The Holy Face of Jesus
The devotion centered upon the Holy Face of Jesus is truly a spiritual vine which clings firmly to all the teachings of Holy Mother Church. It is a most fruitful seedling that reaches out for the word of God, nourishing within a firm desire to follow the example set forth by our Lord Jesus Christ to accept without resignation the will of God, and above all to love God, thereby keeping His commandments. All this is most effectively accomplished through a particular recognition of the Person of Christ.
Man best remembers the person he loves by a portrait of the face. The face is the natural means of identification. It bears the stamp of the individual’s personality – the expression of love or hatred: joy or sorrow: gentleness or coldness. The face is the object which calls forth love, indifference or hatred – not for its particular beauty or homeliness, but because of what it represents. The Holy Face of the God-Man, beautiful above the sons of man, mirrors forth and represents for us all the admirable characteristics of the Sacred Humanity of the Divine Son of God, Who loved man as no one ever could.
Consider, O earthen vessel, how God loves you, how much then should you love in return! In truth we cannot, even with our best efforts, repay the debt of redemption we owe to God. But, does not the Almighty know this far better than we? The All-Knowing God, reading the hearts of men, and seeing our need, has ordained that His only Begotten Son become Man, that thus man could see his salvation, have a model, and remember his redemption wrought by the shedding of the Most Precious Blood. Ought we not then, to love him in the manner we poor humans know best by contemplating here His Most Holy Face as the God-Man while we long to behold it in the splendor of the Divinity in Heaven?
This is why the devotion is termed, “The devotion of the Blessed”, for it is the ultimate goal of the soul to behold the Face of God in eternity – the Beatific Vision of God.
Can we turn away from a loved one and in the same breath profess love? The words of the Psalmist David ring out, “Hide not your Face from us, O Lord.” For should the Lord turn away His Face from us it means he cares not what happens to us.
Neither should we turn our eyes from the Holy Face of His Divine Son but rather remember him in the manner he desires most, in a new way borrowing the words of St. Paul: “As often as you shall do this, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.” With this in mind how can we but dwell on the portrait of His most Holy Face photographed from the Holy Shroud, which enveloped His Sacred Remains when He lay in the sepulchre. This is the image of love – it is proof of the greatest Love ever – the Death of the God-Man. Be mindful that this Sacred Image of the Holy Face is not like any other image of the Holy Face – for it is not retouched, it is His Image in Death – “you proclaim His Death until He comes” in His Glory.
We mortals spontaneously associate the name of a particular person with his face; and at the mention of the name of a loved one, an image of his face naturally comes before us. This result is inevitable. How much more then should we associate the most Holy Name of Jesus with the Sacred Countenance of Christ, who is the Incarnate Image of God himself!
Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus spells LOVE. Love of God for man – and love of the creature for God. There is no substitute for love of God and we finite humans best remember a loved one by his face. Radiate your Face upon us, O Lord, and we shall be illuminated by its love.
Caesar
Gili