Virgo Potens

EIGHTH DAY THE HOLY FACE ON THE CROSS At the commencement say: Lord, I desire to seek thy Face; do not Thou repel me far from it on account of my sins; do not remove Thy Holy Spirit from me. Let the light of Thy Face shine upon me; teach me in the way of Thy commandments. Upon the Cross, where it is placed as upon an altar of propitiation between heaven and earth, the Holy Face acts as our intercessor and our mediator. (continued)

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 15th But herein lies the difficulty, because I know not how to ask Thee as I ought. Teach me and help me that I may pray to Thee as Thou dost wish me to pray and in that efficacious manner in which Thou Thyself knowest that I shall be heard. And as Thou commandest me to be humble, I am ready to obey; but grant that through Thy help I may in truth become such as Thou dost desire. I ardently desire to be humble, and from whence comes this love and desire for humility if not from Thee, Who hast put it into my heart by Thy holy grace? Oh, of Thy goodness grant me therefore what Thou hast made me so love and desire. I hope for it, and I will continue to hope for it. “Strengthen me, O Lord God, that, as Thou hast promised, I may bring to pass that which I have purposed, having a belief that it might be done by Thee.” [Judith xiii, 7] ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

1 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 15th 15. A beautiful way of asking humility of God was the following which was used by a great Saint. Lord, he said, I do not even know what humility is like, but I know that I do not possess it, and cannot of myself obtain it; and that unless I have it I shall not be saved; therefore it only remains for me to ask it of Thee, but give me the grace to ask it as I ought. Thou hast promised, O my God, to grant me all those things which I shall ask of Thee and which are necessary to my eternal salvation; and humility being most necessary to me, faith compels me to believe that Thou wilt grant me this, if I know how to ask it of Thee. (continued)

3 of 3 THE NOVENA to the HOLY FACE Seventh Day ~ The Holy Face on the Path to Calvary Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus ~ Shrove Tuesday III. A good inspiration to follow. — Divine Master, Thou hast said in Thy Gospel: “Whoever shall glorify me before man, I will glorify him in my turn before my Father who is in heaven.” At the present day, perverse and sacrilegious souls outrage Thy adorable Face; I desire to glorify it by my expiations, by my praises, by all the fervor of my love. Animate me with the spirit with which Veronica was inspired upon the ascent to Calvary. What signifies it to me the raillery of the world, and the rage of hell? I will listen to the voice of the Church, I will follow the inspirations of my heart, I will go to Thee, oh sweet Peace of my Saviour; I will wipe away the tears with which it is inundated; I will soothe the wounds which make it suffer, I will efface the ignominious blemishes with which wicked men have attempted to soil it. In Thy turn, inspire me with the rays of Thy grace, and engrave in my heart the celestial impress of Thy virtues. Act of charity. — Love the Holy Face and have compassion on the outrages it was made to suffer; love your wandering brethren, and pray to God to spare and convert them. Virtue to be practiced. — Let zeal for reparation inflame you; exercise it by communions, by your prayers, by your words, by your example, by all the means with which the sight of evil committed ought to inspire you. Spiritual bouquet. — “I want Veronicas,” said our Lord to Marie de Saint Pierre. — “My daughter, take my Face as a precious coin wherewith to pay to my Father the debts of His justice.” I have called upon thy Face with my whole heart; have pity on me according to Thy promises. Let the light of Thy Face shine upon me. Save me in thy mercy; Lord, I shall not be confounded because I have called upon Thee. PRAYER. — God all-powerful and merciful, grant we entreat Thee, that, venerating the Face of Thy Christ, disfigured in his Passion because of our sins, we may deserve to contemplate it eternally in the splendor of the glory of Heaven. Through the same Jesus Christ. Amen.

2 of 3 THE NOVENA to the HOLY FACE Seventh Day ~ The Holy Face on the Path to Calvary Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus ~ Shrove Tuesday I. Reparation offered to the Holy Face. — In this state of abandonment and of opprobrium, the Saviour, all at once, receives a mark of devotion and of tenderness which compensates and consoles him. A courageous woman, Veronica, has been touched with compassion. Listening only to her faith and her love, she makes her way through the crowd, puts aside the executioners, and, filled with reverence and emotion, draws near to Jesus. Then she takes the soft white veil of fine Egyptian linen which covers her head; she spreads it over and gently applies it to the bleeding and wounded Face of the Man-God! she wipes it and raises it; it is a real service which she renders to him, and which for a moment relieves his sufferings and reanimates him. As a recompense, Jesus immediately leaves the impression of his Holy Face upon the linen of which she had made use for the performance of this heroic act. II. Veronica our pattern. — Congratulate Veronica; look upon her as an admirable model, learn from that generous woman to make reparation to the suffering Face of your God. Impiety renews, in these our days, the outrages he endured on Calvary. His Holy Face is especially insulted and spit upon by all the horrible blasphemies which hell vomits forth against his divinity. The Saviour complains; he seems to say to those who know him and who love him: “I have sought around me for consolers, and I have found none.”. Let your heart answer: “Behold me, Lord; I am Thine, ready to do Thy good pleasure. Must I oppose my faith, my adoration, my example to hatred and contemptuous impiety? I am ready.” (continued)

SEVENTH DAY THE HOLY FACE ON THE PATH TO CALVARY At the commencement say: Lord, I desire to seek thy Face; do not Thou repel me far from it on account of my sins; do not remove Thy Holy Spirit from me. Let the light of Thy Face shine upon me; teach me in the way of Thy commandments. Behold Jesus ascending the mount of his sacrifice, laden with the weight of his Cross. After the painful and humiliating fall which he has had, his adorable Face is soiled with dust, with sweat and with blood. The spectacle excites the contempt of the crowd and the mockeries of the executioners. (continued)

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 14th From his earliest years, St. Thomas Aquinas abhorred praise. He was never heard to speak one word that showed he sought the esteem of creatures. He acknowl­edged one day to a religious that, with God’s grace, he had never been tempted to pride. St. Vincent de Paul had taken the resolution that never without necessity would he speak of anything that might attract esteem. Travelling one day with three priests, he related to them some interesting events that had happened to him; but in the middle of the narrative, when they were most entertained, he was seen to strike his breast and heard to say that he was a miserable sinner, full of pride and always speaking of himself. The priests having reached their destination, he threw himself on his knees before them, and begged pardon for the bad example he had given them. Prayer O humble Jesus, my adorable Master, give me indiffer­ence for the esteem of men, a horror of their praise, love for humiliations and contempt. Grant that I may love to be unknown, forgotten, covered with disgrace for Thy sake. Never permit me to speak to my advantage, nor be governed by vanity, nor listen to self-love. Give me true humility, a profound humility of heart. ~ Abbé Lasausse, Short Meditations For Every Day (1889)

1 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 14th Fourteenth Day Vain complacency, and the desire that others would speak of us and praise us, is an evil which makes us forget God and spoils our holiest actions. There is no vice more pernicious to those who would make any progress in the spiritual life.—St. Vincent de Paul (continued)

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 14th But should such thoughts arise, we can turn them to our good and use our very weakness to practice humility. When such ideas occur it would be well to say: I know what I ought to do on such and such an occasion, but I know not how far I can trust myself, because I know by personal experience that “my strength is weakened through poverty,” [Ps. xxx, 11] and I have learnt on several occasions how my reason becomes blinded, my judgment weakened, and my will often perverted easily to evil. O my God, I can do all things if I am strengthened by Thy help; but without this I can do nothing, nor shall I ever be able to do anything! If I had to confess Thee I should miserably deny Thee; if to honor Thee by patience I should give way to vengeance; if I had to obey Thee I should offend Thee by disobedience. “Thou art a strong helper: when my strength shall fail, do not Thou forsake me.” [Ps. lxx, 7, 9] Thy saying is quite true, O my God: “Without Me you can do nothing.” [John xv, 5] Not only without Thee can I never do any meritorious act of virtue whatsoever, but I cannot do anything at all; as St. Augustine instructs me: ”Whether it be little or whether it be great, it cannot be done without Him without Whom nothing can be done.” [Tract 31 in Joan.] ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

1 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 14th [14.] Some masters of the spiritual life teach that it is better to divert our thoughts from certain heroic actions in which our weakness might lead us to doubt whether we should succeed or not; for example: if a persecutor should come and summon me either to renounce the faith or to die, how should I act? or, if I were to receive a terrible public insult, should I practice patience or resentment? No, they say it is not well to indulge in such imaginings because our weakness may cause us to fall before the idea of such a trial. (continued)

3 of 3 THE NOVENA to the HOLY FACE Sixth Day ~ The Holy Face at the Prætorium of Pilate Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus ~ Shrove Tuesday III. Honour due to the Holy Face. — There is a profound mystery contained in the crowning of the divine Face; it was destined to reign. The soldiers, though unconscious of it, attest the royalty of Jesus Christ, as well as Pilate; without being aware of it, they enter into the designs of God, who wills that his Son should be recognized as King and under that title, should receive the homage of all creatures. — Yes, Oh Jesus, by the diadem which crowns Thy Face, Thou hast acquired the right of reigning over my heart; Thy diadem of ignominy and of suffering is a crown of expiation and of love. Many times I have cast dishonor upon Thy royalty by despising Thy holy law and Thy divine teachings; many times I have caused the blood to flow down Thy august Face through my reiterated sins, which have driven ever deeper into Thy flesh the thorns which transpierce Thy brow; I have run after the joys of this world, and I have crowned myself with roses; I have longed after the luxurious delights of an easy and pleasant life, not remembering that I am the subject of a king crowned with thorns. No, adorable Face, I will not allow Thee any more to suffer the thorns of my iniquities; I desire that Thou shouldst rejoice in my homage; that thou shouldst be crowned with The flowers of my virtues, and that Thou shouldst triumph in me by a generous love worthy of Thee. Act of offering. — Oh Jesus, my king, and my God, behold my mind with its thoughts, my heart with its affections, my will with its tendencies, behold my soul and my body; I put them wholly and entirely under the empire of Thy Holy Face, reign over me forevermore. Virtue to be practiced. — Make all the desires and ill-regulated movements of your heart and mind which may offend the holy Face, and renew its sufferings, to die in you by means of mortification. Spiritual bouquet. — Can a member be fastidious and sensual under a Head that is crowned with thorns? I have called upon thy Face with my whole heart; have pity on me according to Thy promises. Let the light of Thy Face shine upon me. Save me in thy mercy; Lord, I shall not be confounded because I have called upon Thee. PRAYER. — God all-powerful and merciful, grant we entreat Thee, that, venerating the Face of Thy Christ, disfigured in his Passion because of our sins, we may deserve to contemplate it eternally in the splendor of the glory of Heaven. Through the same Jesus Christ. Amen.

2 of 3 THE NOVENA to the HOLY FACE Sixth Day ~ The Holy Face at the Prætorium of Pilate Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus ~ Shrove Tuesday I. The sufferings of the Holy Face. — The lashes which the executioners inflicted on Jesus did not spare his sweet and amiable Face. It is furrowed in every direction, wounded, bleeding, lacerated by scourges. Then, seeing that Jesus was condemned to death because he had called himself “King”, the soldiers turn this title into a subject of bitter derision and of sacrilegious mockeries. They cast upon his shoulders a purple robe; instead of a scepter, they place a reed in his hand, and by an incredible refinement of malice they fashion a crown for him out of thorns which they interlace together, and which they fasten on his brow with great blows. The long, hard, sharp thorns entering deeply into the head of the Saviour caused him dreadful suffering and inundated his Holy Face with streams of blood. II. Humiliations of the Holy Face. — It was in this pitiable state Pilate presented Jesus to the people, hoping thereby to excite their compassion and to deliver him. “Behold the man!” he said. The sight only inflamed their fury. “Crucify him, crucify him, they exclaimed. — Shall I crucify your king? — We have no other king than Cesar, we will not have this man to reign over us.” The enemies of the Saviour triumphed. Amongst the crowd there were many whom he had overwhelmed with blessings, who perhaps, in secret, called themselves his disciples and friends; yet not one amongst them raised his voice in order to declare himself in his favor, and to defend him; not one of them dared to recognize him for his king and his God. This miserable, cowardly abandonment, joined to the other outrages inflicted on the Holy Face, was a sorrowful martyrdom for Jesus. “My people, what have I done to you? Why do you outrage the Face of your Saviour? Why have you surrounded it with a diadem of thorns?” (continued)

SIXTH DAY THE HOLY FACE AT THE PRÆTORIUM OF PILATE At the commencement say: Lord, I desire to seek thy Face; do not Thou repel me far from it on account of my sins; do not remove Thy Holy Spirit from me. Let the light of Thy Face shine upon me; teach me in the way of Thy commandments. (continued)

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 13th At one moment we make up our minds to acquire a certain virtue, and the next we do just the contrary by falling into the opposite vice. At the time when we make these resolutions of amendment we imagine that our will is firm and strong, but we soon perceive how weak and unreliable it is, for we behave as though we had never purposed amendment at all. Our heart is like a reed that bends before every wind, or a barque tossed by every wave. It is sufficient to meet with an occasion of sin, a movement of passion, a breath of temptation, for the will to yield to evil even when in certain moments of fervor we seem most firmly rooted in good. This is a strong reason for us to be humble and not to presume anything of ourselves, praying to God continually that He may deign to confirm in our hearts that which He works through His grace. “Confirm, O God, what Thou hast wrought in us.” [Ps. lxvii, 29] ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Without humility of heart all the other virtues by which one runs toward God seem — and are — absolutely worthless. ~ St. Angela of Foligno 1 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 13th [13.] We have within ourselves, in our own experience and feelings, a knowledge of how greatly our frail and fallen nature is inclined to evil. Today we go and confess certain of our faults, making the resolution not to fall into them again, and tomorrow notwithstanding we commit them once more. (continued)

3 of 3 THE NOVENA to the HOLY FACE Fifth Day ~ The Holy Face in the House of Caiphas Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus ~ Shrove Tuesday III. Application to yourself. — Oh divine Face who raisest up and transformest wandering souls, cast Thine eyes upon me, have pity on me. I have not, after having offended God, responded to the attractions of Thy grace, or, if I have shed a few tears, they have only been the result of a passing feeling of humility, of a sadness in which self-love had a larger part than true repentance. Since Thou art, oh adorable Face, a sun of justice, able to soften our souls and to purify our consciences, burn and consume in me all that is contrary to the purity of Thy love; may Thy heavenly rays inflame me, and make me weep secretly over my past offenses. I, also, am an unfaithful disciple, or rather, I have been, but will no longer be one! Thou hast been so merciful as to forgive me my revolts and to turn away Thine eyes from my sins. No, my Jesus, whatever may happen, and whatever it may cost me, I will not renounce Thee any more; I will, on the contrary, glorify Thee by my penitence and my good works. Act of contrition. — Lord, turn away Thy Face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. I detest them and desire to make reparation for them. Virtue to be practiced. — Have the courage of your faith, do not fear the eyes and the words of men, when there is a question of a duty to be fulfilled or of a fault to be avoided. Spiritual bouquet. — Jesus looked at Peter, and Peter wept bitterly. I have called upon thy Face with my whole heart; have pity on me according to Thy promises. Let the light of Thy Face shine upon me. Save me in thy mercy; Lord, I shall not be confounded because I have called upon Thee. PRAYER. — God all-powerful and merciful, grant we entreat Thee, that, venerating the Face of Thy Christ, disfigured in his Passion because of our sins, we may deserve to contemplate it eternally in the splendor of the glory of Heaven. Through the same Jesus Christ. Amen.

2 of 3 THE NOVENA to the HOLY FACE Fifth Day ~ The Holy Face in the House of Caiphas Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus ~ Shrove Tuesday I. Outrages. — He is at the mercy of a band of servants and of soldiers, who make it a cruel sport to load him with outrages and insults of every kind. His Holy Face is their target. The whole night, it has to suffer the most humiliating insults which can be invented by the malice of men and the rage of devils. They outrage him by blows, they wound him and cover him with blood by giving him cuffs with their hands, they soil him with spits, a kind of insult particularly felt by the Saviour. He complains of it by the mouth of the prophet: “They were not afraid to spit in my Face,” and when predicting to his apostles the Passion which he was about to undergo at Jerusalem, he specified the spits which would be given him: “The Son of man shall be spit upon.” II. Conversion of Saint Peter. — In the midst of this ignominious treatment, what patience on the part of the Saviour! what serenity! what sweetness! he does not complain, he does not murmur; he prays, he loves, he expiates and repairs the outrages which our sins have inflicted and still inflict on the majesty of his heavenly Father. At the very culmination of his ignominies, his sorrowful Face finds means to perform an act of mercy and of ineffable charity; it casts its eyes on the prince of the apostles and raises him up after his fall. Peter was there, at some distance from him, an unfaithful disciple, mingling in the crowd of the enemies of his master. He had shamefully denied him, no less than three times. All at once, he encounters the divine eyes fixing upon him a look of gentle reproach, of compassion, and of love. It is enough. The sight of that sorrowful Face, of that ray of light which issues from those sad eyes, pierces the heart of the apostle; penetrated with shame and repentance, he turns aside and weeps bitterly. (continued)

FIFTH DAY THE HOLY FACE IN THE HOUSE OF CAIPHAS At the commencement say: Lord, I desire to seek thy Face; do not Thou repel me far from it on account of my sins; do not remove Thy Holy Spirit from me. Let the light of Thy Face shine upon me; teach me in the way of Thy commandments. It is the night of the Passion. Jesus, after a decisive judgment, has been disdainfully sent, with his hands tied, to the house of Caiphas. (continued)

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 12th God has shown His creative omnipotence by forming me out of nothing and making me a human being. Were God to withdraw His omnipotent preserving hand from me I should at once show what I am capable of when left to myself, by returning immediately into my nothingness. And, in the order of grace, the nothingness into which I relapse when left to myself is sin. How often “I am brought to nothing, and I knew not.” [Ps. lxxii, 21] And what can I find to be proud of in that nothingness? Give me grace, O my God, to know myself only as much as is necessary to keep me humble! For if I fully realized the insignificance of my own being and the extent of my malice which is capable of offending Thee in divers inconceivable ways, I fear I should be so filled with horror at myself that I should give way to despair! ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

There is more value in a little study of humility and in a single act if it, than all the knowledge in the workd. ~ St. Teresa of Avila 1 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 12th 12. It has often happened that those who were more perfect than others have shamefully fallen, and this after a long period of good and virtuous works, showing the marvelous things that a man can do when able if abandoned to himself and left to the weakness of his own free-will. (continued)