The Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus (most often focused on the specific images of the Veil of Veronica and of the Shroud of Turin) was approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1885, and he established an Archconfraternity of the Holy Face of Jesus to promote the devotion.
Although the face of Jesus has been venerated since His birth, Sister Marie of St. Peter (1816-1848), a Carmelite nun in Tours, France, reported an interior locution where Jesus asked for a more focused devotion to “My Face here on earth.” The primary purpose of the devotion is to make reparation for sins against the first three commandments: denial of God; blasphemy; and profanation of Sundays and holy days.
In 1936, Sister Maria Pierina De Micheli, received a vision in which Jesus told her: “I will that My Face, which reflects the intimate pains of My Spirit, the suffering and the love of My Heart, be more honored. He who meditates upon Me, consoles Me.” He also told her: “Every time that My Face is contemplated, I will pour My love into the hearts of men and through My Holy Face will be obtained the salvation of many souls.”
Other visions prompted Sister Maria Pierina to make a medal that became known as the Holy Face Medal, worn by devotees even today. She also reported that Jesus wanted a special feast day on Shrove Tuesday in honor of His Holy Face, to be preceded by a novena.
That novena began Feb. 8 this year, but other prayers are devoted to the Holy Face, including a Litany of the Holy Face, which was composed by Sister Mary of St. Peter and approved by the Archbishop of Tours in 1847. It can be found at https://holyfacechaplet.org/pray/litany
