The Holy Face

The Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ

The Tuesday Before Ash Wednesday

As He carried His Holy Cross, Our Lord was consoled by St. Veronica, who wiped His bloodied and beaten Face with her veil. The relic of her veil, with the Holy Face miraculously imprinted upon it, has been venerated ever since. In the 19th century, Sister Marie of St. Peter in Tours, France, received revelations regarding devotion to the Holy Face, with a focus on reparation for the grave and increasingly frequent sin of blasphemy. The Golden Arrow Prayer and Chaplet of the Holy Face were among the devotions Sister Marie relayed, and Venerable Leo Dupont carried on her work, resulting in the establishment of the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face, approved by Pope Leo XIII. The Martin family were devoted members, and St. Thérèse of Lisieux, whose religious name was Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, helped further popularize the devotion, especially amongst the Carmelites. In the 1930s Blessed Maria Pierina De Micheli received visions directing her to create the Holy Face Medal, based on the image of Christ imprinted on the Shroud of Turin. By then Pope St. Pius X had approved a Mass of the Holy Face, and Pope Venerable Pius XII further approved the medal and the observance of the Feast of the Holy Face on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, though this feast is yet to appear on the General Roman Calendar.

Traditional Roman Martyrology for February 13th

AT Antioch, the holy prophet Agabus, of whom mention is made by St. Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles.

At Ravenna, in the time of the emperor Decius, and the governor Quinctian, the Saints Fusca, virgin, and her nurse, Maura, who endured many afflictions, were transpierced with a sword, and thus ended their martyrdom.

At Meletine, in Armenia, in the persecution of the same Decius, St. Polyeuctus, martyr, who, after many sufferings, obtained the crown of martyrdom.

At Lyons, St. Julian, martyr.

At Todi, St. Benignus, martyr.

At Rome, pope St. Gregory II, who strenuously opposed the impiety of Leo the Isaurian, and sent St. Boniface to preach the Gospel in Germany.

At Angers, the demise of the holy bishop Lucinius, a man venerable for his sanctity.

At Lyons, St. Stephen, bishop and confessor.

At Rieti, the abbot St. Stephen, a man of wonderful patience, at whose death, as is related by the blessed pope Gregory, the holy angels were present and visible to all.

At Prato, in Tuscany, St. Catharine de Ricci, a Florentine virgin, of the Order of St. Dominic, replenished with heavenly gifts, whom pope Benedict XIV inscribed on the catalogue of holy virgins. She died rich in virtues and merits on the 2d of this month, but her festival is celebrated on this day.

℣. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.

℟. Thanks be to God.