Work of Reparation for the Outrages that the Holy Face of Jesus received during His Passion and which He receives each day in the Eucharist sacrament.

In the last newsletter, we wrote about the work of Sr. Marie Pierre of the Carmelites who in 1843, received orders from Our Lord Himself to begin the Work of Reparation. His Holy Face was to be the object of this Reparation (see Sept. 2007 Newsletter). Our Lord wished the devotion to His Holy Face to be established as a weapon against Communism. However this devotion was not fully appreciated in the manner that Our Lord desired. Therefore, as a result of a lack of reparation for the sins of Blasphemy and profanation of Sundays, a planned worldwide Communist takeover was allowed by God which would eventually lead to World War I and continues to this day. However Our Lord is very patient and though He was not pleased with the progress of the devotion, He decided to choose another soul to further this work of reparation about one hundred years later. Her name in religious life was Sr. Maria Pierina De Micheli, a Daughter of the Immaculate Conception. He prepared this soul in this way. On Good Friday of 1902, when Sr. Maria Pierina was a young girl of 12 she was attending service when she heard "Will no one give Me a kiss of love on My Face to make reparation for the Kiss of Judas?" She proceeded to then kiss the crucifix on the face. This was the beginning of Sr Maria’s preparation for the work she was to be given. It is the key to this devotion as you will see in the last years of her life she is asked to make reparation for bad religious. For as the kiss of Judas initiated Christ’s Passion and Death, so the gaze of the Holy Face from the Cross consummated it--that Holy Face that Peter could not bear to look at when he swore an oath of betrayal against His Savior and yes, that same Holy Face that St. John courageously beheld beneath the Cross as he supported Our Lady in her grief.

Years later, on Good Friday, 1913, during her novitiate in the Daughters of the Immaculate Conception, Our Lord repeated his request as she once again heard the voice of Jesus saying to her "Kiss Me." She immediately obeyed by kissing the statue of the crucifix but instead of the touch of plaster upon her lips, she felt the Sacred Cheek of Our Lord.

In many ways, Sr. Marie Pierna’s life mirrored the life of Mother Mariana and other great saints that have special missions. Not only did it seem as if God favored her at an early age with special gifts, but she also became a religious in an order dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. As well, her life was quite ordinary in her role as novice. She, too, like Mother Mariana, took on a variety of jobs within the convent. Additionally she suffered from many strange ailments and was attacked by the devil quite regularly- so much so in fact that whenever some kind of mishap occurred such as a fall or loud crash, it was assumed right away that the devil was the cause of this accident. In order not to frighten the other sisters, she always denied it and blamed it on her clumsiness. However, it was in fact the evil one tormenting her trying to tempt her to discouragement and despair.

In 1936, Our Lord revealed His desires to Sr. Marie on the first Friday of Lent. Jesus asked Mother Marie Pierina to share His spiritual agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. "I desire that My Face, which shows My Soul’s deepest anguish, My Heart’s sorrow and love, may be more honored. Whoever contemplates Me, consoles Me." Later on in that same Lent Our Lord shares a promise with her, "Every time that anyone gazes at My Face, I will pour My Love into hearts and by means of My Holy Face, the salvation of many souls will be obtained." Then in 1937, Our Lord instructed her; "It may be that some souls fear that the devotion and cult of My Holy Face diminishes that towards My Heart. Tell them that on the contrary, it will be completed and augmented. In contemplating My Face, souls will share in all My gifts and will feel the need for love and reparation. Is that not perhaps the true devotion to My Heart?" Sr. Marie Pierina submitted all of these revelations, to her spiritual director.

In May, 1938, Our Lord appeared with His bloodstained Face and repeated his offering of sanctifying and saving souls through the offering of His Holy Face but He adds that when this offering is made "through My priests, miracles will be worked." He asks for souls who will "sacrifice themselves with Me for the salvation of the world." She left it in her Superiors hands to get the necessary permission to begin this work of reparation. Later that month on the Queenship of Mary, May 31, Our Lady appeared to her in a dazzling light. She held two pieces of white flannel joined by a cord. It was a scapular on which held the Image of the Holy Face having the words around it "Ilumina, Domine Vultum Tuum Super Nos" and then on the other, an image of the Sacred Host with rays of light shining out from It and the words around it saying "Mane nobiscum, Domine" Our Lady said, "…This scapular is a weapon of defense, a shield of strength, a pledge of love and mercy which Jesus wishes to give to the world IN THESE TIMES OF SENSUALITY AND HATRED AGAINST GOD AND THE CHURCH. DIABOLIC SNARES ARE BEING LAID TO TEAR THE FAITH FROM MEN’S HEARTS AND EVIL SPREADS. True Apostles are few, a Divine Remedy is necessary and this remedy is the Holy Face of Jesus. All those who shall wear a scapular like this and will make , if possible, a visit to the Blessed Sacrament every Tuesday, in reparation for the outrages that the Holy Face of My Son, Jesus, received during His Passion and which He receives each day in the Eucharistic sacrament, will be fortified in the Faith, made able to defend it and in the end will have a happy death under the loving gaze of My Divine Son." Some time later, Sr. Pierina was bothered as she had medals cast for distribution and she worried that she should have had scapulars made instead, Our Lady explained to her that either the medal or the scapular could be used. It did not matter which one, as both were equally pleasing to God.

Meanwhile, in daily life, the devil, seeing what tremendous merit this soul was accomplishing for the future of the Church and the Faithful, tormented her unceasingly. Poor Sr. Pierina could not manage to have a picture of either the Sacred Heart or the Holy Face venerated in her room for this evil being would waste no time in burning it or ripping it to shreds. As well, when the medals were finally delivered for distribution, he flung them out of her hands and they all went flying across the room. Such was the furious wrath of Satan towards the missionary of this devotion. But Sr. Pierina accepted all even going so far as to offer herself as a victim soul. She wrote to her Spiritual Director on November, 16th, 1938, these words, " Then this idea came to me. If I were to ask Jesus to deprive me of all spiritual comfort for the rest of my life, to live in fact as one lives in certain terrible moments, knowing by faith alone that God is good, in order that Jesus might triumph in hearts?" She was asking to be allowed to bear the trials of those in the state of despair even to experience the hopelessness of the damned in order to save souls from such horrendous fate. As Sr. Pierina grew older, her mysterious sicknesses and injuries became more frequent. She continued to try to disguise her illnesses but at times a puzzling paralysis would takeover. Other times people would see marks on her body of bruises or scratches as the devil took advantage of the nighttime hours to attack her physically.

World War II brought more suffering upon Sr. Pierina both physically and spiritually. Despite all of this, she managed to work to spread this devotion. Throughout the war, medals were distributed across Europe. Many lives were saved under its protection.

In 1941, Our Lord asked Sister if she would be willing to join Him in the agony of His Soul in Gethesmane for the sins "of those most dear to Me and especially for the rebuffs I receive from the souls of many religious." Our Lord asked her in particular to make reparation for the sin of pride in religious souls. These last years were spent in doing just that. The "Kiss" that was to make reparation for the kiss of Judas now takes on new meaning for her. For as Judas was a priest and a bishop of Christ, Our Lord, in His request, was asking Sr. Pierina to make reparation for all of the "Judases" of the world that were offending Him-most particularly religious "Judases." For you see, those apostles who betrayed Our Savior on Holy Thursday ran from the Holy Face. There was only one Apostle who did not run from it—St . John. Through that gallant act in which he stayed and comforted Our Lady as they watched Jesus to have callers in the end of the law of a way to go the end of the one throughout His Passion, St. John was given something none of the other apostles dared to receive which was an active participation in His Passion. This active participation merited for him a fortification in His Faith and made him able to defend it as He stood beside Our Blessed Mother. In that gaze from the cross, Christ gave His Mother to us via St. John. This was one of the greatest gifts He could have given us short of a promise of Heaven.

In conclusion, all that Our Lord asked of Sr. Pierina, she did wholeheartedly until the end of her days. Her last words being, "I will see all of you again in Heaven." As she gazed at the Image of the Holy Face, she died in the odor of sanctity on July 26th, 1945. Let us have hope that she was not just talking to her dear fellow sisters, but all who have devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. In that last love-filled look to Our Lord, she was showing us the way to Heaven.

As we began this article with a mention of the Carmelite missionary, Sr. Marie Pierre of Tours, France, and her mission which was the Work of Reparation and the spread of the devotion to the Holy Face as being a weapon against Communism, we remind you that Communism is far from being dead. The enemy does not sleep. Here is a recent quote from one Communist website called www.redsun.org, "…we are unfolding within the new era, initiated with the October Revolution in 1917, in the past century, which is grand and glorious, a great milestone. You may be disturbed by the fact that restoration has taken place in the USSR and in China, but this implies not seeing the struggle between restoration and counter-restoration…Communism will not be in one country; it will be in the entire world, or it will not be at all….We are inexorably marching toward it. Nobody take us off this course."

These words filled with an ardent zeal for the spread of Communism are a reminder of what awaits us if we do not fight. We dare to say that we MUST take them off this course! With the Holy Face in one hand as our shield and Our Lady’s rosary in the other as our weapon, we must march toward this final battle in which Our Lady will be triumphant and crush the serpent’s head! For in this mystery of the Holy Face is the core theme—Reparation. A reparation for those who are attacking the Catholic Church from without AND within! This is a battle to the death.- the death of Communism, the death of Masonry once and for all! Remember with the devotion of Our Lady of Good Success –she promises "good success" in all of our endeavors- we cannot fail! ( All facts taken from "The Story of Sister Maria De Micheli by Sr. Maria Ildefonsa Rigamonti)

We will leave you with this excerpt from a lecture given my Father Mateo Crawley-Bouvey-SS SC, Apostle of the Sacred Heart:

Are you really zealous? Are you really apostles of the Holy Face of Jesus? You must be the ones to set fire to other hearts. How many Catholics there are who have not grasped the duty of being apostles, the duty of gratitude! It is our positive duty - our obligation to bring others to Jesus, to give Him not only our souls, but the souls of others. Be grateful and generous in giving of the treasure of Holy Face of Jesus, which Our Lord has entrusted to your care, lavishing this treasure on souls, on poor starving souls. It is sad that so few truly love Jesus.

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