Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Holy Face to be Enthroned at Church of St. Bede the Venerable in La Canada, California on Divine Mercy Sunday



One of the fruits of the September 2015  Mission of the Holy Face of Manoppello to Los Angeles will take place this coming Sunday April 3, Divine Mercy Sunday when the Holy Face will be enthroned during a Holy Massat 9:00 A.M.The enthronement is coordinated by Lydia F. Cruz, Ludi Herrera, and Msgr. Antonio Cacciaputi, Pastor of St. Bede Church in La Canada, Flintridge, California. The reliquary containing the Holy Face at St. Bede is the very one that was brought to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles last September 9, 2015 for one week veneration. 

Saturday, March 26, 2016

R.I.P. Paul MacLeod



The Australian Catholic journalist Paul MacLeod died Holy Saturday at 3pm Australian time.  For many years Paul spread the devotion to the Holy Face of Manoppello far and wide especially in Australia and Oceania.

As a tribute to him here is a tile which he had shared with many around the world just in the last few days showing the face of Jesus from ancient Edessa (modern day Sanliurfa) which exhibits the characteristics of the Holy Face of Manoppello.





May Paul MacLeod rest in peace with the vision of the face of Jesus forever.





Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Holy Face of Manoppello Visiting Two Neighboring Towns







translation of article in Il Centro Newspaper March 12, 2016 describing the visit of the Holy Face of Manoppello to Tocco da Casauria and Turrivalignani.  The visit to Tocco da Casauria concluded last Sunday March 20 Palm Sunday.  Thanks to Antonio Bini for alerting me to the article and for the photos

http://ilcentro.gelocal.it/pescara/cronaca/2016/03/12/news/doppia-trasferta-per-il-volto-santo-di-manoppello-1.13117586



By Walter Teti

MANOPPELLO. After the great trips to the United States, Canada and the Philippines, the Holy Face will make two “zero kilometer” trips given that the transfers of the Holy Icon are scheduled starting tomorrow (March 13) for a week in Tocco da Casauria and after Easter in Turrivalignani.  Of course, as has been done at other times, it is a reproduction of the Veil which will be transported.

As soon as the news spread it raised some alarm because it was thought that it would be the actual Monstrance containing the Image of the Lord which would be transported, so that the police wanted an explanation directly from the Rector of the Holy Face Basilica, Father Carmine Cucinelli. The initiative was included in the program of religious activities dedicated to the Jubilee of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis. And what religious relic can embody the true meaning of Mercy, if not the face of the risen Christ?

 At Tocco, for the first time in history, the Veil will arrive tomorrow (March 13) at 4pm, and will be welcomed at the entrance of the town by the parish priest Fr Michele Persichitti who, together with the faithful, will carry it in procession to the church of San Domenico. This will begin a weeklong intensive program of vigils, prayers, meetings, and adoration. 

Veneration of the Holy Face at the Church of San Domenico in Tocco da Casauria


Each day will have a particular theme to address topics such as the Holy Face and Goodness, the Holy Face and Mercy, the Holy Face and Love understood as the Church understands it -- the universal and concrete love that completes and surpasses hope alone and the faith itself. A week that will see the town be a destination of pilgrimages from neighboring towns and which is preparing to welcome pilgrims in the best of ways.

"Being involved in this event," says Mayor Luciano Lattanzio, "will make a significant mark on our community which will have in its own house what has become the most sought-after, representative and beloved icon of Christianity. We will be present and available to offer the best of ourselves."

The return of the Holy Image to Manoppello is scheduled for the evening of Palm Sunday, conducted by the faithful of Tocco who, at its conclusion, will participate in a Mass in the Manoppello Basilica.


Thursday, February 4, 2016

St. Padre Pio and St. Leopold Mandic Pray for Us


Mortal Remains of St. Padre Pio and St. Leopold Mandic at the Church of San Lorenzo  (photo taken from Avvenire)

As part of the celebration of the Holy Year of Mercy the mortal remains of St. Padre Pio and St. Leopold Mandic have arrived in Rome at the Church of San Lorenzo in Verano from San Giovanni Rotondo and Padua respectively. These two  Capuchin friars of the twentieth century throughout their lives were renowned for their holiness and for their tireless devotion to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, spending long hours in the confessional.  Pope Francis has chosen them to be among the patron saints of the jubilee year of Mercy and personally decided to have their incorrupt mortal remains brought to St. Peter's Basilica where they will be venerated by the faithful from February 5 to 11.
 Here is reporting on the arrival in Rome of the mortal remains of the two saints.
http://www.avvenire.it/Chiesa/Pagine/padre-pio-leopoldo-mandic.aspx


Here is found a very inspirational talk about St. Leopold Mandic given by Pope John Paul I

https://popejpi.org/index.php/st-leopold-mandic-and-gods-mercy/

Sunday, January 31, 2016

Prayers Requested for Paul Badde's Speedy Recovery from Surgery

photo by Paul Badde



Prayers are requested for our friend the author and journalist Paul Badde who is recovering from  heart by pass surgery. Paul has been so faithful and untiring in witnessing to the Holy Face of Manoppello and making the Face of Jesus known throughout the world through his articles, books and photographs multiplied by his person to person ministry to so many of us. Paul was instrumental in bringing about the recent Pilgrimage Procession of the Holy Face from Manoppello to St. Peter's and Santo Spirito in Rome.
Ellen Badde, Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, S.J. and Paul Badde at Santo Spirito Church on January 17, 2016 (photo by Antonio Bini)

Paul Badde with Pope Benedict XVI in Manoppello on Sept. 1, 2006 surrounded by Archbishop Bruno Forte,
Fr. Andreas Resch, Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer and Sr. Blandina Paschalis Schlomer




Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Archbishop Edmond Y. Farhat's Homily at Santo Spirito for the Concluding Mass of Holy Face Pilgrimage Procession


from left Fr. Carmine Cucinelli, O.F.M., Cap., Archbishop Edmond Y. Farhat, Mons. Americo Ciani (photo by Paul Badde)



Homily of His Excellency The Most Reverend

Edmond Y. Farhat

Apostolic Nuncio Emeritus to Austria



The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C
"Omnis Terra"
 

17 January 2016



Pilgrimage of the Holy Face from Manoppello to Rome

Church of Santo Spirito in Sassia


We have accompanied with hymns and songs, invocations and thanks, the icon of the Holy Face of Manoppello to venerate it and, through it, to praise the Lord Jesus Christ for his wonders. The Holy Mass was celebrated. The people of God prayed, the priests and ministers offered thanksgiving, prayers, and supplications.

from left Fr. Ted Lopez, Fr. Carmine Cucinelli, OFM, Cap., Archbishop Edmond Y. Farhat, Mons. Americo Ciani,
Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, S.J., Fr. Jess Marano and (behind) Mons. Jozef Bart, Rector of Santo Spirito (photo by Antonio Bini)



photo by Antonio Bini




In the Face of Christ, impressed on the veil of Veronica, preserved in the sudarium of Manoppello, we venerate the Lord God of mercy, Savior of the world.
 
Archbishop Farhat gives a blessing with the Holy Face (photo by Paul Badde)
 

Today, brothers and sisters, right now, we return to the temple of the Holy Spirit to venerate the Holy Face and all it means. We celebrate the Eucharist, we confess our sins, and we announce the Good News.

The Good News of today is the invitation to the wedding at Cana. Jesus was invited, invited by his Mother because the guests were friends of his mom. She invited her Son, and at a certain point, said, “They have no wine.” “My hour,” responded the Son, “has not yet arrived.” “Do that which he says,” said his mom. Jesus, obedient to his Mother, saved face for the groom and his family.

The feast was beautiful and the joy was great. They drank and sang. The feast was transformed into a unique occasion. It was the occasion of the first sign of his manifestation, of the manifestation of his divinity. It was the beginning of the signs carried out by Jesus, because of which they believed in him. Better still, it is the first sign that reveals his personality. He came that they might have life, and have it in abundance. At Cana, Jesus manifested his authority. “Fill the jars,” and they filled them. Cana was the very first sign of the divine authority of Jesus, this authority that developed during his mission until it became known in the passion and in a true image, living, in the hands of Veronica.

Cana was the first visible sign of the divinity of Jesus. It is a provocative sign now, the icon of Manoppello that is a definitive sign. Cana was the first, and the face of the sudarium is the definitive sign. It is a provocative sign and insignificant, discrete and quiet, but most eloquent, always old and always new. Discussed and venerated, look at it with your eyes, accompany it, follow it, and let it guide your gaze. It is a concrete sign, but it is not made by man; it is created, but no one knows its origin, its formation.

It is not an object of another time; it is the icon of the eternal face, the face of goodness and of friendship, of mercy and of peace. The face that speaks, that examines, that asks, that awaits a response. It seems to say: “Look at me, you who are tired. Come to me and I will give you rest.” They have not seen, they did not have to suffer humiliation, the men of our time, as the friends of Mary did not have to suffer humiliation at Cana. He had to reach out.

They do not have faith, the men of our time, but, as at the wedding at Cana: “Have mercy on them,” Mary says [to her Son], “and contemplate the face bequeathed to you” [to the men of our time]. And we contemplate the face of Jesus. It speaks to us and nods to us, it is good, it is merciful. Therefore, we have brought it from Manoppello to here, because his expression [word missing] a wider goodness and mercy in this year of grace in which God reveals himself with the name of mercy, as the Holy Father Francis teaches. Therefore, we display it in the church of the Holy Spirit so that the Spirit may speak to the heart, and suggest intentions of wisdom and hope. Therefore we place it in the church looked after by Saint Faustina because she has been able to perceive the dimensions of his face.

There are moments in which, in an even stronger way, we are called to keep our look fixed on mercy to become effectively inserted into the action of the Father, as Pope Francis says in his exhortation.

This, dear brothers and sisters, is a privileged moment. We fix our gaze on the Holy Face and we will be transformed by God’s mercy. The sign is not an end in itself; the sign is a pointer on the way of the return, the return to the Father. The sudarium [word missing] of Christ. Christ is Jesus that has transformed the water into wine to participate in the joy of his friends and relations. The transformation requires a change. Our transformation and our conversion from pointless spectators to collaborators in the work of Jesus and Mary, who kept all these things in her heart, and no one knows the son and Lord like her. She guides us on the journey to encounter her Son, through his face that we can physically contemplate.

Yesterday we took it and venerated it to give thanks for so many benefits; today we greet it and honor it, asking him to accompany us on our new journey, the journey to the wedding of the Lamb, full of grace and mercy.

We hold impressed in our minds and in our heart his image that speaks to us and examines us. It is the image of the Word become Incarnate so that we might have life. It accompanies us on our way so that we might always remember that God is mercy. His mercy accompanies us. We remember that the people of God, going up to Jerusalem, in the Old Testament, always repeated during their pilgrimages: “God is good, he has given us goodness; he has given us faith because his mercy is eternal, because his mercy is eternal.”

We from this Eternal City, city of saints, of Faustina; city of John Paul II, of Paul VI, of John XXIII, of popes and saints; we turn our thoughts to the Jerusalem of Jesus, to the Jerusalem of Mary; and we ask peace for Jerusalem, peace to all the people of Palestine and of Jerusalem, of the Middle East and of the Mediterranean. There is room for everyone; mercy has no limits. ** Eternal is the mercy of God, because he is good; he is great, may his face guide us, accompany us, and we will not be lost.
**The final appeal for peace was repeated by Archbishop Edmond Y. Farhat also in Hebrew and Arabic
thanks to Paul Badde and Fr. Carmine Cucinelli, O.F.M,, Cap. for the transcript, Paul Badde and Antonio Bini for the photos and Fr. Daren J. Zehnle for the translation of Archbishop Farhat's homily

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Some Holy Face Pilgrimage Photos by Paul Badde




Entering St. Peter's Basilica


Entering Holy Door at St. Peter's


At Pieta in St Peter's

On the Way to Santo Spirito from St. Peter's




















Archbishop Georg Ganswein at Mass at Santo Spirito



















At Santo Spirito