Papal nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown on Sunday urged the faithful to see Christ in the faces of the poor, the sick, and the suffering.
Preaching during Mass at the Chapel of the Holy Face in Manila’s Quiapo district, Brown called on devotees to live out their faith through service.
“Of course, we contemplate this image here in this icon, but we also … see the image of Jesus in them and serve Jesus in them,” Brown said.
The liturgy marked the launching of the golden jubilee of the arrival of the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus in the Philippines.
The chapel is located within the main convent of the Sisters of the Holy Face of Jesus (HFJ), a congregation founded in Manila on Oct. 1, 1986, by Mother Mary Therese Vicente, a former member of the Daughters of Mary Mother of the Church.
The devotion began in 1976 when a replica of the Shroud of Turin was displayed at the Manila Cathedral and Mother Therese, then custodian of the exhibit, was moved by its impact on the faithful.
She later established a center for the Holy Face and, with Church approval, went on to found the congregation.
Lay groups inspired by the devotion followed: the Crusaders of the Holy Face of Jesus in 1977, the Young Apostles in 1990 and the Little Friends in 1994.
Despite challenges in its early years, the HFJ expanded its mission across the Philippines. The sisters’ work has continued beyond the death of their foundress in 1995.
As the jubilee opened, Brown urged devotees to unite contemplation with service.
“Let us do our very, very best to contemplate and adore Jesus through his image and his sacred face, but also to look and to serve his image in the distressing disguise of the poor,” he said.
The nuncio also expressed joy at being present for the start of the jubilee celebrations, which will last three years.
“We say thank you to God for the devotion of the Holy Face here in the Philippines, spread by these wonderful sisters, spread by you, the wonderful crusaders,” he said.
