dedicated to Cardinal Guy du Chata!, later Celestine II., where it is said, " afterwards the Pontiff goes to the Towel of Christ, which is called Veronica, and incenses it."

Alvieri affirms, with other anthers, that in the time of Innocent II. six noble Roman families were appointed to guard the Holy Face, and to take care of the ease or shrine in which it was enclosed.

Mallio, in his History of Remarkable Things in the Vatican Basilica, dedicated to Alexander III. in 1159, attests the remarkable veneration which was given to the Holy Face daring this epoch, before which burned day and night ten lamps. (Ante Veronicam decem lampades die noctuque.)

We have already spoken of the medals called Veronicas, which had impressed on them the likeness of the Holy Face, and the keys of St. Peter. The pilgrim's to the tombs of the apostles, Who had great confidence in the holy relic, attached them to their clothes.

Such was the veneration given to the Holy Image that it was often represented on the Pontifical coins. Scilla, in his treatise, Delle Monete Pontificie, shews different sorts of these coins, with the likeness of the Holy Face struck on them.

Cancellieri rays that Philip Augustus, King of France, being come to Homo in 1198, Pope Celestine III. showed him " The Veronica; that is to say, a certain linen which Jesus Christ applied to His Face, and which remains so manifestly imprinted even to this day, that you would believe you see the Face itself of Jesus Christ. They call it Veronica, from the name of the woman to whom the linen belonged, whose name was Veronica."

Innocent III., who filled the chair of St Peter in 1198, had a great veneration for the Holy Face; be composed some prayers in its honour, ordered them to be recited before it, and attached to them certain indulgences. Cancellieri, without specifying the date, says that the Holy Face was transferred to the hospital of the Holy Ghost; he mentions an old chronicle, from which it appears that the holy towel was at the house of S. Spirito in Sassia, in a little chamber entirely made of iron and marble, secured with six locks and keys, which were confided to six Roman families. It was exposed only once a year, and the gentlemen who had the honour of holding the keys, enjoyed the Franchise; they were not bound to do any civil service, and if one of them were appointed to to a senechal, &c, he was not obliged to do so. Each time that the holy relic was shown, they should be present, each with twenty companions, all armed around the holy image, to accompany it to the place appointed, and secure it. It was probably in memory of this temporary guard of the Holy Face in the church of the Holy Ghost, that Pope Innocent HI. instituted by a bull, in 1208, the procession which was usually made every year on the first Sunday after the Octave of the Epiphany, and in which was solemnly borne the Holy Face, from the Vatican Basilica to the church of the Holy Ghost. They likewise distributed a great amount of alms to poor strangers and to hospitals. The holy relic remained some time in the church of the Holy Ghost, and was afterwards brought back again to the Vatican Basilica, Later, about the year 1471, Sixtus IV., for just motives, abolished this procession, and decreed that instead the people should go every year, on the same day, to venerate the Relic in the Vatican Basilica.  The members of the Archconfraternity of St. Peter, in Sassia, which existed in 1198, and which had the honour to guard, for some time, the Holy Relic, having undoubtedly succeeded the six gentlemen already mentioned, now formed the procession to St. Peter's, on the second Sunday after the Epiphany, also on Whit-Monday, and, by a privilege, had an exposition of the Holy Face, which exposition was also made three times a year to the foundlings of both sexes, and to the ecclesiastics of the hospital of the Holy Ghost, in remembrance of the time it was formerly kept there. Boniface VIII. re-established in 1300, at Rome, the celebration of the " Holy Year," in the midst of an immense concourse of people, who came to Borne to gain the plenary indulgence. For the consolation of the pilgrims, he exposed the Holy Face every Friday and on solemn feasts. The same Pope exposed it to Charles II., King of Sicily, and James II, King of Aragon.

Rinaldi informs us, that in the year 1328, at the time when Louis of Bavaria, with his heretics and schismatics, and a number of courtiers, came to Rome, the city was interdicted, and many of the Faithful, as also many ecclesiastics and religious fled. The canon of St. Peter's, who had charge of the holy towel, concealed it, because this crowd of atheists were not worthy to behold it. , Clement VI., residing at Avignon, issued an order to celebrate at Borne, in 1350, the second General Jubilee. It is impossible to conceive the great concourse of pilgrims on this occasion; the crowd was so great, that, many times, numbers of the people died, as Matteo Villani, who was present, testifies. The Pope wrote to the canons of the Vatican, ordering them to have many expositions of the Holy Face, on account of the great devotion of the people for this Holy Relic.

Louis I., King of Hungary, asked, and obtained permission of the Sovereign Pontiff, to venerate it every day.

Cancellieri, in" his work, " Settimana Santa" says that the Holy Face was brought to the Castle of St. Angelo, as appears from an old journal, which says: "The 4th of October, 1409, the towel of St. Veronica was brought from the sacristy of St. Peter's to the Castle of St. Angelo, where it might be safe from the insults of the soldiers." 1

A contemporary journalist, Antonio de Pietri, adds: " January 1, 1410, at the hour of Tierce, Jacomo de Cafoi, canon, vicar and sacristan of the Basilica of St. Peter, accompanied by six other canons went to the castle of San-Angelo, and brought from it to St. Peter's the Veronica, or Holy Face."

Nicholas, in 1450, had three little bells made, with silvery and harmonious sounds, to announce the exposition of the Holy Relic, as is the practice at this present time. On the bells was the following inscription, " Nicolaus Papa V. fecit anno Jubilæi 1450."

During this "Holy Year,-" the multitudes of pilgrims, haying recourse to venerate the Holy Relic, were bo great that, in one day alone, eighty-seven persons fell from the bridge of San Angelo, into the Tiber, and were drowned.

We know from Torrigio, that Nicholas V., in 1452, after having crowned the Emperor, Frederic III., and created him Canon of the Vatican, as was customary, gave him the special power, in canonical costume, to expose in the tabernacle the Holy Face, and to venerate with awe and respect the Holy Relic, a favour not usually accorded even to the beneficed canons. It i& necessary here to remember that the emperors, after their coronation by the Pope, became canons of the chapters of the Lateran, and the Vatican, and wore the rochet, cope, and biretta. The emperors who wished to venerate the Holy Relic, through devotion, were obliged to do so in canonical costume.

The Emperor of Turkey having made a present to Innocent VIII., of the holy lance, which pierced the side of our Redeemer, the Pope kept it in his room, intending to build a sumptuous chapel for it, in the Basilica of St. Peter; but, finding his end approach, he ordered that the Relic should be placed in the chapel of the Holy Face.

It was during the pontificate of Urban VIII., in 1625, that the Holy Face was solemnly borne into the new Basilica of St. Peter, on its completion, and placed in the niche where it is venerated at the present day. For a long time, the old church, built by Constantino, threatening decay, Pope Nicholas V. the great protector of letters and of arts, conceived the design of raising around the old Basilica, a temple sufficiently large to represent by its form the universal Church. The labours commenced in 1450. Julius II, admirably assisted by Bramanta, forwarded the execution by the energy and ardour of his resolute character; after him, Leo X. and Raphael continued the work, without interruption. Michael Angelo laboured during seventeen years, under five successive Popes. This great man, in a moment of sublime inspiration, taking on the wings of his genius, the Pantheon, the greatest work of ancient art, had borne it into the air to the height of 300 feet, on four enormous pillars of pentagonal form, afterwards raising the crown-work of the papal altar, the cupola of St. Peter's, that sublime cupola which pilgrims hail in the distance, with tears in their eyes, and which cannot be thought of without emotion, by any one who has had the happiness to behold it.

Urban VIII., on his elevation to the papal throne, found this great work very near completion, and gave a great impetus to it. He ordered Bernin to make in the pillars of the admirable cupola the four niches, with places for the exposition of the holy relics, and, on the 23rd December, 1625, the Holy Face and the Holy Lance, which had been previously deposited in the archives of the Basilica, and enclosed in a case, or shrine, of iron, covered with rich cloth, were borne in a procession, under a canopy, to a niche, since called the "Holy Veronica" The canopy was carried on the occasion by the Archduke Leopold, son of the Emperor Ferdinand III, and by other great personages.

1 Ladislaus, King of Naples, taking advantage of the schism, occupied Rome, whence Paolo Orsini drove him to December 1407.

The Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Part 2.

As to the question of knowing if the name Veronica (which is said to be composed of the Latin word Vera, true, and a Greek word Latinized icon, an image, i.e. true image,) is a name predestined or symbolical, as those of Christopher Columbus, 1 and Mezzofanti, 2 or rather if the name be one by inheritance to the saint, from the designation of the towel, it is not repugnant to believe that this belly woman, chosen by Almighty God for so exalted an action, had likewise received from Providence a prophetic name. Moreover, it must be kept in mind that the name Berenice, which she is generally called, and which the Greeks have adopted, is the same in meaning as Veronica, which the Latins employ. The Latins change the Greek consonant B into V, so of Berenicia they easily make Veronica.3 In the meantime we are inclined to believe, with a great number of authors, that Veronica was the name first given to the holy towel on which was impressed the real likeness of our Saviour, and that by degrees the faithful gave this name to the holy woman who is represented in pictures or paintings holding the holy towel in her hands. It is likewise true that authors call the holy Face itself Veronica, and that in the time of Innocent III. medals were cast with the image of the holy Face on them, which were called Veronicas, and those who sold them were called vendors of Veronicas, and likewise in the old Missals of some of the dioceses in Germany, especially those of the church of Augsburg, (Augusta Vindelicorum) printed in 1555, is to be seen the rubric, " Missa de Vultu sanc-to seu Veronica"—" Mass of the Holy Face or Veronica," Giacomo Gretsero 4 says that in Germany they have a custom to paint iu the churches, at the right of, the high altar, the image of Veronica, and that the people have a devotion, as they approach it, to make the sign of the cross on it, and afterwards on themselves. The practice of this devotion is so frequent that it becomes necessary to renew and refresh these paintings which, by the continuous contact of the hands, lose their colour and become effaced.
Be the name and identity as it may, of this pious woman, who had the happiness of consoling our dear Lord in the midst of His sorrows, we know that she brought to Borne this precious treasure which had been confided to her. It is said that in going to the Eternal City she landed at the isle of Zante, where she planted the faith of Christ. It is for this reason the inhabitants of this island, who received from Veronica the first precepts of the Christian religion honour her memory with a peculiar devotion.
Many important and authentic documents attest the arrival of St. Veronica in the city of Rome. Peter the Deacon, who flourished about the year 515, says: " The towel with which Christ wiped His face, and which some call Veronica, was brought to Home in the time of Tiberius Cæsar." 5

It is said that Tiberius was cured of a leprosy by the presence alone of the holy Face, which Veronica exposed in his palace, and that he was anxious to load her with favours; but she had received from our Lord a treasure in comparison with which all other things were as nothing, and she piously guarded it till her death. Of the two cases of shrines in which the holy relic was brought to Home, the larger one is venerated in the church of St. Mary of Martyrs, and the other in the church of S. Eligio de' Ferrari. Al-vieri gives us the inscription which was on the case at St. Mary of the Martyrs, as it was in his time : "In this case the towel of the Passion of our Saviour Jesus Christ was brought from Jerusalem in the time of Tiberius Augustus." 6
St. Veronica died at Rome, and the sacred treasure remained in the possession of Clement I. (fourth successor to St. Peter) who governed the Church from the year 91 to 100. Pietro Galesino makes mention of it in his Martyrology, in these words: Romæ, S. Veronicæ quæ vultum Domini ad cam Urbem a Hierosolymis attulit." It is thought that her body lies buried in the Vatican Basilica, not far from the Holy Image, which is an invincible labarum placed over the City, to defend it against the assaults of the enemy, and an object of the veneration of the faithful in .every age, and worthy of the veneration of the whole world.
During the persecutions of the first three centuries which beat so terribly against the vessel of the infant Church, Clement and his successors secretly preserved the holy relic in the depths of the catacombs; but when-God caused the aurora of a new era of tranquillity and peace to rise on His Church, she came forth with these treasures from these dark dwellings and shone in full day. Constantino was desirous to build a temple at the base of the Vatican hill, where St. Peter was buried. We then behold the hands of Cæsar, which were formerly employed in raising temples to idols, now sanctified in building in that part of Borne, which was most sullied by Pagan superstitions, and on the very site of the Temple of Apollo, the magnificent church of the Fisherman of Galilee, where future generations should come to consult the infallible oracles of Truth. This august sanctuary, embellished by the munificence of Constantine and his mother St. Helen, was consecrated by Pope St. Sylvester, on the 18th November, 824. It is in this Basilica, so often enlarged, restored, and completely reconstructed, that the Holy Face was preserved and venerated from time immemorial. If we find it deposited in other churches of Rome as in the Rotunda, Holy Ghost, and in the Castle of St. Angelo, it is only for a time, St. Peter's being situated outside the city, it was more exposed than these already named, and the Roman Pontiffs wishing to have the Holy Relic secure, sent it to them.

1 The name Christophorus Columbus recalls to our mind the dove going from the ark and bringing back to Noe the olive branch, the symbol of peace, as also the cross which the great navigator planted in the New World, which he went to discover to sow the faith of Jesus Christ.

2 The name is composed of the Italian " mezzo" and Latin "fans" (part, of fari) speaking. It is known that the illustrious cardinal spoke more than fifty languages.

3 The Macedonians explain Pheronica at ferens victoriam bearing away the victory. The Latins employed F in place of the consonant V, from the time of the Emperor Claudius, who, to distinguish the consonant V from the vowel V, introduced the Eolian digamma, a letter or figure composed of two Greek gammas, superposed, and forming our capital F; so for Servus or civis they wrote SerFus and ciFis. Pliny, lib. 7, c. 41, calls Pheronica what Valerius Mazimus lib. 8, calls Berenicia: " cui soli ex mulieribus, quod filia, mater et soror esset Olympionicarum concessum est ut gymnicos ludos posset spectare, faeminis omnibus interdiclos.
The circumstances which accompany the gift of this holy .image by our Saviour, as well as the considerations above, fully justify the natural etymology of the name Veronica which is from the words Vero (abl. de verum, i ) by the truth, and Nica, be a conqueror. Jesus is the truth, and died to destroy the empire Of the devil, that He might leave to His Church, in the person of His faithful servant, this .pledge of His eternal love, which the name (Sola vainqueur par la Verite) as a glorious device opposed to the war-cry of His enemies in every age: "Montez,montez, toujours." Jesus is the Word made flesh, and at the same time the truth; and if we have recourse to anagrams, the name Veronica represents to us the divinity by .the vowels A E I O V, which compose the name JEOVA, and His humanity by the consonants R. N. C, which are the initials of the three titles given to Him as man; Rex, Nazarenus, Christus. King, Nazarean, Christ. " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us."—St. John. And as the true .cross was distinguished from the others by the miracles it -wrought, so the Veronica daily proves its authenticity by the graces of every kind which it pours on those who wish to implore the mercy of Him whom it represents.

4 Tract de Imaginibus non manufactis, cap. 7.

5 Sudarium cum quo Christus faciem suam extersit. quod ob aliis Veronica dicitur tempore Tiberii Cæsaris Romanis delatum est, et

6.In ista capaa fuit portatum Sudarium Passionis Domini Nostri Jesu-Christi a Hierosolymis Tiberio Auguste