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St. Therese (Therese Martin) was born
January 2,1873. She died on September 30, 1897. Therese was introduced to the
‘Devotion To The Holy Face’ by Sister Agnes of Jesus. She signed her name for
the first time as ‘Sister Therese Of The Child Jesus And The Holy Face’ the
day she received the habit, January 10, 1889.
St. Therese’ sister, Mother Agnes (Pauline Martin) writes in her testimony for
the process of Beatification: “Devotion to the Holy Face was the special
attraction of the Servant of God. However tender was her devotion to the
Infant Jesus, it could not be compared to the devotion she had for the Holy
Face. It was in the Carmel, at the hour of our great ordeal regarding the
mental illness of our father, that she attached herself further to the mystery
of the Passion, and it was then that she obtained permission to add ‘Of The
Holy Face’ to her name. She herself speaks of where she derived the idea of
this devotion. She writes, “These words of Isiah: He was without splendor,
without beauty, His Face was hidden, as it were, and His person was not
acknowledged” (Is 53, 2-3); one finds in them the whole foundation of my
devotion to the Holy Face, or to say it better, the foundation of all my
piety. I also desire myself to be without splendor, without beauty, to tread
alone the wine in the press, unknown by every creature.”
On April 26, 1885, St. Therese’ father, Louis Martin enrolled himself and his
five daughters in the ‘Confraternity of The Holy Face Of Jesus’ which was
established in 1848.
Therese herself reveals her love and devotion for the Holy Face of Jesus when
she says to Mother Agnes in her writing about her postulancy in the Carmel:
“Until my coming to Carmel, I had never fathomed the depths of the treasures
hidden in the Holy Face. It was through you, dear mother, that I learned to
know these treasures. Just as formerly you had preceded us into Carmel, so
also you were first to enter deeply into the mysteries of love hidden in the
Face of our Spouse. You called me and I understood. I understood what real
glory was. He whose Kingdom is not of this world showed me that true wisdom
consists in “desiring to be unknown and counted as nothing,” in “placing one’s
joy in the contempt of self.” Ah! I desired that, like the Face of Jesus, “my
face be truly hidden, that no one on earth would know me” (Is. 53:3). I
thirsted after suffering and longed to be forgotten.”
Therese expresses her Love
for, and devotion to, the Holy Face of Jesus in her poem “Living On Love”:
Jesus, Your ineffable image
Is the star which guides my steps.
Ah, You know, Your sweet Face
Is for me Heaven on earth.
My love discovers the
charms
Of Your Face adorned with tears.
I smile
through my own tears
When I contemplate Your sorrows.
Oh! To console You I want
To live unknown on earth!
Your beauty, which You know how to veil,
Discloses for me all its mystery.
I would like to fly away to You!
Your Face is my only homeland.
It’s my Kingdom of love.
It’s my cheerful meadow.
Each day, my sweet sun.
It’s the Lily of the Valley
Whose mysterious perfume
Consoles my exiled soul,
Making it taste
the peace of Heaven.
It’s my Rest, my Sweetness
And my melodious Lyre
Your Face, O my Sweet Savior,
Is the Divine Bouquet of Myrrh
I want to keep on my heart!
Your Face is my only wealth.
I ask for nothing more.
Hiding myself in it
unceasingly,
I will resemble You, Jesus
Leave in me, the Divine Impress
Of Your features filled with sweetness,
And soon I’ll become holy.
I shall draw hearts to You.
So that I may gather
A beautiful golden harvest,
Deign to set me aflame with Your Fire.
With Your adorned mouth,
Give me soon the Eternal Kiss!
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