One Year Ago Today Our Dear Friend Daisy Neves Passed Away

Editor's Note: To remember and commemorate our dear friend Daisy Neves on the first anniversary of her death I re-post the article by Antonio Bini, Communications Director of the Shrine of the Holy Face,  which appeared on this blog on July 26 of last year.  Daisy deserves to be remembered, and will be forever remembered, for her great love for the Holy Face of Manoppello and for initiating the great missionary campaign for the Holy Face of Manoppello in so many countries of the world flowing from her great and magnanimous love for her family and all her many friends, whose number constantly grew and grew up to the day of her death.  

The Passing of Daisy Neves

The Missionary of the Holy Face

by Antonio Bini      from the June 2019 edition of  Il Volto Santo di Manoppello 

Last March 29th, Mrs. Daisy Neves, a devotee of the Holy Face and a great supporter of its  spread throughout the world, passed away in Bellevue, Washington, USA. She was born in the Philippines in 1938, but as a child emigrated with her family to the United States. She discovered the Holy Face by reading an article concerning Benedict XVI's visit to Manoppello. In 2011 she made her first pilgrimage to the Holy Face, after which she began to develop a program for promoting the Holy Face, proposing to Father Carmine Cucinelli, two international missions - in 2014 and 2015 - to various cities in the United States, Canada and the Philippines (including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Vancouver, Manila, etc.), with various initiatives that led to the enthronement of the Holy Face in local churches, in agreement with the dioceses and with the Shrine of Manoppello. 

Daisy with Paul Badde, Ethelyn David and Ellen Badde during the Mission to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The first enthronement took place on September 14, 2014 in a small town in the Philippines - Nampicuan - with the church elevated the following year to the Diocesan Shrine of the Holy Face, the first in Asia, now a destination for pilgrims from the Philippines and other Asian countries. When she started her mission- in which she involved various religious and laity, building a network of friends of the Holy Face - Mrs Neves was already suffering from cancer. At the beginning of 2015 she thought her time had come, yet continued to work tirelessly to spread the Holy Face, despite the suffering following the various cycles of chemotherapy.

Daisy, along with Raymond Frost, Fr. Lawrence Goode, Pastor, Augustine Pham and Deacon Christoph Sandoval on November 11, 2017 in the church of St. Francis of Assisi, East Palo Alto, California following the Enthronement of the Holy Face which Daisy donated to the church

She met His Holiness Bartholomew, Patriarch of Constantinople, to whom she gave a copy of 

the Holy Face, as well as leaders of the Lebanese Maronite Church, aware that the Holy Face was a spiritual patrimony of all of Christianity and not just of Catholics. She said that the Holy Face had prolonged her life.

Daisy presenting a book on the Holy Face to Patriarch Bartholomew

Last October she made a final trip to Manoppello, accompanied by her son Erwin, being able to stay in the hotel "La Casa del Pellegrino", (Pilgrim House) adjacent to her beloved shrine. A journey that coincided with the umpteenth enthronement of the Holy Face -- in the parish of Saints Elisabeth and Zacchariah in Rome --, whose pastor - Fr Bonifacio (Ted) Lopez - of Filipino origins, for years in Italy,  had accompanied Father Carmine on the mission of 2015. The photos of those days spent in her beloved Shrine show her enthusiasm and joy, despite the gradual deterioration of her health, which she tried to hide.

Daisy speaking in the Shrine in October 2018 to a group of pilgrims from California with her son Erwin and Fr. Carmine by her side

To understand her generous commitment and above all her faith, I would like to highlight a message she wrote to me on November 6, 2018, shortly after returning to the United States where she told me that she had just received in her home five ladies from Chile. and that the Holy Face was spreading to the remotest corners of the world.

An occasion to reiterate "that which had been my only intention: to share with others, and not just a few, that Jesus left us His beautiful Holy Face. This is important for me, so that they too ¬ (the Chilean ladies, Ed.) will share this with others one day."  She wrote to me that she was uneasy about her health, but that "it was a blessing to serve the Lord, especially in illness and physical weakness”. Testimonies that express how extraordinary this person has been: generous, very religious, but also practical and courageous in developing actions for the purpose of revealing the knowledge and devotion to the Holy Face. 

She was very attached to Father Carmine and to the Capuchins of Manoppello, to the priests involved in the missions and those leading parishes where devotion to the Holy Face was tangible, as well as to the Bishops, to Sister Blandina, Paul Badde (who was part of the 2015 mission), Sister Petra-Maria Steiner and also to this author. For each of my articles translated into English and published by Raymond Frost in San Francisco on the blog www.holyfaceofmanoppello.blogspot.com she sent me a message of appreciation, confident that during so many sleepless nights it was comforting to reread the old articles on the blog.

In the last hours of her life, although visibly weakened by the illness, she appeared serene, in prayer with several friends linked to the mission, such as Ethelyn David (from Vancouver), Corgie Bernardo, etc., preparing for death, taking in her hands the images of the Holy Face and of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Among the messages following her death I point to that of Bishop Victor Ocampo (Diocese of Gumaca, Philippines), in which while referring to the Shrine of Manoppello, he recalls having received a copy of the Holy Face from her as a gift, which was then solemnly enthroned by him - in her memory - on May 12 in the church of the Most Holy Rosary in Lopez, in the province of Quezon.

Daisy in front of the bulletin board of the Shrine pointing to an article and photo of Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, regarding the Cardinal's visit to the Shrine for the Feast of the Holy Face in May 2017

Daisy will continue to be held up as an example for the continuation of the mission of the Holy Face, with horizons that previously seemed impossible and the effects of her mission are vast.

Father Carmine wanted to remember her with the following message - distributed in English - to her children and grandchildren, friends and religious linked to her activities - in which he gives her the title "Missionary of the Holy Face".

MESSAGE from Fr. Carmine Cucinelli, Rector of the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello in memory of DAISY NEVES

Dear children, brother, sister, nephews and nieces and family whole, relatives and friends of DAISY,
I would like to express to you my so profound and cordial condolences.
On March 29 2019, the world has impoverished for the loss of a dear and marvelous person. We have lost a woman of profound faith, a holy mother, a wise guide, a benefactress, a person on sensible and delicate spirit; a great and in-loved devout of the Holy Face.
Last year month of October, feeling that horrendous sickness that was returning to threaten her, she wanted to spend a week in the contemplation of the face of Christ here in Manoppello, accompanied by her son Alfred, staying a few steps from the sanctuary.
She wanted to contemplate long that face before going to see him in heaven.
Back home, when her cancer became definitely acute, was been obedient to what the doctors said: she underwent harrowing treatment. She wrote me:
"my life is in God's hands. Terrible to say that I am plagued with 2 types of cancer. I will continue to pray for trust in the Lord who gives life and who takes it away as He pleases. I surrender my life to the divine will of God. Amen. I am really ready to see Jesus face to face. I just have to enjoy every day that the Lord has granted me in prayers, and to work at the Mission of the Holy Face, which is my joy and, if He gives me more time, I would like to continue spreading the devotion to Holy Face”.
Her pilgrimage to heaven is similar to that of a patriarch, surrounded by the love of the beloved, whom she had blessed one by one. She was so happy to have seen the Holy Face, her reliquary, enthroned in her parish church. Until a few hours before returning to the Lord she has contemplated in video, the Holy Face almost alive from Manoppello,
She has loved everyone, she has forgiven those who had hurt her and offered to the Lord all his sufferings for the spiritual good of family members, because they may live as true children of God. She asked many Holy Masses to be celebrated for every dear member of the family and for every friend so that their lives may be filled with many heavenly blessings.
While we blow off in tears over the loss of this dear sister, we want to thank God for the gift of giving us Daisy for over eighty years.
For being so grateful for all she has done for the diffusion of the DEVOTION TO THE HOLY FACE, we from the SANTUARY OF MANOPpELLO, entitle and attribute to Mrs. Daisy Neves the title "MISSIONARY OF THE HOLY FACE”.
God uses much mercy toward her and the rest in the eternal Kingdom.

Padre Carmine Cucinelli, Rettore della basilica del Volto Santo di Manoppello

Holy Hour for Divine Mercy Highlights Prayer to the Holy Face

From EWTN a Holy Hour broadcast just a few days ago.  Fr. John Paul preaches on the Holy Face starting at minute 37 and prays the prayer to the Holy Face composed by Archbishop Forte.

Prayer to the Holy Face of Archbishop Bruno Forte for Liberation from the Coronavirus

Prayer to the Holy Face for the liberation from the coronavirus

Lord Jesus, Savior of the world, hope that will never disappoint us, have mercy on us and deliver us from all evil! Please overcome the scourge of this virus which is spreading, heal the sick, preserve the healthy, support those who work for the health of all. Show us your face of mercy and save us in your great love. We ask you through the intercession of Mary, Your Mother and ours, who faithfully accompanies us. You who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.

+ Bruno Forte

Archbishop of Chieti - Vasto (Italy)

Episode of Vaticano Televison Program Highlights Omnis Terra Sunday at Rome and Manoppello

The Vaticano televison program for the first week of February highlighted in one of its segments the feast of Omnis Terra Sunday and includes Pope Francis' encouragement for the faithful to contemplate the Face of Jesus at the Sunday Angelus for the feast. The celebration of the feast at Manoppello is shown at length with the words of Cardinal Kurt Koch the presider at the feast, the procession and blessing with the Holy Face.  The segment on Omnis Terra Sunday begins at 21:09

How a replica of the Holy Face of Manoppello brought change to a struggling community

The very inspiring story of Nampicuan a town in the Philippines which has embraced the devotion to the Holy Face of Manoppello in a big way.  Thanks to Ethelyn David for alerting me to this story.


https://worldwewant.ph/stories/how-a-religious-replica-brought-change-to-a-struggling-community?fbclid=IwAR381OO5t2Tz6SgKxy1w599z8c7HTMkx48VngDqndwne-EG6bpdty1doro8

EWTN Coverage of Omnis Terra Feast at Basilica of the Holy Face of Manoppello

EWTN News Nightly program broadcast a segment yesterday on the Feast of Omnis Terra last Sunday at the Basilica of the Holy Face of Manoppello.  The segment includes words from Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the main celebrant of the Mass and Procession.  The segment on the Feast of the Holy Face begins at 20:31 and continues with a segment on the Shroud of Turin.

Homily of Cardinal Koch for the Feast of Omnis Terra 2020

photo by Antonio Bini

note: translation by the Blog Editor from the original Italian

IN JESUS CHRIST, GOD HAS REVEALED HIS NAME AND HIS FACE[1]

 Cardinal Kurt Koch

First reading: Is 49: 3. 5-6

Second reading: 1 Cor 1: 1-3

Gospel: Jn 1:29-34 

A person with a name and a face

If you want to know a person and especially his or her mystery, it is advisable to know their name. Already a proverb suggests it: "Nomen est omen". And it makes us realize that names play an important role in the lives of us men and women. Even before a person is born, parents think about the name they want to give the newborn and the life prospects associated with it. The name received accompanies the person throughout his life. The person is called by his name, can be identified by his name and must sign his name. Above all, the name allows the person to be called. When we call a person by his or her name, we are bound in a personal relationship with him or with her whom we name. The great meaning that the name holds in the life of an individual shows that the name expresses the essence of a person.

Of course, with the name alone we can not yet fully know the mystery of a person. The name alone remains somewhat abstract, suspended in the air, if it cannot be associated with a precise face. "Nomen est omen": this saying begins to speak only when you meet the face that bears the name. Everyone has an unmistakable face that expresses his originality in the best sense of the word. As an individual can be called by his name, so he can be seen with his face and can establish a very personal relationship with another individual who shows him his face, so that a real "face-to-face" communication arises.

photo by Francesca Esposito Bini

Name and face make an individual a concrete person. The name is a word of relationship and highlights the fact that a person, based on his name, can be called and can turn towards other people. Thanks to his face, he can be seen by others and can look at others and, therefore, convey to them the image already suggested by the language. It is no coincidence that the Hebrew word for face, "panim", has been translated as "prosopon" in Greek and "persona" in Latin. A person, in fact, is characterized as having a name and a face.

If we take these bonds into account and if we also consider that the recognition of the mystery of the human being as person was possible, in history, thanks to the Christian effort to understand God as Trinity, then we will also approach the most intimate mystery of the Christian faith: the novelty of Christian revelation does not consist in a new religious idea or a new ethical decision, but in a person. No one is a person more than God himself, and we human beings become more and more persons as we deepen our personal relationship with him and believe in the person in whom God has made himself recognized definitively, revealing to us his name and showing us his face, that is, to say, his Son. Jesus Christ has made the name of God accessible, and He is himself the face of God who turns toward us.

Jesus Christ as name and face of God

"Father, I have manifested your name to the men you have given me from the world" (Jn 17: 6a). With this confession in his priestly prayer, Jesus points to the fulcrum of his divine mission in our world. He naturally assumes that God, whom he calls Father and with whom he finds himself face to face, also has a name. That God has a name is the most obvious fact in the biblical image of God. The name of God is certainly an expression of the recognition of God's nature, but, first of all, it makes it possible to call God in His essence. Just as we humans are called by our name, so too can we believers invoke the name of God.

According to Scripture, it is not we humans who give a name to God, thus forcing him to be called. Rather, God can only be called because he lets himself be called; and his name is known to us humans only because God himself has made it known to us. The personal relationship between us and God, made possible by his name, is therefore established not by us humans, but only by God. The name of God is the expression of the fundamental biblical fact that God gives himself a name and reveals himself, just as Jesus sums up his mission in the revelation of the name of God that he makes to us humans. Elsewhere, Jesus formulates his main concern and goal in life with the prayer addressed to the Father: "Father, glorify your name" (Jn 12: 28). Jesus identifies himself as the new Moses, the one who fulfills the mission of the first Moses, namely the proclamation of God's name "Yahweh", in an even deeper way.

Cardinal Koch encountering pilgrims from Switzerland and Hong Kong (photo by Antonio Bini)

As God revealed his name to us in his Son Jesus Christ, so he has also revealed to us that he has a face, showing it to us in the Son, in accordance with what Jesus Christ himself testifies: "Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father" (Jn 14, 9). With this confession, Jesus responds to the insistent request of the Apostle Philip to show him and his companions, the other apostles, the Father. Philip expresses humanity's original desire to see the face of God and to meet him face to face. This request already passes through the Old Testament as a common thread, as eloquently testified to in the prayer of a persecuted man, in Psalm 17: "But as for me I shall behold your face in righteousness, upon awakening I shall be satisfied with beholding your form" (Psalm 17:15). Psalm 24 recalls that the search for the face of God embraces all life: "Here is the generation that seeks him, that seeks your face, God of Jacob" (Psalm 24:6).

The original desire of men, which was expressed with particular incisiveness in the Old Testament, found fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the authentic witness to the fact that God, for the Christian faith, is not a distant God and is not even a simple philosophical hypothesis about the origin of the cosmos, but is a God who has shown us his true face, who has thus given us his final word , and that, with his full and unsurpassed word of love, has addressed us, as St. John of the Cross summed up in a meaningful way referring to the fulcrum of the Christian faith: "Because in giving us, as he gave us, his Son, who is his own Word and has no other,  he told us everything and at once in this one Word, and he has nothing more to say." In fact, there is nothing more to say, because God, in Jesus Christ, has approached us men as much as possible, revealing his name to us and showing us his true face.[2]

Lifelong search for a face "full of blood and wounds"

In the light of the extreme seriousness of God's revelation in His Son, the further question presented to us is: how exactly does the face of God look? John the Baptist provides us with the crucial answer in today's gospel. Seeing Jesus come towards him, he says: "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away sin from the world" (Jn 1:19). God, in Jesus Christ, has the face of a lamb. This face of God must make us reflect; it invites us to dwell before him.

The first time we hear it, this message may seem harmless and even a little romantic. But it assumes all its importance if we reflect on the fact that Christ has the face of a lamb and not of a lion or a wolf. But as such people expected it then, and we humans still hope today that God will use the power of a lion to undo the world and its structures and to create a new one. But Christ doesn't have the face of a lion. Rather, it is the kings of our world who have repeatedly portrayed themselves with this image to celebrate their power in a demonstrative way. Christ does not even have the face of a wolf, an image used by ancient Rome to present itself as a redeemer thanks to its power that dictated regulatory norms. John the Baptist shows us that redemption comes not from large and powerful animals, but from the fact that Christ came to us as a lamb, in the strength of his wide-open love.

This is the deepest reason why the cross is also part of the mystery of Jesus Christ, and why, in the world, the face of Christ is always presented as a "head full of blood and wounds". Being lamb and cross are in fact inseparably linked. Christ is the good shepherd of his people and the full realization of that figure of the servant to whom the prophet Isaiah refers, precisely because he has become lamb and has sided with the tortured lambs, to share their suffering and to save them. Jesus redeemed us by offering his life out of love. The deepest focus of Jesus' mission is in fact love; therefore, his mission can only be accomplished on the cross, as the evangelist John testifies: "God has indeed loved the world so much that he has given his only begotten Son, so that anyone who believes in him will not be not lost, but will have eternal life" (Jn 3:16).

When here, in the shrine of Manoppello, we gaze upon and worship the "Holy Face", we meet the face of a defenseless lamb and at the same time the face full of blood and wounds, because we meet the face of God's boundless love. We are invited to venerate this image and to seek the face of God, as Pope Benedict XVI recommended during his personal pilgrimage to Manoppello: "to seek the face of Jesus must be the yearning of all of us Christians; in fact, we are 'the generation' who in this time seek his face, the face of the 'God of Jacob'. Pope Benedict XVI spoke these words, referring to Psalm 105 which says: "Seek the Lord and his power, always seek his face" (Psalm 105:4).[3]

Cardinal Koch with Mayor of Manoppello, Choir of the Basilica and Fr. Carmine Cucinelli (photo by Antonio Bini)

With the word "always" we are invited to ensure that our lives as Christians are focused on the desire to seek the face of the Lord in the depths of our existence at all times, and on the certainty that this desire will not come to nothing, because faith sends us the beautiful message that God has a wonderful name and a loving face. If we seek and worship his face, then our whole life will be under God's blessing, which consists in the promise of his face: " the Lord bless and protect you. the Lord let his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face to you and give you peace" (Num 6:24-26). This splendor of God's face is the blessing we need and ask for in the celebration of the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, the Lord looks at us with his face of boundless love and gives himself to us as bread of life, which is spiritual nourishment on the way to eternity, in which we will praise and adore the face of God, for ever.

Photo by Paul Badde

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[1] Homily for the Eucharistic celebration in the Shrine of the "Holy Face" of Manoppello, January 19, 2020.

[2] St. John of the Cross, Mount Carmel, II, 22, 3.

[3] Benedict XVI, Speaking during the pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello, the September 1 2006.