Behold a second time our Lord comes to announce additional and magnificent promises in favor of the associates in the Work of Reparation to the Holy Face. Our Lord said to me:

“Those who embrace this Work with true piety will not be lost, for I Myself will defend them before My Father and I will given them the Kingdom of Heaven. I will grant them the grace of final perseverance.” After that our Lord added:

“Do not be astonished at these promises which I make in favor of those who devote themselves to repairing for blasphemies against God’s Holy Name through the Devotion to My Sacred Face because this Work of Reparation is the very essence of Charity, and those who possess Charity possess life.”

These are the revelations which our Saviour commanded me to make known to my superiors. He then said that it was He Himself, and His Spouse, Holy Church, who had given birth to this Work of Reparation. But in order that this newly-born Devotion should live and be properly received by the faithful, it must be established by the Divine Authority of our Holy Church, He told me, because without this the Work would have no success. For this reason our Lord desires to see this Work of Reparation built upon a solid foundation, and He said that its purpose, as well as all its precious advantages, must be made known far and wide.

The Golden Arrow, p. 173-174

It is so very interesting how our Lord likens the Work of Reparation to a newborn child, born of Jesus and His Spouse, our Holy Church! Continuing with this analogy, He stresses that if this “Child” is to be living and breathing, It needs to be both properly received by the faithful and established formally by Its Mother, the Church (as it has by being raised to the status of an Archconfraternity throughout the whole world and for all time by Pope Leo XIII in 1885), otherwise It would be unsuccessful! Further, our Lord explains that this “Child” must be permeated with Charity to possess life!

It is our task, as Holy Face devotees therefore, to spread this Devotion far and wide, continuing the task of propagation, and pray the prayers with deep piety. If we do so, our Lord promises three amazing blessings: 1) that pious devotees will not be lost, but will be defended before the throne of His Father, 2) He would grant them final perseverance at the end of their earthly lives, and 3) devotees would be granted eternal life because of the charity they offer in making reparation. Therefore, if we imbue the Holy Face prayers with charity for our wounded Saviour by compassionate reparation, we will pray life into them that will Lord willing, merit us Eternal Life in the Beatific Vision. Now, that is something definitely worth striving for! Blessed be the Holy Face in the majesty and beauty of Its heavenly features!

the littlest wren

February 26, 1844.  “0ur Lord,” writes she to the Mother Superior, “desires most ardently that the work of Reparation be established, as he has given me to understand. I seemed to hear my Divine Jesus from the recesses of the tabernacle address us these words: ‘O ye, my friends and my faithful children! behold if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow! My Divine Father and my cherished spouse, the Holy Church, are despised, outraged by my enemies. Will no one rise up to revenge me by defending them against those enemies? I can no longer remain in the midst of an ungrateful people: behold the torrents of tears that flow from my eyes! Can I find no one to dry them, by making reparation of honor to the glory of my Father, begging of him the conversion of the guilty? Such are the sentiments, reverend mother, with which God fills my soul, causing it to experience this interior pain which the Heart of Jesus glorified can no longer suffer. If a king or even an ambassador be despised or set at naught by a foreign nation, his countrymen fly to arms, the honor of the king must be avenged; troops are levied and the death of thousands is counted for naught. And yet, the most holy and terrible Name of the God of armies, of the King of kings is despised and blasphemed; his holy Day profaned by an infinite number of sinners, and no one is concerned, no one thinks of avenging him! But behold! Our Lord Jesus Christ, the ambassador from the kingdom of heaven, demands reparation of honor for his Divine Father, or proclaims war against us, for he has threatened France with his wrath. Shall we hesitate in our choice?”

After perusing these soul-stirring apostrophes, these burning ejaculations, we are over awed and we ask, what would have become of France, if the desire, communicated to the servant of God, had been publicly manifested and immediately fulfilled? Would the entire world have witnessed the misfortunes with which we have since been deluged? Would we have had to fear the evils which still menace us to-day?

The sister, in terminating, begs that the archbishop of Tours be informed of all that has taken place since the feast of St. Louis, concerning the work of Reparation. “Would you please permit me,” she writes to the mother prioress, “if our reverend ecclesiastical superior consent, to address the archbishop, for I have such an ardent desire to inform him of these things! I most humbly beg of you to grant me this permission. Then I shall have performed all that lies in my power toward the accomplishment of the work which has been revealed to me, notwithstanding my unworthiness; but I shall write to his Grace, only when I feel my soul under the influence of the Holy Ghost, for I desire to make no use of my own convictions, being incapable of anything good; I shall beseech him to guide my pen.”

Life of Sister Mary St. Peter Carmelite of Tours by M. Labbe Janvier p.185-187

Here, our Lord echoes the words of Lam 1:12 (Douay-Rheims) “O all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow.  Our Holy Mother Church is a gift to us, purchased by His death, & the subsequent piercing of His most Sacred Heart with a lance, so that from therein, blood & water spilled out and mystically became the Sacraments of our Church.  Our Lord says that we His children are so ungrateful, that it has caused Him to weep copiously!  We indeed have been guilty of shopping on Sundays, been minimalists in our Sunday worship, prioritizing our children’s extra circular activities that have fallen on Sundays, as well as our brunches, been indifferent to arriving at Holy Mass early to prepare our hearts in love to receive Him in the Eucharist, rushed home to cut the lawn that looks scruffy and cannot wait an extra day, etc., etc.  Enough is enough, Lent is the time to repent, and just say “NO” to what the culture is dictating and dry those precious tears of our Lord one by one.  If we want to survive whatever may be coming down the pipe, it is time to get serious with our interior lives!!  Nunc coepi – “now I begin,” to say “no” to unnecessary work on Sundays, “no” to shopping for unnecessary items on Sunday or spending money unnecessarily, “no” to prioritizing anything else ahead of worshiping the Lord at Holy Mass.  Let us be counter cultural and God strong by saying “yes” to worshiping Him first on Sundays, spending time getting to know & love Him better in prayer (especially reparatory), study & solitude, so that we can recognize the voice of our King speaking to us, and then also spending beautiful time with our loved ones in leisure activities that please Him.  Let’s make our Lord’s Day holy again!

the littlest wren

February 2nd, 1844. “For several weeks past, I have experienced nothing extraordinary as regards the work of Reparation; yet Our Lord keeps me in union with him to glorify his Father, to repair the outrages offered him and to pray that his Name may be sanctified. But today, feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, it was my turn to receive the holy communion of vow.”

The sister has already mentioned this “Vow.” Mother Mary of the Incarnation had made a vow for the necessities of the monastery when a change of locality was in question. The terms of this vow were, that for the space of one year, two of the religious in turn according to rank, would pray every day for the accomplishment of the designs of the Sacred Heart, in order to draw down a special benediction on the community.

“It was my turn, to communicate”, continues the sister, “and my good Master desired, notwithstanding my unworthiness, to manifest himself to my soul. Previous to the last occasion on which he addressed me, he was full of wrath against France, and I listened to his words with trembling and fear, and wept bitterly. But today, I was inundated with joy, when he made known the pleasure experienced by his Divine Heart at the sight of the zeal and good-will manifested by his children toward the growing association. As his Holy Mother had adopted the arch-confraternity for the conversion of sinners, so had he taken under his protection that of the Reparation ; these two associations were to act in concert, the latter, to repair the outrages committed against God, the former to obtain pardon for these outrages, the one through Jesus, the other through Mary. But Our Lord gave me to understand that the association which he wished to establish in France had two objects in view: first, the reparation of blasphemy uttered against God; second, the sanctification of his Holy Name on the Lord’s Day; consequently, the extirpation of blasphemy and the prohibition of manual labor on Sunday. Blasphemy and the violation of the Lord’s Day are the principal sins which provoke the anger of God against France.”

“To the rules and regulations prescribed by the association at Rome, there are others added to the one established in France; for instance, that the members should perform no manual labor, nor allow others to labor, and to contribute with all their might to the prevention of all kinds of manual labor on the days prohibited. Our Lord desires first, that this association be placed under the patronage of St. Martin, St. Louis and St. Michael; second, that each member recite daily a Pater, Ave, and Gloria Patri, followed by the act of praise which he gave me under the title of “The Golden Arrow,” with an invocation to the holy patrons; but on Sundays and Holydays they should recite all the prayers of Reparation, in expiation for the outrages committed against God on these holy days and to obtain mercy for the guilty. I beheld this association under the figure of an army of valiant soldiers, hastening to join their Chief, to defend the glory of his Father. He wished that their name should correspond to the nobility of their undertaking, and for this reason, that they should bear the title of, ‘Defenders of the Holy Name of God.’ He also gave me to understand that each member should wear a badge in the form of a cross, bearing on one side Sit nomen Domini benedictum, and on the other Vade retro, Satana. That he would give to this heavenly device a secret virtue to combat against the demon of blasphemy; that every time a member heard a blasphemy uttered, he should repeat the words written on this cross, and in this manner to wage war against Satan, thus glorifying God.”

Our Lord manifested to me, that the devil would make use of every means in his power to crush this work from the beginning. I felt as though I could shed even the last drop of my blood for so holy an association. Our Lord told me also that he had said nothing to me for a long time, because it was not necessary; that he did nothing undesignedly, but that it was expedient to give me this information to-day. He called my attention to the difference existing between the Association of France and that of Rome, on account of the violation of the Lord’s Day.(1)

(1)from the life of Sister Mary of Saint Peter by M Labbe Janvier

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On the anniversary of the Feast day of the Presentation of our Lord in 1847, which commemorated the entrance of the 40 day old infant Jesus into the Temple manifesting Himself as the “Light of the world,” from His Mother’s arms, our Lord brings Sr. Marie de St. Pierre untold joy after she received Him in the Holy Eucharist.  Our Lord expressed that His Divine Heart was full of pleasure in regards to those who had taken up the devotion of reparation.  How much joy then, should we feel on this First Friday of February, 2024 as we make reparation to both His Sacred Heart and His Holy Face, knowing that we are giving our Lord similar pleasure!  How providential that the once thriving arch-confraternity dedicated to the conversion of sinners under the patronage of our Blessed Mother is mentioned, on this particular eve of First Saturday. These three devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Holy Face work in concert, as they are all about reparation and conversion.

With Sunday two short days away, and for each and every Sunday, we must endeavour with great fervour to encourage others to abstain from all unnecessary work.  That way, we can all fully give our Lord the worship due to Him while defending the glory of our Heavenly Father.  Let us rise up anew as defenders of His Holy Name, making reparation either publicly, or in the silence of our hearts (Sit nomen Domini benedictum – Blessed be the name of the Lord!) for the horrific blasphemy that is constantly assaulting our ears. Let us always immediately squash any fear that “old red legs” plants in our hearts to shrink from doing so!

The littlest wren

On the 23rd of January, she received a communication which she relates in these words : “I can no longer restrain my tears at the thought of what Jesus has just told me after communion; behold the terrible words of this meek Saviour: l The aspect of France has become hideous in the eyes of my Father, provoking his justice; offer him therefore the Face of his Son, in whom he has placed all his complaisance, in order to draw down upon France his forgiveness, else she will be severely punished. There lies her salvation, that is, in the Face of the Saviour. Behold, added he, the wonderful proof of my goodness towards France! Yet she repays me with ingratitude! Affrighted, the pious sister added: “Is it really thou, my Lord, who communicates this to me“? Our Lord replied: “Would you have been able to procure it yourself in your last communion? I have purposely left you in profound darkness for eight days, to make you discern that now it is my operation which you experience” Docile and convinced, she immediately began to say this prayer which she repeated continually: “Eternal Father, we offer thee the adorable Face of this thy well-beloved Son, for the honor and glory of thy Holy Name and for the salvation of France.”

Today, let us dwell on the state of our world and respective countries, and look at how far we have strayed from God’s commandments.  Let us turn in prayer to the Eternal Father, offering to Him the Adorable Face of Jesus styled after the inspired prayer of Sr. Marie de Saint Pierre from our Lord.

Eternal Father, we offer thee the Adorable Face of this Thy well-beloved Son, for the honor and glory of Thy Holy Name, for the salvation of Canada (insert your country’s name), and to counteract the divisions and discord sown by the enemy within the walls of Holy Mother Church.  Amen.

            -the little pilgrim and the littlest wren