Novena in Honor of the Most Holy Face of Jesus

I firmly wish that my face reflecting the intimate pains of my soul, the suffering and love of my heart, be more honoured! Whoever gazes upon me already consoles me. – Our Lord Jesus Christ to Sister Pierina

Daily Preparatory Prayer

O most Holy and Blessed Trinity, through the intercession of Holy Mary whose soul was pierced through by a sword of sorrow at the sight of the passion of her Divine Son, we ask your help in making a novena of reparation with Jesus, united with all his sorrows, love, and total abandonment.

We now implore all the angels and saints to intercede for us as we pray this holy novena to the Most Holy Face of Jesus and for the glory of the Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. (Start novena)

All those who are attracted by my love, and venerating my countenance, shall receive, by virtue of my humanity, a brilliant and vivid impression of my divinity. This splendour shall enlighten the depths of their souls, so that in eternal glory the celestial court shall marvel at the marked likeness of their features with my divine countenance. – Our Lord Jesus Christ to St. Gertrude

First Day

(Recite the Daily Preparatory Prayer)

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness, in your great tenderness wipe away my faults; wash me clean of my guilt, purify me from my sin. (Psalm 51:3-4)

O Most Holy Face of Jesus, look with tenderness on us who are sinners. You are a merciful God, full of love and compassion. Keep us pure of heart, so that we may see you always. Mary, our Mother, intercede for us; St. Joseph, pray for us.

Through the merits of your precious blood and your Holy Face, O Jesus, grant us our petition, pardon and mercy.

Prayer to Our Almighty Father
Almighty Father, come into our hearts, and so fill us with your love that forsaking all evil desires, we may embrace you, our only good. Show us, O Lord our God, what you are to us. Say to our souls, I am your salvation, speak so that we may hear.

Our hearts are before you; open our ears; let us hasten after your voice. Hide not your Face from us, we beseech you, O Lord. Open our hearts so that you may enter in, Repair the ruined mansions that you may dwell therein.

Hear us, O heavenly Father, for the sake of your only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, now and forever. Amen. (St. Augustine)

Pray (1) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary’s, (1) Glory Be.

O Bleeding Face, O Face Divine, may all adoration be yours (3x)

Second Day

(Recite the Daily Preparatory Prayer)

My offenses truly I know them; my sin is always before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned; what is evil in your sight I have done. (Psalm 51:5-6a)

Most Holy Face of Jesus, we are truly sorry that we have hurt you so much by constantly doing what is wrong; and for all the good works we have failed to do.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. Joseph, intercede for us, help us to console the Most Holy Face of Jesus. Pray that we may share in the tremendous love you have for one another, and for the Most Holy and Blessed Trinity. Amen.

Through the merits of your precious blood and your Holy Face, O Jesus, grant us our petition, pardon and mercy.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit, Sanctifier, all powerful God of love, you fill the Virgin Mary with grace, you who wonderfully transformed the hearts of the apostles, you who did endow all your martyrs with a miraculous heroism, come and sanctify us, illumine our minds, strengthen our wills, purify our consciences, rectify our judgments, set our hearts on fire, and preserve us from the misfortune of resisting your inspirations.

We consecrate to you, our understanding, our heart, and our will, our whole being for eternity. May our understanding be always submissive to your heavenly inspirations and to the teachings of your holy Catholic Church, of which you are the infallible guide; may our heart be ever inflamed with love of God and neighbour; may our will be ever conformed to the divine will, and may our whole life be a faithful imitation of the life and virtues of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and you be honor and glory forever. Amen.

Pray (1) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary’s, (1) Glory Be.

O Bleeding Face, O Face Divine, may all adoration be yours (3x)

Third Day

(Recite the Daily Preparatory Prayer)

You are just when you pass sentence on me, blameless when you give judgment. You know I was born guilty, a sinner from the moment of conception. (Psalm 51:6b-7)

Prayer of Pope Pius IX

O Jesus! Cast upon us a look of mercy; turn your Face towards each of us as you did to Veronica; not that we may see it with our bodily eyes, for this we do not deserve, but turn it towards our hearts, so that, remembering you, we may ever draw from this fountain of strength the vigor necessary to sustain the combats of life. Amen.

Mary, our Mother, and St. Joseph, pray for us.

Through the merits of your precious blood and your Holy Face, O Jesus, grant us our petition, pardon and mercy.

Prayer of St. Francis

All highest, glorious God, cast your light into the darkness of hour hearts, give us true faith, firm hope, perfect charity, and profound humility, so that with wisdom, courage, and perception, O Lord, we may do what is truly your holy will. Amen.

To the Angels and Saints

We salute you, through the Holy Face and Sacred Heart of Jesus, O all you holy angels and saints of God. We rejoice in your glory, and we give thanks to our Lord for all the benefits which he has showered upon you; we praise him and glorify him, and offer you for an increase of your joy and honor, the Most Holy Face and gentle Heart of Jesus. Pray that we may be formed according to the heart of God. Amen.

Pray (1) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary’s, (1) Glory Be.

O Bleeding Face, O Face Divine, may all adoration be yours (3x)

Fourth Day

(Recite the Daily Preparatory Prayer)

Indeed you love truth in the heart; then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom. O purify me, then I shall be clean; O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalm 51:8-9)

O Lord Jesus, who has said, learn of me, for I am meek and gentle of heart, and who did manifest upon your Holy Face the sentiments of your divine heart, grant that we may love to come frequently and meditate upon your divine features. We may read there your gentleness and humility, and learn how to form our hearts in the practice of these two virtues which you desire to shine in your servants. Mary our Mother and St. Joseph, help us.

Through the merits of your precious blood and your Holy Face, O Jesus, grant us our petition, pardon and mercy.

Prayer in Honor of the Blessed Virgin

O Most Holy and afflicted Virgin, Queen of Martyrs! Who stood beneath the cross, witnessing the agony of your dying Son, look down with a mother’s tenderness and pity on us as we kneel before you to venerate your sorrows, and place our requests, with filial confidence, in the sanctuary of your wounded heart.

Present them on our behalf to Jesus, through the merits of his most sacred Passion and Death, together with your sufferings at the foot of the cross, and through the united efficacy of both, obtain the favour which we humbly ask.

To whom shall we go in our wants and miseries if not to you? O Mother of Mercy, who having so deeply drunk of the chalice of your Son, graciously alleviate the sufferings of those who still sigh in this land of exile. Amen.

Prayer to the Souls in Purgatory

My Jesus, by the sorrows you suffered in your agony in the garden, in your scourging and crowning with thorns, in the way to Calvary, in your crucifixion and death, have mercy on the souls in Purgatory, and especially on those that are most forsaken.

Deliver them from the dire torments they endure. Call them and admit them to your most sweet embrace in Paradise. Amen.

Pray (1) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary’s, (1) Glory Be.

O Bleeding Face, O Face Divine, may all adoration be yours. (3x)

Fifth Day

(Recite the Daily Preparatory Prayer)

Make me hear rejoicing and gladness, that, the bones you have crushed may revive. From my sins turn away you Face, and blot out all my guilt. (Psalm 51:10-11)

Holy Face of Jesus, sacred countenance of God, how great is your patience with humankind, how infinite your forgiveness. We are sinners, yet you love us. This gives us courage. For the glory of your Holy Face and of the Blessed Trinity, hear and answer us.

Mary, our Mother, intercede for us, St. Joseph, pray for us. Through the merits of your precious blood and your Holy Face, O Jesus, grant us our petition, pardon and mercy.

Prayer to St. Joseph

Dear St. Joseph, adopt us as your children, take charge of our salvation; watch over us day and night; preserve us from occasions of sin; obtain for us purity of body and soul, and the spirit of prayer, through your intercession with Jesus, grant us a spirit of sacrifice, of humility, and self-denial; obtain for us a burning love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and a sweet, tender love for Mary, our Mother. St. Joseph, be with us in life, be with us in death, and obtain for us a favourable judgment from Jesus, our merciful Savior. Amen.

Pray (1) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary’s, (1) Glory Be.

O Bleeding Face, O Face Divine, may all adoration be yours. (3x)

Sixth Day

(Recite the Daily Preparatory Prayer)

A pure heart create for us, O God, put a steadfast spirit within us. Do not cast us away from your presence nor deprive us of your Holy Spirit. (Psalm 51:12-13)

May our hearts be cleansed, O Lord, by the inpouring of the Holy Spirit, and may he render them fruitful by watering them with his heavenly dew. Mary, the most chaste spouse of the Holy Spirit, intercede for us; St. Joseph, pray for us.

Through the merits of your precious blood and your Holy Face, O Jesus, grant us our petition, pardon and mercy.

Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel

O Victorious Prince, most humble guardian of the Church of God and of faithful souls, who with such charity and zeal took part in so many conflicts and gained such great victories over the enemy, for the conversion and protection of the honor and glory we all owe to God, as well as for the promotion of our salvation, come, we pray to you, to our assistance, for we are continually besieged with such great perils by our enemies, the flesh, the world, and the devil; and as you were a leader for the people of God through the desert, so also be our faithful leader, and companion through the desert of this world, until you conduct us safely into the happy land of the living, in that blessed fatherland from which we are all exiles. Amen. (St. Aloysius)

Pray (1) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary’s, (1) Glory Be.

O Bleeding Face, O Face Divine, may all adoration be yours. (3x)

Seventh Day

(Recite the Daily Preparatory Prayer)

Give me again the joy of your help, with a spirit of fervor sustain me, that I may teach your transgressors your ways and sinners may return to you. (Psalm 51:14-15)

Lord Jesus! After contemplating your features, disfigured by grief, after meditating upon your passion with compunction and love, how can our hearts fail to be inflamed with a holy hatred of sin which even now outrages your Adorable Face!

Lord, suffer us not to be content with mere compassion, but give us grace so closely to follow you in this Calvary, so that we may have a share, small though it may be, in expiation of sin. Amen.

Mary, our Mother, intercede for us. St. Joseph, pray for us.

Through the merits of your precious blood and your Holy Face, O Jesus, grant us our petition, pardon and mercy.

Prayer in Honor of Mary

Hail Mary, daughter of God the Father! Hail Mary, Mother of God the Son! Hail Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit! Hail Mary, Temple of the Most Holy Trinity! Hail Mary, our mistress, our wealth, our mystic rose, Queen of our hearts, our Mother, our life, our sweetness, and our dearest hope! We are all yours, and all we have is yours.

O Virgin blessed above all things, may your soul be in us to magnify the Lord; may your spirit be in us to rejoice in God. Place yourself, O faithful Virgin, as a seal upon our hearts, that in you and through you we may be found faithful to God.

Grant, most gracious Virgin, that we may be numbered among those whom you are pleased to love, to teach, and to guide, to favour and to protect as your children.

Grant that with the help of your love, we may despise all earthly consolation and cling to heavenly things, until through the Holy Spirit, your faithful spouse, and through you, his faithful spouse, Jesus Christ, your Son, be formed within us for the glory of the Father. Amen. (St. Grignon de Montfort)

Pray (1) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary’s, (1) Glory Be.

O Bleeding Face, O Face Divine, may all adoration be yours. (3x)

Eighth Day

(Recite the Daily Preparatory Prayer)

O rescue me, God my helper, and my tongue shall ring out your goodness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise. (Psalm 51:16-17)

Most merciful Face of Jesus, who in this vale of tears was so moved by our misfortunes as to call yourself the healer of the sick, and the good Shepherd of the souls gone astray, allow not Satan to draw us away from you, but keep us always under your loving protection, together with all souls who endeavour to console you.

Mary, our Mother, intercede for us, St. Joseph, pray for us.

Through the merits of your precious blood and your Holy Face, O Jesus, grant us our petition, pardon and mercy.

Prayer to St. Peter

O glorious St. Peter, who in return for your lively and generous faith, your profound and sincere humility; and your burning love, was honoured by Jesus Christ with singular privileges, and in particular, with the leadership of the other apostles and the primacy of the whole Church, of which you were made the foundation stone, may you obtain for us the grace of a lively faith, that shall not fear to profess itself openly even to the shedding of blood.

Obtain for us likewise a sincere loyalty to our Holy Mother the Church. Grant that we may ever remain most closely and sincerely united to the Holy Father, the visible head of the Catholic Church. Grant, moreover, that we may follow, in all humility and meekness, the Church’s teaching and counsels and may we be obedient to all her precepts to enjoy a peace that is sure and undisturbed, and to attain one day in heaven to everlasting happiness. Amen.

Pray (1) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary’s, (1) Glory Be.

O Bleeding Face, O Face Divine, may all adoration be yours. (3x)

Ninth Day

(Recite the Daily Preparatory Prayer)

For in sacrifice you take no delight, burnt offering from me you would refuse, my sacrifice a contrite spirit. A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn. In your goodness, show favor to Zion; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice, holocausts offered on your altar. (Psalm 51:18-21)

Sacred Face of our Lord and our God, what words can we do to express our gratitude? How can we speak of our joy? That you have deigned to hear us, that you have chosen to answer us in our hour of need. We say this because we know that our prayers will be granted. We know that you, in your loving kindness, are listening to our pleading hearts, and will give, out of your fullness, the answer to our problems.

Mary, our Mother, thank you for your intercession on our behalf. St. Joseph, thank you for your prayers.

Through the merits of your precious blood and your Holy Face, O Jesus, grant us our petition, pardon and mercy.

Prayer to the Holy Trinity

Most Holy Trinity, Godhead indivisible, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, our first beginning and our end. Since you have made us after your own image and likeness, grant that all the thoughts of our minds, all the words of our tongues, all the affections of our hearts, and all our actions may always be conformed to your Most Holy Will, so that after having seen you here on earth by the means of faith, we may come at last to contemplate you face to face in paradise. Amen.

Pray (1) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary’s, (1) Glory Be.

O Bleeding Face, O Face Divine, may all adoration be yours. (3x)