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Novena to the Holy Face of Jesus

Day 4

10 min
Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.

Novena to the Holy Face of Jesus

Opening prayer:

Lord, I desire to seek Your Face; do not turn it from me because of my sins, nor take Your Holy Spirit from me. Let the light of Your Face shine upon me as I begin this novena. Receive my poor desire to console You and to make reparation, and through Your suffering Face obtain for me the grace I now implore. Amen.

Read the meditation and offer the intention of the day.

Day 4: The veil of Veronica

On the road to Calvary a woman pressed through the soldiers to wipe the Lord's blood-stained face, and He left His living image upon her cloth. Veronica could not halt the procession or lift the cross, yet she did the one tender thing within her reach, and He repaid it by imprinting His likeness forever. Her gesture teaches us that the smallest act of compassion shown to Christ is never forgotten. He still seeks hearts bold enough to console Him before a mocking crowd.

O Lord Jesus, who let Veronica wipe Your bleeding Face and rewarded her with Your sacred image, give me the courage to comfort You in the suffering. Let me not pass by the afflicted, but do the small tender deed within my reach, certain that nothing offered to You in love is ever lost. Amen.

Today's intention:

For the courage to comfort Christ in the suffering.

Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be.

Our Father

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

Pater noster, qui es in cælis,

sanctificétur nomen tuum.

Advéniat regnum tuum.

Fiat volúntas tua, sicut in cælo et in terra.

Panem nostrum quotidiánum da nobis hódie,

et dimítte nobis débita nostra,

sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris.

Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem,

sed líbera nos a malo.

Amen.

Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Ave María, grátia plena, Dóminus tecum.

Benedícta tu in muliéribus,

et benedíctus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.

Sancta María, Mater Dei,

ora pro nobis peccatóribus,

nunc et in hora mortis nostræ.

Amen.

Glory Be

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto.

Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper,

et in sǽcula sæculórum.

Amen.

Closing prayer:

Almighty and merciful God, grant, we beseech You, that we who venerate the Face of Your Christ, disfigured in His Passion for our sins, may be found worthy to contemplate it eternally in the splendor of Your glory. May that sacred countenance be my light in this life, my reparation for the blasphemies that wound You, and my joy forever. Amen.

Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.

About this prayer

A nine-day novena to the Holy Face of Jesus, a devotion of reparation for blasphemy and impiety. Contemplating the suffering, disfigured Face of our Redeemer, we offer Him consolation and pray with the Golden Arrow given to Sr. Marie of St. Peter.

History

Devotion to the Holy Face was renewed in the nineteenth century through Sr. Marie of St. Peter, a Carmelite of Tours, to whom our Lord made known the prayer called the Golden Arrow as an act of reparation for blasphemy and the profanation of Sundays. The devotion was carried forward by the layman Leo Dupont, the 'Holy Man of Tours,' and later embraced by the family of St. Thérèse, whose religious name was Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face. It joins the disfigured face foretold by Isaiah to the image impressed upon the veil of Veronica on the way to Calvary.

How to pray it

Pray once each day for nine consecutive days. Begin with the Sign of the Cross and the opening prayer, prayerfully read the meditation and offer the day's intention, then conclude with an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be, and the closing prayer.

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