Prayer to the Holy Face
By St. Thérèse of Lisieux
O Jesus, Who in thy bitter Passion didst become
“the most abject of men, a man of sorrows,’
I venerate Thy sacred face whereon
there once did shine the beauty and
sweetness of the Godhead; but now it
has become for me as if it were the
face of a leper! Nevertheless, under
those disfigured features, I recognize
Thy infinite love and I am consumed
with the desire to love Thee and make
Thee loved by all men. The tears which
well up abundantly in Thy sacred eyes
appear to me as so many precious pearls
that I love to gather up, in order to purchase
the souls of poor sinners by means of their
infinite value. O Jesus, Whose adorable face
ravishes my heart, I implore Thee to fix
deep within me Thy divine image and to
set me on fire with Thy love, that I may be
found worthy to come to the contemplation
of Thy glorious face in Heaven. Amen.