The above image of Jesus was captured in the Holy Land, in October 1982, when Jackie Haas was using her 110 Kodak Instamatic camera to take random shots. When she returned home to Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.A, she had her film developed and this picture of Jesus was found in her group of pictures. She thought that someone else’s picture had gotten mixed up with hers, as she told her husband that she did not take the picture or even remember seeing a statue like it in Jerusalem. After checking the negatives, she found the picture on her strip of negatives. She was so confused that she took the picture to the priest who had traveled with them and he stated that he had been in the Holy Land many times and had never seen this picture there. Jackie then showed it to another priest in her area, who had traveled and studied in the Holy Land and he also said he had never come across such a picture. The picture was later taken to the Travel Agency who took it to New York, to people who study paintings and fresco’s and they stated that this picture was not in the Holy Land. Jackie returned three times to the Holy Land after receiving this picture, and each year searched and asked everyone in different areas there as to where this picture might be and no one knew.
The story of the picture started to spread across the globe, when some of her friends, knew how far she had gone searching for an answer, but to no avail. Jackie and her husband, as lay Franciscans, felt the beauty of the picture and wanted to share it with other people as part of their ministry. They began to have prints made and gave them out resulting in many beautiful things happening, even though the story behind the picture was not told. Jackie said she hesitated to tell the story because she wanted the picture investigated more thoroughly. It was all mind-boggling to her since she could not remember taking such a picture. Was she having a memory relapse, she asked herself, but how could one forget to take a picture so beautiful? This picture is now all over the world – Jackie wants it to spread and wishes that people will look at the magnificence of Jesus in the picture and not worry about where it came from. “He is a portrait of love. It shows in this picture.” The Haas’ mission as secular Franciscans was to bring Jesus Christ to people through this picture. Jackie said she does not make claims that the whole scenario of Jesus appearing in her strip of negative is a miracle. But the peace that it has brought to many is a miracle.
The testimony of Rev. Fr. Jose Aleson, an Augustinian priest from Spain in May 1991, brought closure to the search for the origin of the picture of Jesus that appeared in Jackie’s negative. In October 1987, Fr. Aleson received the same picture of Jesus that Jackie captured in Jerusalem, as a gift. After receiving the picture, he started worshipping Jesus in adoration. In Feb 1989, a photographer saw the picture and wanted to make copies of his own, and Fr Aleson told the photographer (Luis Miyar) to take the picture home to his studio and work at his convenience. After completing taking his own pictures, Luis returned the picture to Fr Aleson. A prayer group was formed which was similar to those of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina to honor and worship Jesus in the picture. They set up a table and placed several copies of the picture of Jesus made by Luis in the room where the prayer was to take place. Inside the room was Luis Miyar; his wife, Juana Meri; his daughter, 7-year-old Covi, Fr. Aleson, and Jose Ramon. When they started praying the Rosary, they noticed Jesus was communicating through Jose Ramon. Everything our Lord said, Fr Aleson tape-recorded. Through Jose Ramon, Fr. Aleson asked our Lord, Lord could you explain certain things about the photograph he received as a gift and the photograph enlarged by Luis?
Our Lord Replied. MY CHILDREN, IT IS MY ORIGINAL IMAGE; HONOR IT EVERY SINGLE DAY OF YOUR LIVES. I WILL BESTOW UPON YOU SPECIAL GRACES IN THE SAME MANNER THAT I BESTOWED GRACES UPON THOSE THAT CREATED THE ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH. WHEN THESE PICTURES WERE TAKEN, I WAS THERE – I WAS PRESENT. This happened in San Sebastian Garabandal Spain. Many more copies of the picture of Our Lord were made and given out to priests, and prayer groups and you could not but fall in love with this picture of our Lord. The Lord instructed not to laminate or enclose it in a glass.
****I saw the same picture in Nigeria, W. Africa, and when I was emigrating to the United States, my mum gave me a copy of the picture. I kept it in my closet and have been adoring the image of Jesus in the picture to date. It is this same picture that I was holding, and admiring Jesus in 2016, when I was asking my Lord how I could thank him enough for what he did in my life. The answer I received that faithful day gave birth to my NGO, Thank You Jesus Charitables. The full story is written on our website(www.tyjcharitables.com) under the title: WHO WE ARE…..The story behind the ” Thank You Jesus” T-shirt.
Isn’t this amazing how the Lord loved us so much to grant us the opportunity to see his true image? The beauty of my Lord in this picture is captivating! The Lord has urged us to honor and adore him in this picture all the days of our lives, and it is for this reason that I have, through the inspiration of the holy spirit, composed the litany in honor of the original image of Jesus Christ for our daily devotion and prayers.
****Stay tuned for the Litany in honor of the holy face of our Lord Jesus Christ!
