promises of Jesus

"Look at Jesus' Face, and then you will know how much He loves you…"

Promises of Jesus to those who honor Him in his Holy Face

We often see in the history of the great devotions in the Church, that the Lord will grant special favours and graces to those who honour Him in a particular devotion. It is what we call "Divine Pedagogy", that reaches us in our human sensitivity. Through these promises, Jesus invites us to go beyond it and experience the "Spiritual Fruits" produced in our soul when we practice with seriousness a particular devotion proposed by the Church.

These promises from Jesus to those who revere Him in his Holy Face can be found in the writings of three different women: saint Gertrude, saint Michtilda (her sister) and sister Mary of Saint-Peter, a Carmelite nun from Tours (France).

I invite you now to take the time to pray and meditate each one of them.

"By my Face you shall work miracles."… "As in a kingdom you can procure all you wish with a coin marked with the king’s effigy, so in the kingdom of Heaven you will obtain all you desire with the precious coin of My Holy Face."

The soul that sets time apart to contemplate the Holy Face, more and more every day, will hear from this Face all disfigured the voice of Jesus saying: "Look at me and see how much I love you". Silence is the key word, without it you will not hear His voice, you will look but see nothing.

He showed the depth of his love by sharing our humanity and taking upon Himself all the sins of the world. In front of the Holy Face we can say with saint John: "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world"(Jn 1,29).He is injured by all our injuries, our sins !

I invite to read over and over again the prophet Isaiah. Let me point out few verses that are very significant in front of the Holy Face:

"As the crowds were appalled on seeing him so disfigured did he look that he seemed no longer human so will the crowds be astonished at him, and kings stand speechless before him… Like a sapling he grew up in front of us, like a root in arid ground. Without beauty, without majesty(we saw him), no looks to attract our eyes; a thing despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering, a man to make people screen their faces; he was despised and we took no account of him.

And yet ours were the sufferings he bore, ours the sorrows he carried. But we, we thought of him as someone punished, struck by God, and brought low. Yet he was pierced through for our faults, crushed for our sins… Yes, he was torn away from the land of the living; for our faults struck down in death." (Is. 53)

When we realise that this Servant is Jesus, the Son of God, our heart is about to faint. It is our sins which are responsible for so much sufferings. Our sins of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Jesus is in pain till the end of time !

When we see Him in so much pain, our first reaction is like the one Veronica had: we want to wipe His Face and try to ease his pain. Veronica’s veil is the veil of our true repentance which makes us acknowledge our sins and their consequences.

True repentance means taking the decision to avoid sin as much as our human nature can and bearing in mind what saint Mary Magdala did.

This is what Jean-Paul II said when he went to see the shroud of Turin last May :

«…The Shroud is also an image of God's love as well as of human sin. It invites us to rediscover the ultimate reason for Jesus' redeeming death. In the incomparable suffering that it documents, the love of the One who "so loved the world that he gave his only Son" (Jn 3: 16) is made almost tangible and reveals its astonishing dimensions. In its presence believers can only exclaim in all truth: "Lord, you could not love me more!", and immediately realise that sin is responsible for that suffering: the sins of every human being.

As it speaks to us of love and sin, the Shroud invites us all to impress upon our spirit the face of God's love, to remove from it the tremendous reality of sin. Contemplation of that tortured Body helps contemporary man to free himself from the superficiality of the selfishness with which he frequently treats love and sin. Echoing the word of God and centuries of Christian consciousness, the Shroud whispers: believe in God's love, the greatest treasure given to humanity, and flee from sin, the greatest misfortune in history. »

Our heart bleeds and is filled with repentance in the sight of Jesus suffering so much for our sake. This attitude will lead us further into sanctity. We are more and more consumed by love and the Father will be pleased and say: "This is my beloved child, my precious one, whom I love so much !". Yes, indeed ! the Holy Face is a true school of holiness !

2.Those who defend my cause in this work of reparation, by words, by prayers, or in writing, I will defend them before my Father, and will never be separated from them.

Kind words from Jesus himself to those who honour his Holy Face and really live their lives under His sight and care.

To decide to LIVE FULLY this particular devotion means spiritually : "TO LIVE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD AT ALL TIMES". The Bible says it in a very authoritarian way : "WALK IN MY PRESENCE !" To be fully aware that God is always there, He is watching over us taking care of us as a loving Father .

We are reminded of his loving PRESENCE, every time we contemplate the Holy Face of Jesus his Son. "Who sees me, sees the Father" says Jesus to Philip, who expresses his true desire as a believer to SEE GOD. When I look at Jesus, it is easy to understand the Father’s love for us. In the Holy Face we see all the feelings that are present in the Father’s heart. This Icon of the Word of God enables us to look at Him everywhere : we can place Him in every room of our house, in the car, at work etc… This is a concrete reminder of God looking after us anywhere and us welcoming God in all aspects of our lives. It symbolises our true desire to live always under the sight of God.

To live under God’s sight means TO LIVE ACCORDING TO HIS WILL. The Holy Face help us understand better the great work of Redemption and the consequences of sin.

The Shroud is also an image of God's love as well as of human sin.

"The Shroud is also an image of God's love as well as of human sin. It invites us to rediscover the ultimate reason for Jesus' redeeming death. In the incomparable suffering that it documents, the love of the One who "so loved the world that he gave his only Son" (Jn 3: 16) is made almost tangible and reveals its astonishing dimensions. In its presence believers can only exclaim in all truth: "Lord, you could not love me more!", and immediately realise that sin is responsible for that suffering: the sins of every human being.

Jean-Paul II

The devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus draw us closer to the Good Shepherd who willingly gives his live for his flock.

"Almighty Father, I offer you the adorable Face of your Beloved Son for the conversion of sinners." (Tours)

3. By the offering of My Face you will obtain the conversion of many sinners.

One of the key word in this promise is "Offering". We have to keep in mind that it is a "divine statement". And a very powerful one if we take the time to read between the lines and go beyond the spoken words.

In order to offer something to someone we have to owe it. We can only offer what we are or what we have. We discover that God has given us Jesus, His Only Son, His Beloved One. He is ours and handed over to us. The Eucharist is this "offering" that the Church does to the Father for the salvation of mankind. The "offering Church" is us all ! Jesus gave Himself up for us. He is the Lamb of God who "bears and takes away the sin of the world" .

The perfect Image of the Lamb of God is found in the contemplation of the Holy Face. This is the image of His Holy Humanity offered as "ransom" for the multitude of yesterday, today and tomorrow. This is the Face that we offer to our heavenly Father. The Holy Face is the Redeemer’s effigy. Every time the Father looks upon his Son, love spurts out of his heart that makes Him say : "THIS IS MY SON, THE BELOVED ; MY FAVOR RESTS ON HIM" (Mt 3, 17). To offer the Face of Jesus to the Father is to give a chance to the Father to truly reveal himself as Father. The Father gives us Jesus not to destroy us through the power of his anger (as it is said in the Bible) but to save us by the power, even bigger, of his MERCY !

By offering the Holy Face of Jesus to God the Father, we keep on reminding Him that He has a plan of salvation and not of destruction for the world and mankind. The Holy Face is our way of asking God his forgiveness for sinners of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Saint Teresa of the Infant Jesus said: "Look at Jesus’ Face, and then you will know how much He loves us…"

The Holy Face offered to the Father, tells Him again and again how much the Son loves Him. The response can only be one of love. The answer from the Father is an "ocean" of love capable of washing away all the sins of the world. The only true response to Love is love . In God, the other name for Love is MERCY.

In her inspired prayers, sister Mary of Saint-Peter says the same :

"O Almighty and Eternal Father, look upon the Face of your Son Jesus. We present it to you with confidence to implore your pardon…"

"Eternal Father, I offer you the adorable Face of your Beloved Son for the honour and glory of your Name, for the conversion of sinners and for the salvation of the dying."

The mystical Body enables us to intercede for sinners and ask for their conversion. Saint Teresa of the Infant Jesus was able to obtain the conversion of a murderer, she called him her "first child" his name was Pranzini. This shows us how powerful our prayer is, we are able to obtain the conversion of sinners if we ask it in Jesus’ name. In order to save sinners, God sent His only Son. To offer His Face to the Father will bring mercy to the world and the forgiveness of sins. In Jesus’ wounds we are healed and justified.

In joy, let us offer to the Almighty Father the adorable Face of His Son for our salvation and the salvation of the world.

4. " 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. "

It is good to start this meditation with a passage from the Scriptures : "Then there used to be a great number of those other priests, because death put an end to each one of them; but this one, because he remains for ever, can never lose his priesthood. It follows, then, that his power to save is utterly certain, since he is living for ever to intercede for all who come to God through him." (Heb. 7, 24-27)

The Holy Face is the visible image of this High Priest mentioned in the letter to the Hebrews. The more we look at Jesus’ Face the more we discover His "secret" : Jesus had only one desire in his life and it was to please His Father in everything, to GLORIFY HIM. This is why Jesus said : "My food is to do the will of the one who sent me." (Jn 4, 34)

We all know that is essential to life. Without food we would die. What is important then for Jesus is to do the WILL of his Father. This is his main goal in life.

We all know what is the will of God. He wants us to become saints. As God’s children, we should be willing to do like Jesus and make God’s Will our daily food. The ultimate aim of our life is to do God’s Will in all things as we say in the Our Father : "Thy will be done". We are fully united to Jesus when we live according to God’s plan and follow Jesus footsteps.

God wanted a "Mediator" between Himself and mankind . He has chosen his only Son to become the unique mediator : "We have seen that he has been given a ministry of a far higher order, and to the same degree it is a better covenant of which he is the mediator". (Heb. 8, 6) We have to believe in Jesus’ words: " I tell you most solemnly, anything you ask for from the Father he will grant in my name". (Jn 16, 23) . The only condition is to remain in Him. This is what the Church does every time she prays to the Father : "… we ask this through Christ our Lord".

The best way to remain in Him is to live in his presence : "You will reveal the path of life to me, give me unbounded joy in your presence , and at your right hand everlasting pleasures".(Ps 16, 11).To live in his presence, means to live under his care. Talking about the Holy Face, Paul Claudel once said: "The Holy Face is not only an image, it is a PRESENCE".

We seek to do God’s Will as Jesus did and all our petitions are focused towards that goal which is to become a saint. It is obvious that the things we asked for are not always granted the way we want.There is always an answer. It is always given according to God’s plan on us, that we might have forgotten when we made our petition.

To contemplate the Face of Jesus, means to be united with him and embrase all the sentiments of his Heart. Hidden in his Face we can now say like Him : " Your will be done" (Mt 26, 43) The more we contemplate His Face the more we will become A LIVING YES TO THE WILL OF GOD.

The more we will become Christ like, the more we will seek to please the Father in all things : OUR WILL BECOMES HIS WILL.

Our refuge becomes the Heart of Jesus. We let Christ Jesus express our petitions, our needs sure that they will be granted: " he is living for ever to intercede for all who come to God through him" Grace and salvation is given to us through Him, with Him and in Him. Always remember that the joy of the Father is to satisfy his Son and through Him satisfy us.

In the messages given to sister Mary of Saint-Peter we find the same thoughts :

"As in a kingdom you can procure all you wish for with a coin marked with the king’s effigy, so in the Kingdom of Heaven you will obtain all you desire with the precious coin of My Holy Face." And also : "By my Holy Face you shall work miracles."

5. By My Holy Face you shall work miracles. I will fill you with light. You will be consumed by my love.

It is important to note that this fifth promise talks a lot about light and fire. In the New Testament Jesus describe himself as "The Light that shines in the Darkness" and also "The light of the world". On Christmas night the Church in her liturgy invites us to sing: "The people that walked in darkness has seen a great Light".

We often say : "Let the light of your Face shine upon us, and in your mercy we shall be saved". We then acknowledge the fact that Jesus is the Light of the world.

God has created us with senses and we have to bear in mind that : "We are called to become what we contemplate" In the Old Testament, there is an episode with Moses when he came down from the mountain he was filled with light : " When Moses came down from the mountain of Sinai – as he came down from the mountain, Moses had the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands – he did not know that the skin on his face was radiant after speaking with Yahweh". (Ex. 34, 29) Our mission, being in the world, as individual and as members of the Church is to be witnesses of the Light. This Light is a free Gift from God. What is asked of us in return is to be open to it and do our share to transmit it to the world and be in return light of the world. We can only do this through prayer, by listening to the Word of God, through the sacraments and through contemplation and adoration.

No one can prevent the sun from shining unless you live underground or in a closet. The sun is necessary for us to live, for plants to grow., it brings life . During daylight you can see clearly people and things. Nothing can be hidden !

The Holy Face of Jesus left on the Shroud of Turin was produce by an enormous light, the "Light of Resurrection. This is the Easter ‘s light. It is then normal that we become light if we contemplate it: "And we, with our unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord, all grow brighter and brighter as we are turned into the image that we reflect". (2Co 3, 18)

To be an adequate reflection the mirror has to be clean without stains, as soon as a stain appears the reflection becomes blurred and distorted. In order to avoid this we have to be purified by fire: the fire of God’s love, "My love will consume them". The fire of love has two purposes: 1. To purify the instrument, 2. To embrace it.

In the book of Deuteronomy it is written : " Yahweh your God is a consuming fire" (Dt. 4, 24)To contemplate means to accept to stand still in front of the Holy Face and be purified and renewed. Endurance, perseverance are certainly key words as the author of the letter to the Hebrew tells us : "You will need endurance to do God’s will and gain what he has promised" (Heb. 10, 36). It is indeed a difficult task and there few contemplative souls in our society today. Those who accept that mission are going against the current . Our society invites us to be efficient and productive. We have to be convince and be strong in our believes . Contemplation will pacify our hearts this is the secret that we should be willing to share and proclaim to our world. Let us remember that in order to achieve this we have to PERSEVERE.

If we really want to have access to the LIGHT, we have to accept the purification that comes with it. This is the difficult part, this is where we might be incline to give up and get discourage . It was the problem that the prophet Isaiah encountered in his time : "Which of us can live with this devouring fire, which of us exist in everlasting flames ?" (Is 33, 14)

If we allow ourselves to be consume by fire and then we become light then we will be totally open to the will of God. Our heart, in front of the Holy Face, becomes like Christ’s heart. We only have to look at the saints to be convinced of that.

We judge a tree by its fruits : "You shall work miracles". To love God is not enough, we have to love our neighbours as Jesus loves us which means with a "redemptive love"

In order to save mankind, Jesus gave up his life, through contemplation we are drawn to do the same and to give up also our lives for the sake of our fellow men : the suffering body of Christ.

Jesus told us : "Whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, he will perform even greater works" (Jn 14, 12). These works are works of compassion and love as saint Paul tells us : "What the Spirit brings is very different : love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Ga. 5, 22). If we really and truly honour the Holy Face of Jesus we will be compelled to imitate Jesus and take seriously his call to perfection.

In her canticle, saint Teresa of the Infant Jesus ends it by saying: "… Soon I shall be saint and shall draw all hearts to you".

Jesus came to light a fire on the earth and whoever loves Him has his heart filled with His light and will have no rest before all souls are saved. This is our mission !

6. "All those who honour My Holy Face in a spirit of reparation will by so doing, perform the office of the pious Veronica. I will imprint my divine likeness on the souls of those who honour my most holy Countenance "

Saint Veronica has always been known for her courage. She went through the crowd who saw Jesus as a rascal and a weird guy. She defied the soldiers who were inflicting to Jesus the worst sufferings and humiliations. She only listened to her heart and offer her love and homage to Jesus by wiping his Face.

Veronica is a model for all those who wish to live a life of reparation. By their prayers, love and sacrifices they want to wipe Jesus’ Face like Veronica did.

Our world is proud of the fact that we no longer talk about sin and evil. Free will is the way now instead of the ten commandments and God’s authority. Everyone has his own idea of what is good and what is evil, no need of God or the Church to do that. There are no more sins and no need for anyone to enlighten people’s conscience. This is the reason why so few people make use of the sacrament of Reconciliation. Mankind is no longer in need of divine mercy.

It take a lot of courage, determination and spiritual maturity to offer oneself to Jesus as a soul dedicated to a life of reparation. It is indeed a special vocation. You have to defy some crowds "politically correct" and also the crowd of the so called "guardians of Jesus" who do not understand the ideas, even though catholic, of Co-Redemption.

Jesus left the image of His Face on the shroud not only for Veronica to see, but for all those people of good will, who like her want to offer Him the same homage of reparation.

Our friend sister Mary of Saint-Peter the one who received those promises. In her writings we can read this : " Our Lord opened His Heart to me and told me that his Name was taken in vain even by children ! He made me understand that this was hurting him a lot. And also said that the Church, his Spouse, is the Face of Mystical Body and I saw that all the blasphemers and those working against the Church, were inflicting to his Face the same kind of injuries he suffered during his Passion."

Jesus needs men and women today to stand up and offer him reparation for all those who are hurting him and he said to the Carmelite nun that :"All those who honour My Holy Face in a spirit of reparation will by so doing perform the office of the pious Veronica"

Jesus told sister Mary that he wanted souls dedicated to reparation and this is what we are as Friends of the Holy Face of Jesus. "Find me more Veronicas!" said Jesus.

To be able to live fully this mission, we have to understand deep in our hearts what Jesus said to his Messenger : " I understood that as the Sacred-Heart of Jesus is the sensitive object of our adorations that represents his deep Love in the Blessed Sacrement of the Altar, so his Holy Face is the sensible object offered to those who are associated with the work of Reparation. To enable us to fulfill our vocation Jesus gave us His adorable Face.

My daughter, I give you my Face, my Heart, my Blood, I open my Wounds to you, take and pour ! Buy without money. My blood is the price paid for souls. So much pain in my Heart to see that these remedies have cost me so much and they are now looked down on. Ask my Father as many souls as drops of blood I shed during my Passion."

"Each time you will offer my Face to my Father, my mouth will ask for Mercy" "By my Face you shall work wonders"

"O Almighty and Eternal God look upon the Face of your Son Jesus. We present it to you with confidence, to implore your pardon. The All-Merciful Advocate opens His mouth to plead our cause; hearken to his cries, behold His tears, O God and through His infinite merits hearken to Him when He intercedes for us poor miserable sinners".

To those who perform the office of Reparation Jesus promised to imprint His divine likeness on their souls. Saint Teresa often asked Jesus to be more and more like Him. Grace is restored and we become more and more what we really are since the day of our baptism : created to the resemblance and likeness of God, mirror of His love and His light. Then with saint Paul we can say: "It is no longer I who live but Jesus who lives in me !"

It was said by those who met saint Jean Marie Vianney, that they saw God himself. This is what should be said of each one of us, as we are supposed to be a mirror of God.

God is faithful to His promise. Let us be fervent and persevering in our vocation as Friend of the Holy Face of Jesus.

"Safe in your presence you hide them far from the wiles of men." (Ps. 30, 20)

7. At their death I will purify their souls by effacing all the blots of sin and will restore to them their primitive beauty.

With this promise the time for harvesting has come. We spent all of our life sowing. Every day, our soul thirst and drink from the source of Living Water : Christ.

The soul who has devoted her life to the contemplation of the Holy Face of Jesus and did so out of love and fidelity will then receive her final reward: she will be made to His Resemblance. We do know that the sun produces its effects without us noticing it sometimes. It is the same for the Holy Face of our Saviour: Our SUN!

The old saying is true: "Become what you contemplate". This is what this promise is all about. The Holy Face is the Image of the Lamb who sacrificed himself out of love. It is the Redeemer who came to save the lost sheep. Through contemplative prayer, God is able to work in our heart and transform it the way He wants it. He is the divine Artist who can really shape our heart to make it beautiful.

What disfigures our heart is sin. Sin will kill the beauty that God has placed in our heart. It destroy everything that the Divine Artist has tried to do. The Beauty will be replaced by : jalousie, hatred, envy, violence, sensuality etc… Those fruits will disfigured our heart. The only remedy is to turn to God and accept his saving power that will renew our heart and make it again, to His likeness. This is what contemplation of his Holy Face does. In this contemplation we see in Jesus Face what our sins have done to his Face and then we can say like Isaiah: " Yet he was pierced through for our faults, crushed for our sins" (Is. 53, 5). What can we do then ? We have to open our contrite heart to the saving action of the Saviour. He came to cure us and to restore our dignity. He has come to make a New Creation out of each one of us according to the Will of the Creator: "Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves" (Gn 1, 26). Our answer is to welcome grace through prayer, silent contemplation and the reception of sacraments.

At the moment of death, Christ will complete the work by effacing all the blots of sin and restore us to our primitive image. We will be made whole again and our soul will be totally illuminated by the Light who is God. We also find that in the psalms: "Every face turned to him grows brighter and is never ashamed" (Ps. 34, 5).

We can take two good examples from the Church’s history :

The body of saint Bernadette kept in the nun’s chapel in Nevers, France ;
2. The picture of saint Teresa taken just after her death.

These two became LIGHT.

Happy are those who are exposed all their life to these two presence : the Eucharist and the Holy Face. This is why the Blessed Virgin Mary asked for a medal that will have on one side the Eucharist and on the other the Holy Face, (this is the medal called the "Holy Face medal").

In front of the Icon of the Holy Face let us be transformed into Light !

8. " According to the care you take in making reparation to My Face, disfigured by blasphemies, so will I take care of yours, which has been disfigured by sin. I will reprint therein My Image and render it as beautiful as it was on leaving the Baptismal font "

The seventh promise introduces us to the eighth promise. It enables us to understand better the last one.

Jesus told us that there were many different dwellings in his Father’s House. We may ask ourselves if some of them are not more luminous then others ? It is difficult to risk an explanation when talking about heaven, we might reduce it to our own limited images and may be it is better to wait and see knowing that we will not be disappointed and that it is surely beyond our frail human words.

Jesus here, is talking about light and how luminous we will be, resembling Him. The closer we get to the Fire the brighter we become and finally we end up being part of the Fire, and it is almost impossible to differentiate us from the Fire. We are now transformed into his likeness.

An old canticle says: "The nourishment of the saints is the Face of God". This the kind of feast that will ours to enjoy in heaven.

Jesus promises that He will reprint His Face in the soul of all those who really cared for his disfigured Face, who truly contemplated His Holy Face here on earth; the result will be the brightness of our soul in heaven. It will be as if we just left the Baptismal font. This will happen all the souls of the true Adorers of the Holy Face of Jesus. To be convinced of that we only have to remember what happened to the disciples who were with Jesus on Mount Tabor: " He was still speaking when suddenly a bright cloud covered them with shadow…" This is the result of our contemplation we also will be covered by a bright cloud and we can hear Jesus saying: "Walk in the Light of my Face !"

The soul that has been seeking the Face of God all her life will filled with joy when she sees the Lamb of God, the true Light, with her own eyes in heaven.

Every human being aspires to see God and says : "My soul thirst for the living God, when will I see Him Face to Face ? "

The only true happiness that can fill our heart and bring it peace is : the VISION OF GOD. This is Heaven and Heaven is to see the Face of God revealed to us in all its BEAUTY.

On earth, the way we can keep our heart and mind in peace is through the contemplation of the Holy Face of Jesus as shown on the Shroud of Turin. We still cannot see Him clearly now because we are limited by our frail humanity. The day will come where nothing will prevent us from seeing Him clearly and our joy will be without end. It is right to call heaven "THE BLISSFUL VISION" IT IS PROMISED TO THOSE WHO HONOUR THE HOLY FACE . THIS IS OUR HOPE !