History and Chronology of the Holy Face Devotion
1843
On August 25, 1843, Our Lord revealed to Sr. Mary of St. Peter in the Carmel of Tours, France, the sins which most offended him of blasphemy and the profanation of Sundays and all Holy Days of obligation, and the means of appeasing his anger and satisfying divine justice. She calls this remedy a “Work of Reparation,” (Abbe P. Janvier, The Life of Sister Saint-Pierre [John Murphy & Co, Baltimore, 1884], 3).
Jesus confides to Sr. Mary of St. Peter, “I seek Veronicas to wipe and honor My Divine Face which has few adorers,” (ibid, 210). These revelations occurred at a time when Europe, but especially France, was beginning to lose Her Catholic Faith definitively following the French Revolution, death of Napoleon and during the Age of Reason.
1885
In 1885, Pope Leo XIII endorsed this devotion by establishing an Archconfraternity of the Holy Face. In 1958, Pope Pius XII formally declared the Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus as Shrove Tuesday, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, for all Roman Catholics.
The Blessed Maria Pierina de Micheli, a holy nun who died in 1945, was urged in many visions by the Blessed Mother and Jesus Himself to spread the devotion to the Holy Face, in reparation for the many insults Jesus suffered in His Passion, such as to be slapped, spit upon and kissed by Judas, as well as now being dishonored in many ways in the Blessed Sacrament by neglect, sacrileges and profanations.
Our Lord complained to her saying, “No one gives me a kiss of love on My face to make amends for the kiss of Judas.” He also tells her:
“Perhaps some souls fear that devotion to my Holy Face may diminish that to my Sacred Heart. Tell them that, on the contrary, it will complete and increase it. Contemplating my Face, souls will share my sorrows and will feel the need for love and reparation. Is this not the true devotion to my Heart?”
Jesus told her that He wished that His Face be venerated by a special feast on Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday.
1939
In 1939 Jesus said again: “I wish that My Holy Face be honored in a particular manner on Tuesdays”.
She was given a scapular or medal, which:
On one side bore a replica of the Holy Shroud and the inscription: “Illumina, Domine, vultum tuum super nos”. – Ps. 4:6 “May, O Lord, the light of Thy countenance shine upon us”.)
On the reverse side was a radiant Host, with the words, “Mane nobiscum, Domine”. – “Stay with us, O Lord” Luke 24:29 as well as the initials: AMDG, or “For the Greater Glory of God,” and in the center the initials IHS – “Jesus Christ Savior.”
1843–1847
Sister Marie de Saint-Pierre, a Carmelite nun in Tours, France, receives private revelations from Jesus detailing the “Golden Arrow” prayer of reparation. [1, 2, 3]
January 1849
Private Revelations and the 1849 Miracle
During a public three-day display of Veronica’s Veil in Rome ordered by Pope Pius IX, the face of Christ appears alive and glowing with a soft halo of light for three hours. [1]
1851–1876
Leo Dupont (the “Holy Man of Tours”) burns an oil lamp before an image of the Holy Face; numerous documented healings occur, popularizing the local devotion. [1, 2] Papal Approval and Expansion
1885
Pope Leo XIII officially establishes the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face for France and later the entire world. [1, 2]
1890’s
St. Thérèse of Lisieux adopts the religious name “St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face”, deeply promoting the spiritual work of reparation. [1, 2, 3]
1936–1938
Sister Maria Pierina De Micheli receives visions from the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus urging the creation of the Holy Face Medal.
1958
Pope Pius XII approves the Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus as Shrove Tuesday (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday). [1, 2]