text: The Apostles “with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary, the Mother of Jesus.” (Acts 1:14)
  As an infant is inseparable from its mother, so the infant Church was inseparable from Mary, the loving Mother of the Church. An infant must be loved and nurtured in order to learn, grow, and mature, taking its first steps while holding tightly to the hands of its mother.
  Mary, conceived without sin, was already filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and therefore she is a perfect reflection of the Face of God. So, the Apostles looked to Mary, “Full of Grace,” as their model perfectly formed in the image of God, as they prayed for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
  (photo: Patricia Enk)
  This is the work of the Holy Spirit of Love– to sanctify our souls, shining upon us the radiance of His light, transforming us into the image of God, as we gaze on God’s Face in prayer.
  “All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18)
  In Mary, the Holy Spirit manifests the Son of the Father…filled with the Holy Spirit she makes the Word of God, Jesus Christ, visible in order to make Him known to us. Like all good mothers, our Mother Mary will obtain all the good gifts that her children will need from her Spouse, the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. The Holy Spirit then perfects the soul with the first fruits of eternal glory: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity — so we may more closely resemble Jesus Christ.
  Let us remain “with one accord in prayer” with Mary, as the Apostles did, for it is “through Mary the Holy Spirit begins to bring men, the objects of God’s merciful love, into communion with Christ.” (CCC 725)
  Holy Spirit Window in Loreto, Italy. Photo:Patricia Enk
  To Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit
  Daughter of the Most High, Mother of God, faithful Spouse of the Holy Spirit — yet also Mary of Nazareth, Joseph’s wife, my mother– hear my prayer for grace, O Full of Grace. Pray your Spouse the Holy Spirit to come upon me — to shelter from all ill, to strengthen me to do what is right, to teach me all truth. Pray him come to me, and abide with me, and be within me a fountain springing up unto eternal life. May he sustain me in sorrow, sanctify me in life, and receive me at the hour of my death. Holy Mary, Mother of God, Mother of the Church, pray for us.
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  UncategorizedFace of God, Mary, Mary Mother of the Church, Mary-Spouse of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost	
  The Work of the Holy Spirit – restoring God’s Likeness
  May 15, 2015 September 4, 2015 patriciaenk1 Comment	
  Come Holy Spirit!
  “Disfigured by sin and death, man remains “in the image of God,” in the image of the Son, but is deprived “of the glory of God, of his likeness.” “… the Son himself will assume that “image” and restore it in the Father’s “likeness” by giving it again its Glory, the Spirit who is “the giver of life.”–CCC705
  Mankind has separated itself from the love of the Father, like the prodigal son of the Gospel, man no longer wants to be the image of God, but the image of himself, which is a false image — not who God created us to be; his sons and daughters. The Holy Spirit restores God’s likeness in us through the merciful face of Jesus.
  In the letter, “Misericordiae Vultus” (Merciful Face) Pope Francis invokes the Holy Spirit by praying, “May the Holy Spirit, who guides the steps of believers in co-operating with the work of salvation wrought by Christ, lead the way and support the People of God so that they may contemplate the face of mercy.”
  “Jesus Christ is the Face of the Father’s Mercy.” — Pope Francis
  Pope St. John Paul II who dedicated the millennium to The Holy Face also prayed, ”May the Holy Spirit, which you have granted, bring to maturation your work of salvation, though your Holy Face, which shines forever and ever.” Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI tells us that the Holy Spirit illuminates the reciprocity between God the Father and Jesus the Son: “Jesus has divine dignity and God has the human face of Jesus. God shows himself in Jesus and by doing so gives us the truth about ourselves.”
  The truth is that we are not God, our own image is a false one and we need the Holy Spirit “to restore his likeness” in us through Jesus, the King of Mercy. By the mutual gaze of love between the Face of God and the soul of man, God restores his image in our souls.
  At the first Pentecost the Holy Spirit manifested as fire. Jesus said, “I come to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already enkindled.” (Lk 12:49) The fire of the Holy Spirit blazes, but does not destroy when it burns. The effect of the fire of the Holy Spirit is to purify, sanctify and transform us, through the Cross, into his image in truth and love and re-animating our souls with the Holy Spirit’s breath of life.
  Burn within us, Holy Fire, so that chaste in body and pure of heart, we may desire to see the Face of God.
  Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit
  Prayer to Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit
  Hail, Mother of Mercy, Mother of God, and Mother of pardon, Mother of hope, and Mother of grace, Mother of holy joy — O Mary!
  Hail, happy Virgin Mother, for he who sits at the Father’s right hand and rules over the heavens, earth and sky, enclosed himself in your womb — O Mary!
  The Uncreated Father made you, the Holy Spirit overshadowed you, the only begotten Son became man in you: divine was your making — O Mary!
  Be our consolation; O Virgin, be our joy; and after this our exile bring us to our heavenly home — O Mary!
  –Salve, Mater Misericordiae
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  UncategorizedDevotion to the Holy Face, Fire of The Holy Spirit, God the Father, Holy Face, Holy Spirit, Jesus the Son, Mary, Mary-Spouse of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost	
  Feb. 13, Day 6 – Holy Face Novena
  February 13, 2015 September 26, 2015 patriciaenk1 Comment	
  Alpha-Omega Holy Face of Jesus Novena Prayers and Consecration
  Daily Preparatory Prayer
  “Il Volto Santo” Holy Face of Manoppello, Italy
  O Most Holy and Blessed Trinity, through the intercession of Holy Mary, whose soul was pierced through by a sword of sorrow at the sight of the passion of her Divine Son, we ask your help in making a perfect Novena of reparation with Jesus, united with His sorrows, love and total abandonment.
  We now implore all the Angels and Saints to intercede for us as we pray this Holy Novena to the Most Holy Face of Jesus and for the glory of the most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
  Sixth Day
  Psalm 51: 12-13
  A pure heart create for me, O God, put a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence not deprive me of your Holy Spirit.
  Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit
  May our hearts be cleansed, O Lord, by the in-pouring of the Holy Spirit, and may He render them fruitful by watering them with His heavenly dew. Mary, the most chaste spouse of the Holy Spirit, intercede for us, St. Joseph, pray for us.
  Through the merits of your precious blood and your Holy Face, O Jesus, grant us our petition, …Pardon and mercy.
  Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel *
  “Who is like God?” —
  St. Michael the Archangel
  O Victorious Prince, most humble guardian of the Church of God and of faithful souls, who with such charity and zeal took part in so many conflicts and gained such great victories over the enemy, for the conservation and protection of the honor and glory we all owe to God, as well as for the promotion of our salvation; come, we pray Thee, to our assistance, for we are continually besieged with such great perils by our enemies, the flesh, the world and the devil; and as Thou wast a leader for the people of God through the desert, so also be our faithful leader, and companion through the desert of this world, until Thou conduct us safely into the happy land of the living, in that blessed fatherland from which we are all exiles. Amen. (St. Aloysius)
  Pray one (1) Our Father, three (3) Hail Mary’s, one (1) Glory Be.
  O Bleeding Face, O Face Divine, be every adoration Thine. (3 times)
  *[St. Michael, whose battle-cry is “Who is like God?” is the Patron of the Arch-Confraternity of The Holy Face, which was canonically erected in the Chapel of the Discalced Carmelite nuns of New Orleans by Archbishop Perche in 1883, the first in The United States. From that humble oratory, devotion to The Holy Face spread throughout the Americas. Recently, Old St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in New Orleans has commissioned an exceptional statue of St. Michael bearing a shield with the Face of Jesus “Il Volto Santo” of Manoppello.
  (full statue not shown) Shield bearing Volto Santo by sculptor Cody Swanson, study for St. Michael Statue.
  Sculptor Cody Swanson
  Cody Swanson, is the artist of the awe-inspiring sculpture. Thanks to Mr. Paul Badde I’ve been fortunate enough to see photos of the color-study of the work. I have never seen a more powerful expression of St. Michael’s key question, “Who is like God?” Mr. Swanson, is an American Catholic convert and father of five, who has been described as “a young Michaelangelo.” Hmmm… Is that The Holy Spirit over his shoulder, or just a reflection on the glass? Either way, he certainly has been inspired!]
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  UncategorizedAlpha-Omega Holy Face Novena, Cody Swanson, Discalced Carmelite Nuns, Holy Face of Manoppello, Il Volto Santo, Mary-Spouse of the Holy Spirit, New Orleans, Old St. Patrick's Catholic Church, St. Michael the Archangel	
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