“These words of Isaiah, ‘Who has believed our report? … There is no beauty in Him, no comeliness …’ have been the whole foundation of my devotion to the Holy Face, or, to express it better, the foundation of my whole piety. I also have desired to be without beauty, to tread the wine press alone, unknown to every creature.” —The Last Conversations of St. Thérèse of Lisieux

A couple of years after I left Calvinism and came home to the Catholic Church, my spiritual mother on earth, I entered an awe-inspiring, traditional Carmelite cloister.

In many ways, the Carmel encompassed the very lifeblood and beauty of Catholicism in all of its splendor, including many of its most beloved secret treasures — soul-hushing Gregorian Chant, the heartfelt praying of the 1962 Breviarium Romanum along with long-lost litanies, the daily recitation of the Stations of the Cross, and the mystical, wondrous life of contemplation brewing within the cloistered walls.

Day by day, I marveled at the profound joy that the nuns carried in their long-suffering hearts, and loved processing along with them to choir in my flowing postulant habit while chanting the De Profundis on behalf of the souls of the faithful departed. I savored the opportunity to handcraft rosaries and Holy Face chaplets along with the other nuns to fill mail orders that came to us from all over the world.

The Holy Face chaplets were uniquely desired, and we could hardly keep up with the seemingly endless requests made for them. Throughout my short time in Carmel, a genuine love for the Holy Face of Our Lord grew so deeply within my soul that even after I had to leave the cloister (due to health reasons), it never left me. To this day, I enjoy praying the Holy Face Chaplet along with my seven children, reminding them that as we do so, we are fighting as valiant warriors of the Church Militant, doing our little part to bring forth the glorious reign of Christ on earth. 

Although this ancient devotion once remained a secret to the majority of the Catholic world following the Second Vatican Council, it is now being brought out into the light once again and embraced by more and more fervent souls.

“The devotion is like a parable,” Father Lawrence Carney. “When Jesus taught, he had secrets in his messages which were heard only by the generous of heart. Many devotions have been secrets to the generation to which they were revealed, only to be embraced by future generations. The Rosary, Sacred Heart devotion, and Total Consecration through Mary are just a few examples. Devotion to the Holy Face was popular at one time, but then went into obscurity. Thankfully, it is now coming to the forefront as a devotion needed for our times. God is drawing up a little spiritual army who are remaining ‘hidden in the secret of his Face’ as the psalmist says.”

Recently, with the help of Father Carney, we were able to enroll our family in the official Archconfraternity of the Holy Face, based out of France. Further, this past month, I had a powerful encounter with God’s love by praying through Father Carney’s beautiful book, Preparation for Total Consecration to the Holy Face of Jesus: How God Draws the Soul into the Purgative, Illuminative, and Unitive Ways, which will be re-released by Tan Books soon. I have also been deeply edified by reading his companion book, The Secret of the Holy Face (Tan Books, 2022). Far and wide, many others are discovering the extraordinary power of this devotion with the help of these books, as well as through the work of the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face.

“I get several comments about my book each month from devotees who have been inspired to dive deeply into devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus,” Father Carney says. “One lady who lives in Italy decided to translate the book into Italian and she is obtaining speaking engagements at cathedrals and parishes in Italy where she will be the translator. Some Carmelites in England have been working with me to establish a Confraternity of the Holy Face with their bishop. In another situation, a religious sister asked if her community could help, and hence a cardinal got involved to promote the image of his Holy Face, after she asked His Eminence.”

Amid the turbulence and trials that the world and the Church are presently facing, Father Carney feels that the Holy Face devotion is preeminent. 

“I think that God is giving us clear instructions through the Devotion to the Holy Face on how to beg for his direct intervention. Just as God helped the Israelites in the Old Testament, He can help us now. But we have forgotten how much of a tender loving Father we have, so this devotion reminds our generation of our relationship with him. A few reasons why he is reviving devotion to the Holy Face is to encourage us to make reparation, especially for the sins of irreverence, idolatry and blasphemy.”

In the 19th century, Venerable Leo Dupont said that communists would one day enslave the world — that is, “close up their churches, and make them slaves of the state… unless reparation is done, unless men come before the Face of their Savior to ask his forgiveness and his help!” In his Divine Providence, Our Lord has given the Holy Face Devotion to help save our society and the Church from this slavery and revive authentic Catholicism in our hearts.

To those who would like to become more devoted to the Holy Face of Jesus but are not sure where to start, Father Carney has some helpful advice:

“Start praying the Golden Arrow Prayer and the Chaplet of the Holy Face. Make the total Consecration to of Jesus through Mary by reading St. Louis de Montfort’s work, Total Consecration to Mary. If a soul is generous, God can draw it to this devotion. There are many hidden prayer warriors that the League of St. Martin has inspired to become a part of this spiritual army. The fruits of the prayer warriors are very noticeable as I am told countless times how God is moving people into this spiritual militia.”