The Chaplet of the Holy Face is a prayer of reparation: it asks pardon for the blasphemies and profanations that offend God, and it does so by honouring the face of Christ disfigured in his Passion, the face Isaiah foretold 'without beauty, without majesty'. The devotion took its modern form in the Carmel of Tours in the 1840s through Sister Mary of Saint Peter, and an Archconfraternity of the Holy Face was later established there; Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, 'of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face', made it her own. The Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy places such devotions within the Church's contemplation of the Passion of Christ.

What you need

• A Holy Face chaplet: a medal, thirty-three small beads and six large beads; an ordinary rosary can be used by counting thirty-three small beads
• About fifteen minutes

When to pray it

Tuesdays, the day traditionally associated with the Holy Face, and especially on Shrove Tuesday, when the Holy Face is honoured in reparation before Lent; also during Lent and Holy Week, and whenever you hear God's name profaned.

Steps

1. 1

   Step 1: Begin on the medal

   Make the Sign of the Cross▾. On the medal pray: V. O God, come to my assistance. R. O Lord, make haste to help me. Then pray the Glory Be▾.

2. 2

   Step 2: Learn how the beads are counted

   The thirty-three small beads recall the thirty-three years of the earthly life of Jesus. The first thirty are divided into five groups of six for the five senses through which Christ suffered in his Passion: touch, hearing, sight, smell and taste. The last three honour the wounds of his Holy Face. On every small bead pray: "Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before your face." On every large bead pray the Glory Be▾.

3. 3

   Step 3: The first group: the sense of touch

   Announce: "In honour of the sense of touch of Jesus, wounded in his Passion." Recall the blows of the soldiers, the scourges and the nails. On each of the six small beads pray: "Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before your face." On the large bead pray the Glory Be▾.

4. 4

   Step 4: The second group: the sense of hearing

   Announce: "In honour of the sense of hearing of Jesus." Recall the insults, the false accusations and the cry "Crucify him." On each of the six small beads pray: "Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before your face." On the large bead pray the Glory Be▾.

5. 5

   Step 5: The third group: the sense of sight

   Announce: "In honour of the sense of sight of Jesus." Recall the tears, the blood running into his eyes from the crown of thorns, and the sight of his Mother at the cross. On each of the six small beads pray: "Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before your face." On the large bead pray the Glory Be▾.

6. 6

   Step 6: The fourth group: the sense of smell

   Announce: "In honour of the sense of smell of Jesus." Recall the filth of the guardroom and of Calvary. On each of the six small beads pray: "Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before your face." On the large bead pray the Glory Be▾.

7. 7

   Step 7: The fifth group: the sense of taste

   Announce: "In honour of the sense of taste of Jesus." Recall the gall and vinegar offered to him on the cross. On each of the six small beads pray: "Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before your face." On the large bead pray the Glory Be▾.

8. 8

   Step 8: The last three beads: the wounds of the Holy Face

   On the three remaining small beads pray three times, in honour of the wounds of the Holy Face: "Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before your face." On the final large bead pray the Glory Be▾.

9. 9

   Step 9: Close on the medal

   On the medal pray: "O God, our protector, look upon us, and cast your eyes upon the face of your Christ" (Psalm 84:9). Then, in reparation: "O Lord, show us your face, and we shall be saved." Make the Sign of the Cross▾.

Tips

• The invocation is Psalm 68:1. Say it as a plea for the triumph of Christ's face over the sin of the world, never as a curse on any person.
• Let each group of six beads be a real meditation on that sense of Christ: picture it before you begin the invocations.
• Praying the Anima Christi at the end joins the devotion to the Passion to the Eucharist from which it flows.

Related devotions

• Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus

Related saints

• Saint Therese of Lisieux