The Holy Face
The Face of Mercy
In the Teaching of the Church
Fr. Stanley Smolenski spma
In the very opening paragraph of his Apostolic Letter On the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pope St. John Paul II states: “With the Rosary, the Christian sits at the School of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the Face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love.” The importance of this Marian dimension is emphasized: “To contemplate the Face of Christ, and to contemplate it with Mary, is the ‘program which I have set before the Church at the dawn of the third millennium, summoning her to put out into the deep on the sea of history with the enthusiasm of the new evangelization.’” In Novo Millennio Ineunte, he adds: “Is it not the Church’s task to reflect the light of Christ in every historical period, to make the Face of Christ shine also before the generations of the new millennium?” It seems that he envisions not just a Year but a millennium dedicated to the Holy Face of Jesus. In Mane Nobiscum Domine, he introduces the theme of the Eucharistic Face of Jesus. The Eucharistic Face of Jesus expresses the historic Holy Face of Jesus mystically present in its various stages - thus putting us in contact with all their graces. This indicates a liturgical dimension.
In his Letter of Indiction of the Holy Year of 2016, The Face of Mercy, Pope Francis stated:
“Jesus is the face of the Father’s mercy…Whoever sees Jesus sees the Father [Jn 14.9]. Jesus of Nazareth, by his words, his actions, and his entire person reveals the mercy of God… opening our hearts to a hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness.” Therefore, the Holy Face of Jesus can be a Door of Mercy “through which anyone who enters will experience the love of God who consoles, pardons, and instills hope… [The Church] knows that her primary task, especially at a moment full of great hope and signs of contradiction, is to introduce everyone to the great mystery of God’s mercy by contemplating the face of Christ”.
The theme of seeking the Face of God begins in the Old Testament and is fulfilled in the New Testament with the coming of Christ, God and man. Presented according to the stages of salvation history, the progression of this theme is described in this novena. Pope St. John Paul stated that the School of the Rosary is where we can contemplate the Holy Face of Jesus with Mary. Therefore the mysteries of the Rosary form the part relating to the life of Our Lord. The theme of each verse is as follows: [1] Promised Face, [2] Incarnate Face, [3] Joyful Face, [4] Luminous Face, [5] Sorrowful Face, [6] Glorious Face, [7] Eucharistic Face, [8] Beatific Face,
[9] Venerable Face.
Fr. Stanley Smolenski spma
Kingstree SC
THE HOLY FACE OF GOD
Seek the Holy Face of God,
The promised face of the prophets’ cry - The One to come, in time and space -
Seek his Holy Face.
Announce the Holy Face of God,
The humble face of Emmanuel - In Him both Heaven and Earth embrace -
Announce his Holy Face.
Behold the Holy Face of God,
The joyful face of a newborn babe - Sent here to raise our fallen race -
Behold his Holy Face.
Proclaim the Holy Face of God,
The luminous face of the Living Word - Light of the world in every place -
Proclaim his Holy Face.
Revere the Holy Face of God,
The sorrowful face of the Savior scorned - Our sins to bear, our guilt erase -
Revere his Holy Face.
Exalt the Holy Face of God,
The glorious face of the risen King - His victory won over death’s disgrace -
Exalt his Holy Face.
Adore the Holy Face of God,
The loving face of the Bread of Life - True gift of heaven and font of grace -
Adore his Holy Face.
Praise the Holy Face of God,
The radiant face of our heavenly hope - Upon whom saints and angels gaze -
Praise his Holy Face.
Invoke the Holy Face of God,
The merciful face of our blessed Lord - May Christian hearts in every place -
Invoke his Holy Face…
The sacred face, the human face, the holy Face of God.
Rev. Stanley Smolenski & Dan O’Reilly – copyright 2012
A Marian Eucharistic Prayer to St. Joseph
Dear Saint Joseph, you are the Patron of the Church – Our Patron. You enjoyed a close personal relationship with Jesus, divine life in flesh and blood, because you did not separate yourself from Mary, but took her into your home. May we imitate your example, and benefit from your prayer, as we strive for a closer personal relationship with Jesus, our Eucharistic Lord, through devotion to the Immaculate Heart of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary – Mother of the Church – Our Mother.
This novena is dedicated to the sister of St. Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face,
Celine - Sister Genevieve of the Holy Face,
who studied Jesus in all the mysteries of his life.
THE BREAD OF THE HOLY FACE OF JESUS
Fr. Stanley Smolenski spma
There were three sacred objects in the Temple of Jerusalem: [1] the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies; [2] the Seven branch Menorah candelabra; [3] the Bread of the Presence. These last two were in the room before the Holy of Holies.
This Bread of the Presence is insufficiently appreciated in its significance regarding the Eucharist. Also called the Show Bread, it consisted of twelve loaves of bread, representing the Twelve Tribes of Israel. They were considered a sacrifice, commemorating the meal that Moses and seventy elders ate in the presence of God on Mt. Sinai [Exodus 24:9-11]. These men represented all the people, the entire nation, and therefore the twelve loaves of bread.
New loaves were baked every Sabbath. Whereas the animal sacrifices were offered daily, the Show Bread was offered only on the Sabbath and thus was called the Sabbath Sacrifice.
The ritual was like this. The priests would place the fresh loaves on a marble table, then said the offertory prayer that consecrated them to the memory of that sacred meal on Mt. Sinai. Once that prayer was said, the loaves were now sacred and placed on the table of pure gold – symbolizing their elevation from the worldly to the divine. On the golden table there were flagons of wine as well, signifying the meal, and bowls of incense to show their sacredness as a sacrifice. The priests would then take the Show Bread and show it to the people, proclaiming, “Behold how much God loves you!” Then only the priests would eat the Bread and drink the wine – a sacred Temple meal of bread and wine each Sabbath.
Leviticus 24:5-7 refers to this Bread in terms of ‘an everlasting covenant’. So this Bread was a Sabbath sacrifice honoring the Covenant. This is similar to our Sunday Mass, except that ours is a sacramental celebration of the Paschal Mystery of the Lamb of God of the New Covenant, under the appearance of consecrated bread and wine. It is an unbloody [non-violent] sacrifice as the Sabbath Sacrifice of Moses.
“I have come not to abolish, but to fulfill.” [Mt 5:17] The fact that this bread was called the Show Bread, gives a scriptural basis for our exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance for adoration and devotion.
This bread was in front of the Holy of Holies, where God was believed to be present, therefore the Bread of Presence. Because the word ‘presence’ in Hebrew also means ‘face’, these were also called the Bread of the Face of God. It can be seen to prefigure the Eucharist. - When the Eucharist is adored at the elevation at Mass or in the monstrance, it is in the same spirit as the presentation of the Old Testament Show Bread: “Behold how much God loves you!” – The Eucharist, then, is truly the Bread of the Holy Face of Jesus: The Eucharistic Face of Jesus, referred to by St. John Paul II in Mane Nobiscum Domine. [See: Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist – Brant Pitre – Doubleday - p. 116 ff]