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| Blessed Giuseppina Maria, Pray for us ! |
⛪ Saint of the Day : July 26
⛪ Other Names :
• Maria Pierina De Micheli • Sister Maria Pierina
⛪ Born :
11 September 1890 in Milan, Italy
⛪ Died :
26 July 1945 in Centonara d'ArtΓ², Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Italy
Blessed Maria Pierina De Micheli (1890–1945) was a Roman Catholic religious Sister who was born near Milan in Italy. She is best known for her association with the Holy Face of Jesus (one of the Catholic devotions) and for introducing a medal bearing an image from the Shroud of Turin as part of this devotion.
In April 2009 Pope Benedict XVI advanced her beatification process by formally recognizing a miracle attributed to her. She was beatified on Sunday 30 May 2010 at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome by Archbishop Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Roman Curia. Although he was not present for the beatification Mass, Pope Benedict XVI noted her "extraordinary devotion" to the Holy Face of Christ at the Angelus audience the following Sunday.
She was born Giuseppina De Micheli in Milan on 11 September 1890. She had been aware from an early age of the Holy Face of Jesus devotion, which had been started almost a century earlier by a French Carmelite nun, Sister Marie of St Peter, of Tours, France. Giuseppina joined the Congregation of the Daughters of the Immaculate Conception in October 1913, and took the name Sister Maria Pierina on 16 May 1914, when she made her vows. She was then sent to the motherhouse in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she remained until 1921. While there, her attachment to the Holy Face devotion grew stronger. After her return to Milan she was eventually elected as the mother superior of her house and began to spread the devotion.
On the first Friday in Lent 1936 she reported a vision of Christ in which Jesus appeared to her and said: “I will that My Face, which reflects the intimate pains of My Spirit, the suffering and the love of My Heart, be more honored. He who meditates upon Me, consoles Me”. Further reported visions of Jesus and Mary urged Sister Maria Pierina to make a medal with the Holy Face of Jesus. After some effort, she managed to obtain permission to reproduce the photograph of the Shroud of Turin and authorization from the Curia in Milan to proceed with the medal in 1940. This became known as the Holy Face Medal.
On one side the medal bears a replica of the Holy Shroud of Turin and an inscription based on Psalm 66:2: "Illumina, Domine, vultum tuum super nos", i.e. "May, O Lord, the light of Thy countenance shine upon us". On the other side of the medal, there is an image of a radiant Sacred Host, the monogram of the Holy Name ("IHS"), and the inscription "Mane nobiscum, Domine" i.e. "Stay with us, O Lord".
The first medal of the Holy Face was offered to Pope Pius XII who approved the devotion and the medal. She had also reported that Jesus wanted a special Feast on the day before Ash Wednesday in honor of His Holy Face, to be preceded by a Novena (9 days) of prayers. In 1958, Pope Pius XII declared the Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus as Shrove Tuesday (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday) for all Roman Catholics.
In 1941 she wrote in her diary: "I feel a deep longing to live always united to Jesus, to love Him intensely because my death can only be a transport of love with my Spouse, Jesus." Sister Maria Pierina died on 26 June 1945 in Milan. Her remains are located at the Holy Spirit Institute in Rome.
⛪ The Holy Face Devotion :
Blessed Maria Pierina de Micheli, a holy nun who died in 1945, received this kind of message during the night adoration of the First Friday in Lent in 1936 to spread the devotion to the Holy Face, in reparation for the many insults Jesus suffered in His Passion, such as to be slapped, spit upon and kissed by Judas, as well as now being dishonored in many ways in the Blessed Sacrament by neglect, sacrileges and profanations. She was given a medal, which on one side bore a replica of the Holy Shroud of Turin and the inscription: “Illumina, Domine, vultum tuum super nos”. - Ps. 4:6 “May, O Lord, the light of Thy countenance shine upon us”.) On the reverse side was a radiant Host, with the words, “Mane nobiscum, Domine”. – “Stay with us, O Lord” Luke 24:29.
After great difficulties, Sister Pierina obtained permission to the have the medal cast. Even the expenses for the casting were miraculously met when she found on her desk an envelope with the exact amount of the bill – 11,2000 lire. The evil spirit showed his chagrin and rage at the medals by flinging them down and burning the pictures of the Sacred Face, and beating Sister Pierina savagely. In 1940, when the Second World War had the world in turmoil, Italy saw a wide distribution of this medal. Relatives and friends saw that their soldiers, sailors and aviators were provided with the replica of the Holy Face of Jesus since the medal was already famous for its miracles and countless spiritual and temporal favors. Our Divine Savior also requested that a special feast be instituted to honor His Holy Face on Shrove Tuesday - the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.
"Do you see how I suffer? Yet, very few understand me. Those who say they love me are very ungrateful! I have given my heart as the sensible object of my great love to men and I give My Face as the sensible object of my sorrow for all the sins of men. I wish that it be venerated by a special feast on Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. I wish that the feast be preceded by a novena in which the faithful make reparation with me, joining together and sharing in my sorrow." - Words of Our Lord Jesus to Bl. Maria Pierina de Micheli
⛪ Prayers :
Prayer of Bl. Maria to the Holy Face
O Blessed Face of my kind Savior, by the tender love and piercing sorrow of Our Lady as she beheld you in your cruel Passion, grant us to share in this intense sorrow and love so as to fulfill the holy will of God to the utmost of our ability. Amen.
Prayer of Bl. Maria to Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament
Yes, O most sweet Jesus, stay with us, for it is almost evening, and a ray of Your Divine Face, whom we adore in the Eucharist, enlightens our minds, and dispel the darkness that wrap the poor humanity.
Most loving Jesus, stay with us, to comfort us in the pains of life, to teach us to suffer with you, in peace and to enrich our pain.
Stay with us, amiable Master of truth that with confidence walk to eternal salvation, in the triumph of God's Kingdom
O Jesus, stay with us, nourishing ourselves with your spotless Body, together with The Virgin Mary, the Apostles, Saints to renew the face of the Earth.
Sweet Jesus, source of all good, stay with us in the Eucharist, and in Your Vicar on earth, all united in one Shepherd, glorify God here, in the light of faith, to glorify Him eternally in the vision and love in Heaven. Amen.
Prayer to ask for Favors through the Intercession of Bl Maria Pierina de Micheli
O God, One in three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you were pleased to let the gifts of your grace shire in the humble soul of Mother Pierina de Micheli, and called her to your service in a hidden life of obedience to be consoler of the Crucified Jesus and missionary of his Holy Face. Grant us that we, too, may dedicate our whole life to the glory of your Name and the service of our brothers.
Through the merits and intercession of your faithful servant grant us also the favours we confidently ask, so that she may one day be honoured on your altars and her heroic virtues be shown forth for our example and encouragement. Amen.