Prayer Before the Holy Face

Pope Innocent III, according to the author Saverio Gaeta, composed in 1216 the first indulgenced prayer in the history of Christian piety. This prayer was meant to be prayed before the image of the Veronica. The prayer in the original latin:

Deus qui nobis, signatis lumine Vultus tui, memoriale tuum ad instantiam beatae Veronicae imaginem tuam sudario impressam relinquere volutisti, per passionem et crucem tuam tribue ut ita nunc in terris per speculum et in aenigmate venerari, honorare ipsum valeamus ut te tunc facie ad faciem venientem super nos iudicem secure videamus.

O God, who has willed for us as a memorial your image on the sudarium, at the request of the blessed Veronica, grant to us, illumined by the splendor of your face, present to us here on earth as if in a mirror, and in a mysterious way, that by your passion and cross, while venerating, honoring and adoring your face, we may one day be able to see you without fear face to face when you come before us as judge.

It was Pope Innocent III who approved the establishment of the Friars Minor as founded by St. Francis of Assisi.

Thanks to Paul Badde, as always, for allowing me the grace of using his photos of the Holy Face of Manoppello on this blog. Thanks also to my Latin teachers, Fr. Riddlemoser, S.S. (R.I.P.), and Fr. Kalkman, S.S. at St. Joseph of Cupertino High School.