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The epistle was taken from the letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians.

Brethren, be imitators of God as very dear children, and walk in love as Christ also loved us and delivered himself up for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God to ascend in fragrant odour.

But immorality and every uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you as become saints. Or obscenity or foolish talk or scurility which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.

For know this and understand, that no fornicator or unclean person or covetous one, for that is idolatry, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Let no one lead you astray with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience. Do not then become partakers with them, for you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.

Walk then as children of light, for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and justice and truth.

The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Luke. At that time Jesus was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb, and when he had cast out the devil, the dumb man spoke, and the crowds marvelled.

But some of them said, By Beelzebub, the prince of devils, he casts out devils. And others, to test him, demanded from him a sign from heaven. But he, seeing their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and house will fall upon house.

If then Satan also is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because you say that I cast out devils by Beelzebub. Now if I cast out devils by Beelzebub, by whom do your children cast them out?

Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

When the strong man, fully armed, guards his courtyard, his property is undisturbed. But if a stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he will take away all his weapons that he relied upon, and will divide his spoils.

He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he roams through waterless places in search of rest. And finding none, he says, I will return to my house which I left. And when he has come to it, he finds the place swept. Then he goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.

Now it came to pass, as he was saying these things, that a certain woman from the crowd lifted up her voice and said to him, Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that nursed you.

But he said, Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. So today, as we gather for this Mass offered for the sick, we have come to place ourselves humbly before the face of our Lord, to look upon the face of him who is the source of life and healing and strength, and to ask him to look upon us with mercy and to pour out upon us his grace. When we think of the face of a person, we think of the person themselves. The face reveals the person, and in the holy face of Jesus, we see the very heart of God who became man for us.

During his passion, the face of our Lord was hit, spat upon, and crowned with thorns.

Yet the same face that was wounded for our sins shines with divine love. When we look upon the holy face, we remember how greatly Christ suffered for us, and how deeply he continues to love us.

Since the very beginnings of the Church, Christians have had a special reverence for images of the holy face.

One of the most famous, of course, is the image of the holy face upon the veil of St. Veronica, which has been preserved in the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome. Tradition tells us that as Jesus carried his cross, a compassionate woman named Veronica wiped his face with her veil, and his sacred features were miraculously impressed upon the cloth.

Now, at one time, in 1849, when this sacred image of the veil was displayed in St. Peter's Basilica, a powerful miracle took place.

Because it was very delicate, the veil had been covered with another cloth.

But as the people were praying in front of it, the face began to shine through that outer cloth, and seemed to become as if it were alive.

The face of Christ appeared radiant, as though the Lord himself wished to remind his people that the face, once disfigured in suffering, now shines in glory.

The miracle was also witnessed by many of the priests of the Basilica, and it is noted down officially in the records of St. Peter's.

Drawings were made of this miraculous image in order to record the event, and then subsequently copies of these drawings were made, which were then touched to the original veil of St. Veronica, and to a piece of the Holy Cross on which our Lord died, and also to the spear that was used to pierce the side of Christ by the Roman soldier.

These copies of the veil image were then venerated throughout the world as relics of our Lord's suffering and death.

We have one of these relic images here above the altar in this chapel. You can also probably just about see the wax seals which are placed there on the image by the authorities at St. Peter's in order to indicate that the image is authentic and truly has been touched to the sacred relics.

Someone else who had one of these images was a French man in the 19th century named Leo Dupont. He kept the image on a wall in his home, and in front of it he placed a lamp that burned continually. This lamp was filled with oil. And the sisters here, in the same way, keep a lamp burning before the holy face image. Now, back to Leo Dupont. Following an incident when a visitor of his, who was suffering with a very painful eye disease, took some oil from the lamp, and after placing some on her eyelids was immediately cured of her pain, people who were sick or troubled started to come to Leo asking for prayers.

Leo Dupont would anoint them with a little oil taken from the lamp that burned before the image of the holy face, and he would pray with great faith that our Lord would show mercy.

What happened astonished many. The sick were healed, those suffering from severe illnesses recovered.

People who had lost hope found peace.

And over the course of 30 years, over 6,000 miracles were reported through this simple devotion.

Numerous doctors confirmed that cures had taken place which they could not explain, and Pope Pius IX even said that Leo Dupont was probably the greatest miracle worker in church history.

Now, he probably doesn't look like the greatest miracle worker in church history, and Leo Dupont never claimed that the power came from himself.

He insisted that everything came from our Lord and from devotion to his holy face. Even today, miracles continue to take place, and powerful graces received through people approaching Christ's holy face with trust, and especially through the use of the holy oil, which has been burning before these images. The Carmelite sisters here distribute oil from their lamp to people who request it from all around the world. And they have received in return emails from people who have received healing and strengthening through the use of the oil. The same oil which we will use after this mass to bless anyone who would like to receive it. So now I'm just going to share with you a couple of the messages the sisters have received as examples of how our Lord has worked through the devotion to his holy face. This first one was received less than a month ago.

Dear sisters, I used the holy oil on a friend who had a very swollen and painful joint on her hand and her whole right wrist.

After anointing her with the holy oil, the pain decreased within minutes, and the most swollen joint decreased in size virtually before our eyes.

And this also gave me a chance to tell her about the holy face, and now I think she is hooked.

Or this one from the end of last year. Dear sisters, I would like to share with you another great double miracle that happened to some people I know from my parish.

A man named Paco had a very serious heart condition and needed to undergo surgery as soon as possible.

He did, but in the midst of his illness, his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, and not long after that, his daughter was diagnosed with papilloma, also a various form of cancer.

This tragedy struck their family in less than two months. As I was praying for them, I felt inspired to give them the holy oil of the holy face. I explained to him that they should apply the oil with faith and make the sign of the cross. This happened about a month ago.

Today, after Mass, he approached me and asked if he could speak with me. We went outside and he said to me, Monica, please explain to me again where this oil comes from. I really need to know.

I explained to him, and with tears in his eyes, he told me that both his wife and his daughter are now completely free from cancer. He asked me to let you, the sisters, to let you know and to thank you. So, we have every reason to approach our Lord with confidence. But we must also approach him with hearts wanting to love him in return. This devotion to the holy face asks of us to make reparation to our Lord for the sins that continually wound his holy face.

The holy face reminds us of the insults our Lord endured. Blasphemy, indifference, hatred of God. When we honour the holy face, we offer love in place of hatred, reverence in place of mockery, and prayer in place of neglect.

When you look upon an image of the holy face of Jesus, remember also that these are the eyes that looked with mercy upon sinners, the lips that spoke words of eternal life, and the brow that bore the crown of thorns for our salvation. The same Lord is, of course, now living and reigning, and he continues to want to pour out on us his mercy and his grace if we turn to him with sorrow for our sins and with confidence in his love.

Let us therefore turn often to the holy face and make our own the prayer from the Psalms. Lord, show us thy face and we shall be saved. May the holy face of Jesus shine upon us, bring healing to our souls, strengthen our faith, and lead us one day to behold that face for ever in heaven. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.