The Oratory of the Holy Face is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

oratory in

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

France. It was originally established on the Rue St. Etienne, in the former home of Venerable

Leo Dupont Venerable Leo Dupont (24 January 1797 – 18 March 1876), also known as ''"The Holy Man of Tours,"'' or the "Apostle of the Holy Face", was a Catholic who helped spread various Catholic devotions such as that of the Holy Face of Jesus and night ...

who did much to promote devotion to the

Holy Face of Jesus The Holy Face of Jesus is a title for specific images which some Catholics believe to be miraculously formed representations of the face of Jesus Christ. The image obtained from the Shroud of Turin is associated with a specific medal worn by s ...

. The Oratory was subsequently relocated to 8 Rue Bernard Palissy. The Dominican Fathers of the French Province have care of the Oratory. It is visited by many Catholic pilgrims every year.

History

The original site on Rue St. Etienne was the former drawing room of

, a devout lawyer in Tours, who kept a vigil lamp burning continuously before an image of the

. This particular image was based on a painting of the

Veil of Veronica The Veil of Veronica, or ( Latin for sweat-cloth), also known as the Vernicle and often called simply the Veronica, is a Christian relic consisting of a piece of cloth said to bear an image of the Holy Face of Jesus produced by other than hum ...

. Dupont was inspired in this devotion by revelations purportedly received by the

Discalced Carmelite The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Carmelites of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel ( la, Ordo Fratrum Carmelitarum Discalceatorum Beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo) or the Order of Discalced Carme ...

nun Sister Marie of St. Peter. Dupont became aware of these messages, as he handled a number of matters for the Carmel, where Sister Marie was portress. Dupont would invite visitors to join him in prayer before the image of the Holy Face of Jesus. The oratory, and Dupont's prayers have been associated with a large number of reported cures. The Dublin Review of 1885 reported that Mgr. Paul Guerin testified to having himself seen over 6000 certificates of cures wrought by virtue of the miraculous oil from the lamp in the oratory. When Dupont died in March 1876, his house on Rue St. Etienne was purchased by the Carmelites. Archbishop Charles-Théodore Colet of Tours turned Dupont's oratory into a chapel, which he dedicated on 29 June 1876. At the same time he canonically erected the Confraternity of the Holy Face. When the throngs of pilgrims became too much for a single chaplain to serve, he then established an order of priests called the "Priests of the Holy Face" to administer the chapel. Pierre Javier, a friend of Dupont, was appointed as its director. An active/contemplative diocesan congregation, their special object was to promote devotion to the Holy Face. They also sought to propagate use of the

Saint Benedict Medal The Saint Benedict Medal is a Christian sacramental medal containing symbols and text related to the life of Saint Benedict of Nursia, used by Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Western Orthodox, Anglicans and Methodists, in the Benedictine Christian ...

, one of Leo Dupont's particular devotions.Edes, Ella B., "The Holy Face", ''The Dublin Review'', Volume 97, W. Spooner., 1885, pp. 101-102
/ref> In 1882, they began to publish the ''Annales e la Sainte Face''. The religious institute is no longer active. Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of

Thérèse of Lisieux Thérèse of Lisieux (french: Thérèse de Lisieux ), born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin (2 January 1873 – 30 September 1897), also known as Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face (), was a French Catholic Discalced Carmelite ...

, were enrolled in the confraternity in April 1885. Therese was introduced to the devotion by her sister Celine and was later called ''Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face''. The poems and prayers she wrote helped to spread devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. In October 1885,

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-ol ...

approved the Scapular of the Holy Face and elevated the confraternity to an

archconfraternity An archconfraternity ( es, archicofradía) is a Catholic confraternity, empowered to aggregate or affiliate other confraternities of the same nature, and to impart to them its benefits and privileges. History In 1569, Charles Borromeo started ar ...

. Pope Leo also expressed a desire to establish a similar oratory in Rome. This was eventually opened in the Via Pietro Cavallini in 1891 and administered by the Priests, but was demolished in subsequent redevelopment.

Present day

The Dominican Fathers of the French Province now live in the home of Monsieur Dupont and are charged with the pastoral care of pilgrims to the Oratory of the Holy Face,"The Holy Name of Jesus and the Holy Face", ''Vultus Christi'', Silverstream Priory
/ref> now at 8 Rue Bernard Palissy, Tours.

References

Sources

* Dorothy Scallan. "The Holy Man of Tours." (1990) * Joan Carroll Cruz, "Saintly Men of Modern Times." (2003) page 195
Pierre Désiré Janvier, "The Life Of Leon Papin-Dupont: The Holy Man Of Tours", John Murphy & Co., 1882

External links

* Tourism info on the orator

{{Coord, 47.393865, 0.693072, display=title Catholic spirituality