Parishioners gather weekly at several parishes in the diocese to pray The Golden Arrow prayer to make reparation for sin in the world. HUNTERSVILLE — It’s not a typical prayer group, or a typical devotion to Our Lord. On Monday evenings, a number of parishioners quietly make their way into St. Mark Church and kneel before an image of the Holy Face of Jesus.
They pray specific prayers to make reparation for sin in the world through what is called the
“Apostolate of Reparation through the Holy Face.”
“It has been said that devotion to the Holy Face is really devotion to the Passion of Jesus Christ,” said Virginia Greecher, who coordinates the group at St. Mark. “Our thoughts focus on the intense love that Jesus has for each of us – a love so intense that it is depicted as His Sacred Heart on fire, blazing with love for us. How can one respond to such love? Only with love.”
The apostolate has spread to Holy Spirit Parish in Denver, St. Michael Church in Gastonia, and both St. Ann and St. Thomas Aquinas parishes in Charlotte over the past 14 months.
Each Monday, the group meets at St. Mark and prays The Golden Arrow prayer. This prayer was revealed by Our Lord in a private revelation to Venerable Sister Marie de St. Pierre, a Carmelite nun of Tours, France, in 1843 as a way to make amends for the sins of blasphemy, worshipping false idols and failing to keep the Lord’s Day holy – all sins against three of the Ten Commandments.
“We now have a core group of 10 people and others join us as they feel called,” Greecher said. “I believe reparation is a call from God. It’s that call that sets someone on fire for love of God. Once they realize it, they are ablaze.”
She and others prayed a nine-day novena from Feb. 12 to Feb. 20 leading up to the feast of the Holy Face of Jesus on Shrove Tuesday. She said the purpose of the Apostolate of Reparation through the Holy Face at St. Mark Parish is the same as that stated by Sister Marie: “By virtue of this Holy Face, offered to the Eternal Father, we can appease His anger, and obtain the conversion of the wicked and of blasphemers.”
On Feb. 21, St. Mark Parish celebrated a Holy Face feast day Mass. Near the altar was a relic of St. Veronica, who is believed to have wiped the face of Jesus as He made His way to Calvary, and an image of the Holy Face of Jesus. The image is a replica of the relic of the veil of St. Veronica, which is kept at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
Father Aaron Huber, St. Mark’s parochial vicar, offered the Mass and posed questions to those gathered during his homily: “Ask yourself, ‘Am I seeking His face in these practices? Am I seeking His face in my prayer?’”
He encouraged them in their apostolate, saying, “And since we know that Our Lord uses instruments, allow yourself to be an instrument of His hand to reach out to those who do not know Him. Be aware that you bear the Face of Christ in your heart and your actions.”
Father Aaron Huber, parochial vicar of St. Mark Parish, celebrated Mass on Feb. 21, Shrove Tuesday, for the feast of the Holy Face of Jesus. (Photos provided by Amy Burger)Celeste Richards, a member of Holy Spirit Parish in Denver, attended the Monday prayers at St. Mark for months. She felt a nudge to ask her pastor, Father Carmen Malacari, if she could start a Holy Face Apostolate at their parish.
Father Malacari offered the first Holy Hour dedicated to Reparation through the Holy Face last Nov. 15, the anniversary of Our Lord’s appearance to Sister Marie. He continues to lead the Holy Face Apostolate prayers during Adoration every Tuesday morning after the 9:15 a.m. Mass.
Each week, Richards places an image of the relic of the Holy Face of Jesus in the church for the Holy Hour and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. She also places a relic of St. Pius X, who in 1905 commissioned the image of the Holy Face, next to the image.
She is thankful for Father Malacari’s leadership and hopes his example encourages other priests to bring the apostolate to their parishes.
“I know Our Lord listens to us,” Richards said. “We are begging Him for His mercy during these times. This is one way we can all be with Him if we answer His call. Hopefully, we are saving someone’s soul.”
— SueAnn Howell
Learn more
For more information about bringing the Apostolate of Reparation through the Holy Face to your parish, contact Virginia Greecher at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Prayers and general information can be found online at www.holyfacedevotion.org.
The Golden Arrow Prayer
May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most incomprehensible and ineffable Name of God, be forever praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified, in heaven, on earth, and in the hells, by all the creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Amen.