The Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus

“Our Lord has promised me that He will imprint His Divine likeness on souls that honor His Most Holy Countenance.”

Sr. Mary of St. Peter – January 21, 1847

Adore His Holy Face

What is the Holy Face of Jesus image?

The Holy Face Image shows the face of Jesus as He carried the cross to Calvary. The engraved and reproduced image is inspired by the Veil of Veronica, the cloth that wiped Our Lord’s Face during His Passion.

Tradition tells us that Veronica gave her Veil to Pope Clement I. It remained hidden and protected in the Church’s heart for millennia, one of the most treasured relics.

Each approved reproduction bears the red wax seal and is touched to the original Veil, a fragment of the True Cross, and the spear of Longinus, making it a special relic of Christ’s Passion.

The Birth of the Devotion

Sr. Mary of St. Peter

Sr. Mary of St. Peter was born in 1816 in a France torn up by the Anti-Catholic legacy of the French Revolution. Showing extreme piety and devotion from an early age, she entered the Carmelite monastery at Tours in 1839 at the age of 23. After making her final vows in 1841, she began to receive special graces from Our Lord in prayer.

From 1844-1847, Our Lord spoke to Sr. Mary about establishing the Devotion to the Holy Face as a work of reparation for sins of blasphemy against the first three commandments through idolatry, misuse of His Holy Name, and the profanation of Sundays and other Holy Days.

She died in 1848 at the young age of 31, before the devotion had full Papal approval. Read her life story, written by M. l’Abbé Pierre Janvier, director of the Priests of the Holy Face.

Venerable Leon Dupont lived in Tours during Sr. Marie De St. Pierre’s lifetime and was a devoted supporter of the Carmelites. He frequently gave of his family wealth to support the sisters, and became heavily involved in promoting the work of reparation Our Lord asked of Sr. Marie.

After Sister’s passing, he continued promoting the Holy Face devotion, keeping a copy of the relic in the study in his home. One day, a visitor came on business who complained of an affliction of her eyes. Leon invited her to dip her finger in the oil from the lamp that he kept burning before the holy image to anoint her eyes. Within minutes, the woman’s eye ailment completely and miraculously ceased.

In the years that followed, M. Dupont anointed thousands of visitors with this holy oil. Thousands of miraculous cures came as a result of the Holy Face Oil, inspiring Pope Pius IX to call Dupont the greatest miracle worker in the history of the Church.

Read his life story, written by M. l’Abbé Pierre Janvier.

The Archconfraternity of the Holy Face

Through the efforts of Leon Dupont and the Carmelites, devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus grew in the Archdiocese of Tours. Stories of miraculous cures brought thousands of visitors to the Oratory of the Holy Face that Dupont built in his home.

Seeking to foster this devotion, the Archbishop Guillame-Rene of Tours established the Confraternity of the Holy Face as a pious association of the faithful in his diocese. The confraternity brought the faithful together regularly for Mass and prayer before the Holy Face of Jesus, and promised apostolic blessings and indulgences for faithful participation.

The devotion received worldwide attention when Pope Leo XIII approved it and established the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face in Tours with special papal blessings and indulgences attached. Smaller, local confraternities can share in those blessings by joining themselves to the Archconfraternity.

Read the full Manual of the Archconfraternity here.

Promises of the Holy Face Devotion

Our Lord spoke frequently to Sr. Marie de St. Pierre about the blessings He wanted to pour out on His Church and the world through the Devotion to the Holy Face.

  • “By my Holy Face you will work marvels.”

  • “According to the care you take to repair my countenance disfigured by blasphemy, so shall I be animated in the same degree to transform your soul which has been disfigured by sin; I will imprint thereon my own image, and I will render it as beautiful as when it came forth from the baptismal font.”

  • “My adorable Face is the seal of the Divinity, having the power to imprint itself on the souls of those who apply it to their persons.”

  • “You will obtain from my Holy Face the salvation of a multitude of sinners.”

  • “As in an earthly kingdom, the subjects can procure all they desire by being provided with a piece of money stamped with the effigy of the monarch, so also shall you be able to obtain all that you desire in the kingdom of heaven, on presenting the impress of my sacred humanity, which is my Holy Face.”

  • “If you could comprehend how agreeable the sight of my Holy Face is to my Heavenly Father!”

Frequently Asked Questions

The Holy Face devotion is a Catholic act of reparation to Our Lord Jesus Christ, particularly for the sins of blasphemy, profanation of Sundays, and the abuse of the Holy Name. It centers on venerating the Face of Christ as it appeared on the Veil of Veronica, the Shroud of Turin, and in approved images, offering prayers and sacrifices to console His wounded love.

In 1844, Sr. Mary of St. Peter, a Discalced Carmelite nun in Tours, France, reported revelations from Jesus urging a work of reparation to His Holy Face. Her confessor and later Léon Dupont, known as the “Holy Man of Tours,” promoted the devotion, leading to its papal approval.

The devotion has three main purposes:

  1. Reparation for blasphemy and profanation of holy days,

  2. Reparation for the outrages against the Holy Face during His Passion,

  3. Drawing souls into deeper love and imitation of Christ through meditation on His countenance.

Among several promises recorded in her writings: defenders of His honor will receive special graces, their labors will be crowned with success, and they will receive the imprint of His divine image in their souls. He also promised that those devoted to His Holy Face will be defended before the Father at their judgment.

Key prayers include:

For many other prayers, see the Manual of the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face.

Dictated to Sr. Mary of St. Peter in 1844, the Golden Arrow is a reparation prayer in which the Holy Name of God is praised in response to blasphemy. Jesus told her it would “delight His Heart” and “wound that of Satan.”

The chaplet uses a set of beads similar to a rosary, with specific prayers on each bead:

  • On the large beads: “In honor of the sense of touch (hearing, sight, smell, taste) of Jesus…My Jesus Mercy. Glory Be to the Father…”

  • On the small beads: “Arise, oh Lord, and let thy enemies be scattered… and let them that hate the flee from before thy face.”

  • On the three small beads leading to the Crucifix: “Arise, oh Lord, and let thy enemies be scattered… and let them that hate the flee from before thy face.”

  • It concludes on the Crucifix: “O God, our Protector, look on us and on the Face of thy Christ.”

It is a Church-recognized association of the faithful, headquartered in Tours, for promoting the devotion. Established by papal brief in 1885 under Pope Leo XIII, it grants indulgences and provides spiritual benefits to enrolled members.

A Catholic may enroll by contacting the Archconfraternity in Tours or authorized affiliates, giving their name for inscription, and committing to the devotion’s prayers and reparation practices.

Yes. Pope Leo XIII granted papal approval and indulgences in 1885. Subsequent popes, including St. Pius X, Benedict XV, and Pius XII, encouraged it.

While the devotion originated with the revelations in Tours, the Shroud of Turin is venerated as containing the miraculous image of the crucified Christ. Many Holy Face images are derived from the Shroud, linking the devotion to this relic.

The Veil of Veronica, a relic traditionally kept in St. Peter’s Basilica, is said to bear the miraculous imprint of Christ’s Face from His Passion. The devotion often invokes this image as part of its meditation on His suffering.

Léon Dupont, a layman in Tours, displayed an image of the Holy Face in his home, kept a lamp burning before it, and invited visitors to pray. Numerous healings were reported, and his home became the center of the devotion after Sr. Mary’s death.

The feast is celebrated on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (Shrove Tuesday). Pope Pius XII granted its observance in some places in 1958, linking it to the Lenten call to penance.

Daily practice includes praying the Golden Arrow, offering small sacrifices in reparation, meditating on Christ’s Face, and showing reverence for His Name. Many also keep an image of the Holy Face in their home as a focus of prayer.

Join the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face.

The Carmelites of the Monastery of Our Mother of Mercy and St. Joseph are in the process of establishing a local Confraternity that is in union with the Archconfraternity in Tours, France. Once established, you will be able to join our Confraternity at the same time as joining the international Archconfraternity.