The Stillness of Lent and The Holy Face of Jesus

The above “featured image” for my blog today – this Shrove Tuesday – I chose a beautiful winter scene of snow rather than a desert!  It most definitely reflects the “Stillness of Lent” and the journey ahead of us in “light” of the Holy Face of Jesus.

It was a simple pick because here on the East Coast, we are experiencing a wintry snowstorm producing a lot of fluffy white flakes gently falling from the sky.  In that “falling“….there is a “stillness” that touches one’s soul.

An Opportunity for Stillness

We are given a beautiful opportunity today to enter into the stillness of Lent on this “Shrove Tuesday!”

First – let us define what “Shrove Tuesday” actually means…..

“It is the name of the day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday.  The word “shrove” is the past tense of the English verb “shrive” which means to obtain absolution for one’s sins by ways of confession and by doing penance.  On this day, Catholics are encouraged to go to confession in preparation for the penitential season.”

However, it is also the day that “we honor” the Holy Face of Jesus!  What better way to begin our “Lenten Journey” today than to “gaze in stillness” at the Holy Face of Jesus Christ.

A Model to Follow

St. Veronica is a “model” for us during these 40 days of Lent.  She not only teaches us how to show compassion and make reparation to Jesus but also teaches us to reach out to others with compassion and kindness.  “Almsgiving” at its’ height!

Let us read what the “Manual of the Confraternity of the Holy Face” tells us about St. Veronica:

“She watched the Divine Master struggling with the weight of the Cross to reach the top of the mount where He was to be sacrificed –  His Face stained, bruised, and bloody.  Listening only to the voice of piety and pity – the courageous Israelite braves the jeers of the mob, confronts the brutal executioners and pressing through the crowd, reaches Jesus. She detaches the veil of fine white Egyptian flax which covers her brow, spreads it over the suffering Face of the Savior, wipes the adorable Face with tenderness, thus comforting, soothing and re-animating It.  

This was the first act of Reparation offered our beloved Redeemer on His sorrowful journey.  He proved His gratitude, leaving upon the veil of his compassionate benefactress, the impression of His Holy Face, in the condition It then was.”

Diminisher or Illuminator

Two Sunday’s ago, Fr. Tom Arnao gave a beautiful homily on being a “diminisher or an illuminator.”  As always, I would like to define these two words for us before we go further:

Diminisher – to belittle – to make less or cause to appear less.

Illuminator – one that illuminates – to provide or brighten with light – to make understandable – clarify.

I would say that our dear St. Veronica was an “illuminator” for she stood out from the “crowd” with compassion and love for Jesus as He passed by.

She wasn’t part of the jeering crowd.  She wasn’t a “diminisher.”

The Illuminator

Jesus Christ is the “Illuminator!”  He tells us “He is the Way, the Truth and the Light!”  Without Him we are only “diminishers.”  We need to be “illuminators” and we need to have the “stillness” of soul to follow “His Way.”  We need it and our world needs it!

One of the “ways” He points us to is Devotion to His Holy Face!  This devotion dates back to “His Coming” and one of the “first adorers” of the Sacred Countenance were Our Blessed Mother, St. Joseph, the Shepherds, the Magi and later the Apostles and Disciples.  

However, we also have Sister Mary of St. Peter who was a Carmelite nun and was given the following revelation from Jesus regarding His Holy Face.

“I seek for Veronicas to wipe and honor my Divine Face,  for it has few worshippers.”  

“He caused Sister Mary of St. Peter to comprehend anew that all those who apply themselves to this work of reparation are performing the office of the pious Veronica.”

His Promises

Jesus made many promises to Sister Mary of St. Peter regarding devotion to His Holy Face….

Here are just a few of them with the first one speaking loud and clear about being “Illuminators!”

“They shall receive in themselves, by the impression of My Humanity, a bright irradiation of My Divinity, and shall be so illuminated by It in their inmost souls, that, by their likeness to My Face, they shall shine with a brightness surpassing that of many others in eternal life.

“By My Holy Face you will obtain the conversion of many sinners.”

“Nothing that you ask in making this offering will be refused to you.”

“If you knew how pleasing the sight of My Face is to My Father.”

“All those who honor My Holy Face in a spirit of reparation, will by so doing perform the office of the pious Veronica.”

“Our Lord has promised me, that all those who defend His cause in this work of reparation, by words, by prayers, or in writing, He will defend before His Father; at their death He will purify their souls by effacing all the blots of sin and will restore to them their primitive beauty.

Where Do We Start?

So where do we start on this Shrove Tuesday or tomorrow – Ash Wednesday?  We can start simply by the following prayer.  Our Lord told Sister Mary of St. Peter that the Image of His Holy Face is like a Divine Stamp which, if applied to souls, through prayer, has the power of imprinting anew within them the Image of God.

The Lord always makes good on His Promises! Think about that!  We can then be “Light” to others….“Illuminators” . . .bringing forth love, kindness and gentleness to all we meet who are “pining” to move out of the darkness and receive the Love of Christ.  Let us pray this prayer in the “stillness” of our hearts and then wait on the Lord for His Divine Image to be stamped upon our souls.

PRAYER TO REPRODUCE THE IMAGE OF GOD IN OUR SOULS

I salute You, I adore You, and I Love You.

Oh Adorable Face of My Beloved Jesus, as the Noble Stamp of the Divinity!

Completely surrendering my soul to You,

I most humbly beg you to stamp this seal upon us all,

so that the Image of God may once more be reproduced by its imprint on our souls.

Amen

 

©2024 Anita Guariglia

Photo Credits:

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Holy Face Quotes – taken from the Manual of the Confraternity of the Holy Face

Merriam-Webster Dictionary On-line for definitions