A LITANY OF THE
HOLY FACE OF JESUS

This Litany of the Holy Face of Jesus, printed below, along with the Golden Arrow prayer, is an important part of Devotion to our Lord in His Holy Face. It has been attributed to Sister Mary of St. Peter, a Carmelite Nun pictured above, to whom Jesus revealed his ardent desire for this Devotion in reparation for blasphemies against God and the profanation of Sunday. (This offense involves people engaging unnecessarily in commerce and other such labors and chores on Sunday, a day meant for rest and reflection on God.)

Jesus once told Sister Mary in one of His many revelations to her “Oh, if you only knew what great merit you acquire by saying even once 'Admirable is the name of God' in a spirit of reparation for blasphemy!” This short prayer of reparation probably gladdens Our Lord’s heart indeed!

Sister Mary showed great love in honoring Jesus' requests to further the adoption of the Holy Face devotion. One of her associates, Ven. Leo Dupont himself played a key role in spreading this devotion after Sister’s death in 1848 as discussed here. Our Lord Himself spoke of His Holy Face and the need for reparation, as mentioned above, a number of times in the 1840’s, and indeed, dictated the Golden Arrow prayer to her in 1843!

This Litany below is inspiring in the way Sister Mary lovingly takes us through Jesus' life in this prayer, with special detail as to how His Face appeared during His Passion.

Repeat after each invocation:

Have mercy on us

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face Mary and Joseph worshipped with profoundest reverence,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face ravished with joy the angels, shepherds and Magi in the stable at Bethlehem,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face wounded with a dart of Love the aged Simeon and the prophetess Anna in the temple,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face was bathed in tears in Thy Holy Infancy,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face at the age of twelve astonished the doctors in the temple,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face is white with purity, and ruddy with charity,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face is more beautiful than the sun, brighter than the moon and more brilliant than the stars,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face is lovelier than the roses of spring,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face is more precious than gold, silver, and gems,

O Jesus, the charms and grace of Whose Adorable Face win all hearts,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face is most noble in Its heavenly features,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face is the admiration of angels,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face is the sweet delight of the saints,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face is the masterpiece of the Holy Spirit in which the Father is well pleased,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face was the delight of Thy Virgin Mother and of Thy holy foster-father, St. Joseph,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face is the ineffable mirror of Divine perfections,

O Jesus, the beauty of Whose Adorable Face is ever ancient and ever new,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face appeases the Divine wrath,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face is the terror of the evil spirits,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face is the treasure of graces and blessings,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face was exposed to the inclemency of the weather in the desert,

O Jesus, Whose Adorable Face was scorched by the sun and bathed in sweat on Thy journeys,

O Jesus, the expression of whose Adorable Face is Wholly Divine,

O Jesus, the modesty and mildness of whose Adorable Face attracted both just and sinners,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face gave a holy kiss and blessing to the little children,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face sorrowed and wept at the grave of Lazarus,

V. The light of Thy Face has been shed upon us, O lord;

R. Thou hast given joy to our hearts.  

Let us pray:

I salute Thee, I adore Thee, O Adorable Face of Jesus, my Beloved, noble seal of the Divinity. With all the powers of my soul I apply myself to Thee, and most humbly pray Thee imprint in us all the features of Thy Divine likeness. Amen

Repeat after each invocation:

Have mercy on us

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face grew sad at the sight of Jerusalem and wept over that ungrateful city,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face bowed to the earth in the Garden of Olives because of the burden of our sins,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face was bathed in bloody sweat,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face was kissed by Judas, the traitor,

O Jesus, the power of whose Adorable Face smote the soldiers to the ground in the Garden of Olives,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face was struck by a vile servant, derided by enemies and desecrated by their unholy hand,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face was defiled by spittle and bruised by blows,

O Jesus, the Divine look of Whose Adorable Face wounded Peter's heart with love and sorrow,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face was humbled for us before the tribunals of Jerusalem,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face preserved Its attractiveness and dignity when Pilate pronounced the death sentence,

O Jesus, the brow of whose Adorable Face was crowned with thorns,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face was covered with bloody sweat which fell to the ground under the Cross,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face is worthy of all our reverence, veneration and worship,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face the pious Veronica wiped on the way to Calvary,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face was lifted up on the tortuous Cross,

O Jesus, the eyes of whose Adorable Face shed tears of Blood,

O Jesus, the mouth of whose Adorable Face was tormented with vinegar and gall,

O Jesus, the hair and beard of whose Adorable Face were plucked out by the executioners,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face was disfigured like that of a leper,

O Jesus, the incomparable beauty of whose Adorable Face was disfigured by the sins of the world,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face was overcast by the mournful shadows of death,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face was washed, anointed and wrapped in a shroud by Mary and the holy women,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face was laid to rest in the grave,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face was resplendent in beauty on the day of Thy Resurrection,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face was radiant in glory on the day of Thy ascension,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face is hidden in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face will appear on the clouds at the end of the world in great power and majesty,

O Jesus, whose Adorable Face is the joy of the Just in Heaven,

V. O lord, show us Thy Face;

R. And we shall be saved.

Let us pray:

We beseech Thee, O Almighty and merciful God, grant us and all who venerate the Countenance of Thy dearly beloved Son, all disfigured by our sins, the grace to behold It throughout eternity in the glory of Its majesty, through the same Jesus Christ,  Our Lord. Amen.

This Litany is truly Christ-centered, and not just on His Holy Face, although this is poetically and touchingly our focus here. The final lines bring to mind one of our Lord’s Promises to Sister Mary in favor of those who would honor Him in this devotion: “Those who on earth contemplate the wounds of My Face shall in Heaven behold it radiant with glory.”