To The Most Holy Face Of Our Lord Jesus Christ, In Reparation Of The Sin Of Blasphemy, Of The Profanation Of Sundays, And Of Other Impious Crimes Against God And The Church. To Be Recited Publicly’ At the Monthly Meetings of the Archconfraternity
Most holy and most adorable Face of the Saviour, humbly prostrate in Thy presence, we present ourselves before Thee, in order, by a solemn act of faith and of piety, to render Thee the homage of veneration, praise and love which is Thy due. We also desire to offer to Thee honorable amends and a public reparation for the sins, blasphemies and sacrileges of which the present generation has rendered itself culpable towards The Divine Majesty, and which, in regard to Thee, oh well beloved Face, renew the ignominies and The sufferings of Thy Passion.
It is with terror and profound affliction that we are witnesses of these monstrous crimes, which cannot fail to draw down upon society and upon our families, the malediction and the chastisements of divine justice. We see, in fact, all around us the law of the Lord and the authority of His Church despised and trodden under foot; His thrice holy Name denied or blasphemed, the Sunday which he has reserved for his worship, publicly profaned; his altars and his offices forsaken for criminal or frivolous pleasures. Impious sectarians attack all that is sacred and religious. But it is, above all, the Divinity of Christ, the Son of the living God; it is the Incarnate Word; it is the august Face and the Crucifix which They attack with the greatest fury; the spit and the blows of the Jews are renewed by the insults and the outrages which their hatred dares, in every possible manner, to inflict upon Thee, oh Face full of sweetness and of love.
Pardon, a thousand times pardon, for all these crimes! May we make amends for them by our humble supplications and the fervour of our homage! But, guilty and sinners as we are, what can we offer the Eternal Father in order to appease his just anger, if it be not Thyself, oh sorrowful Face, who has deigned to make Thyself our advocate and our victim? Supply what may be wanting in us by Thy satisfactions and Thy merits.
Heavenly Father, we entreat Thee, « Look on the Face of Thy Christ. » Behold the wounds which disfigure it, the tears which escape from its sunken eyes; the sweat with which it is bathed; the blood which flows in streams down its profaned and wounded cheeks. Behold also its invincible patience, its unalterable gentleness, its infinite tenderness and its merciful goodness towards sinners. This Holy Face is turned towards Thee, and, before exhaling its last sigh, lovingly inclined upon the Cross, it implores Thee in favour of those who curse and outrage it. Oh Father, listen to that suppliant cry, permit thyself to be touched; have pity on us and pardon us. Grant, moreover, that in presence of this divine Face, equally formidable and powerful, the enemies of Thy Name may take flight and disappear; that they may be converted and live!
Lord, show us Thy Face, and we shall be saved.
Amen! Amen!
(Manual of the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face 1887)