Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Holy Face to be Enthroned at Church of St. Bede the Venerable in La Canada, California on Divine Mercy Sunday
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
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| 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) |
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| 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
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| 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
![]() |
| 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
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