Holy Face Novena: Day 2

SECOND DAY

Our Lord specifically mentioned Veronica's act of compassion and reverence when he made ten promises to Sister Marie of Saint Peter.

(Console Holy Face and recite Daily Preparatory Prayer), (p. 1)
Psalm 51,5-6a.
My offences truly I know them;
My sin is always before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
What is evil in your sight I have done.
Most Holy Face of Jesus, we are truly sorry that we have
hurt you so much by constantly doing what is wrong; and
for all the good works we have failed to do. Immaculate
Heart of Mary, Saint Joseph, intercede for us, help us to
console the Most Holy Face of Jesus. Pray that we may share
in the tremendous love Thou hast for one another, and for
the most Holy and Blessed Trinity. Amen.
Through the merits of your precious blood and your Holy
Face, O Jesus, grant us our petition.................. Pardon
and mercy.
Prayer to the Holy Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, Sanctifier, all powerful God of love,
Thou who didst fill the Virgin Mary with grace, Thou who
didst wonderfully transform the hearts of the apostles. Thou
who didst endow all Thy martyrs with a miraculous heroism,
come and sanctify us, illumine our minds, strengthen our
wills, purify our consciences, rectify our judgments, set our
hearts on fire and preserve us from the misfortune of resisting
Thine inspirations. We consecrate to Thee our understanding,
our heart and our will, our whole being for time and for
eternity. May our understanding be always submissive to
Thy heavenly inspirations and to the teachings of Thy Holy
Catholic Church, of which Thou art the infallible guide; may
our heart he ever inflamed with love of God and neighbour,
may our will be ever conformed to the divine will, and may
our whole life be a faithful imitation of the life and virtues
of our Lord and Saviour. Jesus Christ, to whom with the
Father and Thee be honour and glory forever. Amen.
Pray one (1) Our Father, three (3) Hail Mary's, one (1)
Glory Be.
O Bleeding Face, O Face Divine, be every adoration Thine.
(Three times)

St Jerome: “The Face of Jesus will continue to save each time we have recourse to It; invoking His aid. “Show us Thy Face and we shall be saved.””

Other saints who have venerated the Holy Face, to mention a few are: St. Gregory the Great, St Gertrude, St John Chrysostom, St Ambrose, St Bernard, St Charles Borromeo, St John Bosco, St Francis of Assisi, St Catherine of Siena, St Augustine and, of course St Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face.

St Therese commented, “How much good the Holy Face has done me during my life.” The Holy Face was a continual call to her to suffer so that she might resemble Jesus. St Therese says, “The just will recognize Him not only by the cross - symbol of salvation, which will precede His coming, but more exactly, by His Face, which will shine on the last day.”

The Golden Arrow Prayer

"May the most holy, most sacred,
most adorable, most mysterious
and unutterable Name of God
be always praised, blessed,
loved, adored and glorified,
in heaven, on earth and under the earth,
by all the creatures of God,
and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ
in the most holy Sacrament of the altar."
Amen

Quotations from Sister Saint Pierre Carmelite of Tours

·         "He told me that He wished to give me a "Golden Arrow" wherewith to wound His Heart delightfully, and heal those wounds inflicted by sinner's malice."

·         "He has given it to me as a "Golden Arrow," assuring me that each time I would say it, I would open His Heart with a wound of love."

The Catholic Church’s approach was well defined in a 1996 speech by Bd. Pope John Paul II that encouraged professionals who treat mental illnesses. His major theme was that “whoever suffers from mental illness always bears God’s image and likeness in himself, as does every human being,” with a dignity “unique among all creatures,” and is always “to be treated as such.” He said this belief applies not only to Christian attitudes and to care for the afflicted but to the duty of government to ensure necessary treatment.

The pope also taught that “Christ took all human suffering on himself, even mental illness,” which “perhaps seems the most absurd and incomprehensible” of maladies. Pope Benedict XVI made similar points in a 2005 address and noted that mental disturbance “now afflicts one-fifth of humanity and is a real social-healthcare emergency.”

Richard N. Ostling, a religion writer for the Associated Press

"...the mentally ill are even more vulnerable than the poor..."

                                "Comfort and treat with kindness those who are afflicted."

‘The Uninvited’

There is a city that through time shall lie
in a fixed darkness of the earth and sky,
and many dwell therein this very hour.
It is a city without seed or flower,
estranged from every bird and butterfly.

Who walked these streets of night? I know them well.
Those who come out of life's sequestered places:
the lonely, the unloved, the weak and shy,
the broken-winged who piteously would fly,
the poor who still have starlight in their faces.

They are the outcast ones, the last, the least,
whom earth has not invited to her feast,
and who, were they invited in the end,
finding their wedding clothes too frayed to mend,
would not attend.    –Jessica Powers[Sr. Miriam of the Holy Spirit OCD](1935)

How easy to walk by without a glance on the busy streets filled all day, all night with those whose clothes are “too frayed to mend”...

                                 Jesus asks us: "Did you 'see' Me as I passed by you?"