The devotion to the Holy Face originated with Veronica’s veil, but it has not been since recent times that this devotion really has taken root. In the early 1800’s in France, there was a nun by the name of Sister Mary of St. Peter. This nun lived at a Carmelite convent in Tours, France. Sister Mary received from Our Lord many revelations concerning this devotion to the Holy Face. These revelations are contained in a book called The Golden Arrow. This book receives its title from one of the most important prayers revealed in it. The prayer itself bears the name of “The Golden Arrow,” for this prayer “will wound My Heart delightfully,” Our Lord said to Sister Mary, “and heal the wounds inflicted by blasphemy.” The prayer goes thus:

So the Holy Face devotion is to make reparation to Our Lord for sins committed against these three commandments. This devotion especially makes reparation to Our Lord for sins of blasphemy. Our Lord must be so wounded and saddened in our day. SO MANY people take His Name in vain. SO MANY people use bad language. SO MANY people do not even believe that Jesus is God; many of them don’t even believe that there IS A GOD at all! They don’t even believe that there is a God who created them, loves them, and is always watching out for them. That there is a God who loves them more than they can imagine and wishes that they would love Him back. That when we sin we hurt Him so greatly. He suffered and died so that we could go to Heaven and be happy with Him forever; and yet so many people don’t know or care that He did that! There are even people who know that God exists, but instead of loving Him and obeying His commandments as they should, they HATE Him and are always disobeying His laws PURPOSEFULLY! This hurts God more than we can imagine!

As for those who know God exists and supposedly love Him, what do they do? Everywhere we hear uttered sins of blasphemy against God. EVERYWHERE! In our stores, in our schools, in our offices, in our homes; in short, we hear it everywhere by people from every walk of life. Men, women, children; many, many, people use language that is offensive to God. And how many people use not just bad language, but take God’s name in vain? St. Paul tells us, “For which cause God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above all names: That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11) The Name of Jesus is the name that should be most revered and respected by every creature; and yet SO many people use His name trivially, and even worse, angrily. How can they DO this? Something startles them, saddens them, angers them, etc. and out comes God’s Most Holy Name in a careless or disrespectful way. So many times each day the Second Commandment is disregarded and broken.

And how many people obey God’s third commandment? So many stores we see open proudly announce “Open 7 days a week”. How can they be OPEN on Sunday, the day that God has told is His? He has told us to keep it holy, but how many places are there that don’t need to be open on Sunday to keep society running? There are certainly those people who are needed by the public all the time, such as hospitals, policemen, and the like. But stores that purely sell thing are not NEEDED to be open on Sunday. We are supposed to do all our necessary shopping before Sunday, not on it. We can certainly get by one day without going to the store. And shopping for items that are not NECESSARY for our daily living, that is, shopping for clothes, toys, etc. on Sunday is wrong. And yet so many stores are open on Sunday; so many people shop on Sunday for things that aren’t necessary. And how many people who have time to shop on Sunday, or worse, work on Sunday have time to go to MASS on Sunday? So many people who “don’t have the time” to go to Mass on Sunday certainly seem to have the time to work on Sunday! Its shameful; and worse than that, it hurts God VERY much.

How can we let this happen to God our loving Father! Him, Whom we must love with our whole mind, heart, body, and soul, and with all of our strength? We have to stop it! He suffered once to open to us the gates of Heaven and allow us to become His children; must He suffer again and again by our ungratefulness and selfishness? It is our duty to console Him, for the first three commandments (and indeed, ALL the commandments) are continually broken in our day and age with such frequency and shamelessness. We should participate in the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus by saying the Golden Arrow prayer often throughout the day. Beyond that, though, we should look at ourselves and ask ourselves: “Do I contribute to these sins? Am I guilty of these crimes against God? Do I continually hurt and offend God in these ways?” If you try very hard to stop committing these (and verily, ALL) sins; truly, you will help God be consoled by those who yet sin. It won’t be easy, but the road to Heaven IS “straight and narrow” as Our Lord told us in the Gospel. And if you try to do better, your good example will cause others to stop sinning with such frequency. So, combine your efforts with the Golden Arrow prayer and, indeed, God WILL be consoled.

For you see, the devotion to the Holy Face is mainly for the purpose of making reparation to Our Lord. To make reparation for something is to repair the damage caused to something or someone by something else. The devotion to the Holy Face is mainly to make reparation to Our Lord for the sins committed against the first three of the Ten Commandments. What are the first three commandments? They are: