A Devotion to a New Mardi Gras Tradition

As we approach Lent, the good times begin to roll and I have a new Mardi Gras tradition to share with you and your family: the Holy Face Devotion.  It is actually related to a custom as old as Mardi Gras itself, but now largely forgotten.  

You may know that Mardi Gras developed as a final day of preparation to begin Lent, feasting on all the rich foods typically avoided during Lent, but it is also a day for making spiritual preparations; Shrove Tuesday, as it is traditionally called, is a day to make an examen and confess sins.  

The Holy Face Devotion, in particular, makes reparation for sins against the first three Commandments, all of which honor Our Lord.  In approved visions, Our Lord conveyed that the prayers of the Holy Face Devotion were weapons fired directly at the demonic kingdom. Such reparations are so important that Venerable Pope Pius XII established the Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus on Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras).  

Ever since learning of this devotion, I have been astounded by the number of times we hear reference to his Face in sacred Scripture.  Further, I have encountered many saints devoted to His Holy Face.  St. Thérèse of Lisieux, for example, was so strongly devoted that when taking her vows, she took the name Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.  

This year, on Mardi Gras Day, the Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus, I encourage you to set aside time with your family to reflect on the sad outrages committed against the precious Face of Our Lord.  Prayers suggested for this day are the Chaplet of the Holy Face followed by The Golden Arrow Prayer, both given by Our Lord in private revelations to Sister Marie de St. Pierre in the 1840’s.

“O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be…

My Jesus Mercy. In honor of the sense of TOUCH of Jesus. Glory be... 

Arise, O Lord! and let Thy enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee from before Thy Face (6x).

My Jesus Mercy. In honor of the sense of HEARING of Jesus.  Glory be… Arise… (6x)

My Jesus Mercy. In honor of the sense of SIGHT of Jesus.  Glory be… Arise… (6x)

My Jesus Mercy. In honor of the sense of SMELL of Jesus.  Glory be… Arise… (6x)

My Jesus Mercy. In honor of the sense of TASTE of Jesus.  Glory be… Arise (6x)

My Jesus Mercy. Let us recall to mind the public life of the Savior and let us honor all the wounds of His adorable Face.  Glory be…   Arise…(3x)

God, our Protector, look on us and look on the Face of Thy Christ.”

“May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most incomprehensible and ineffable Name of God be forever praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified, in Heaven, on earth and under the earth, by all the creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.  Amen.“

I pray that this devotion becomes a tradition in your home, the beginning of many fruitful Lents to come.

Charla Misse, a native of New Orleans, supports various charitable organizations, sits on the finance committee for St. Dominic Church and is a Boy Scouts of America den leader and religious emblems coordinator. She loves to laugh with her family, bake for her loved ones, exercise outdoors, visit the adoration chapel and pick her son up from school.