The Veil of Veronica Framed on the altar of the Church of the Holy Face in Manoppello, Italy.
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Below is a brief outline of items related to The Veil of Veronica science and history:
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Psalm 26: 8-9: "Your Face, O Lord, will I still seek; hide not your Face from me."
In Catholic Churches around the world we find an early practice formalized much later called the Stations of the Cross (14 of them) which walk through various incidents during the passion and death of our Lord. The Church dedicates the Sixth Station to Veronica Wipes The Face of Jesus. Is this an actual event and what do we know of the Veil on which Jesus is believed to have left His image?
THE BASIC STORY:
The Veronica Legend relates that while Jesus was on the Via Dolorosa going to His Crucifixion, a woman stepped out of the crowd and, out of love and compassion, wiped His face of sweat and blood with her Veil. As a reward, Jesus left the imprint of His face on the Veil. That Veil is believed to have passed down to us through a long, convoluted history. Today, there are two claims to having the Veronica Veil. One is by the Vatican in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The other claims the true Veronica is in a Capuchin Monastery about 150 miles east of Rome in the Apennine Mountains of Manoppello - it having been lost (stolen) from the Vatican in the 16th century during renovations and brought eventually to Manoppello.
The Story of Veronica's Veil is not found in the New Testament. It appears in early Christian history. This was not likely the real name of the woman alleged to have wiped Jesus' face, but rather a name ascribed to her. The name given was Veronica from the Latin Vera (true) and Icona (image). Later legends says that Veronica brought the Veil to Rome where the Veil cured the Emperor Tiberius from an unknown malady. In addition, she is said to have given the veil to Pope Clement - the 4th Pope. However, other historical texts take the Veronica in a different direction. She was also identified with the woman with the hemmorage who touched the hem of Jesus' garment and was healed of a 12 year problem of bleeding. Jesus stopped and ask who touched Him and said that power went out from Him and healed her.
EARLY SOURCES OF THE LEGEND:
The Veronica, as indicated above, does NOT appear in the New Testament, although the story of the woman with the hemmorage DOES appear when she touches the hem of Jesus' garment and is cured.
EUSEBIUS (Church Historian circa 320-325) does not mention Veronica or the Veil, but mentions the woman with the Hemmorage. (Eusebius: Ecclesiastical History: V11-18) in 325 A.D. from Luke 8: 43-48; Matthew 9: 21-22).
ACTS OF PILATE (ACTA PILATI). It was not long before a name was given to this woman in a work called the Acts of Pilate - an apocryphal writing also called the Gospel of Nicodemus around 380 A.D. In this work, mention is made of the name of Veronica and she is associated with the woman healed by Jesus. No mention is made of the Veil or Legend. However, it should be noted that, since the term Veronica means Vera Icona or True Image, it is possible that the Legend was known but not reiterated in this work.
Further, the Acts of Pilate dating from approximately 380 A.D. are considered by historians to be a work which grew over the centuries allegedly from the records Pilate kept at the Praetorium at the Fortress Antonia when he was Governor. He, however, was not the author. However, Justin Martyr mentions the Acts of Pilate around 163 A.D. in two letters which he wrote to the Emperor and the Governor of Rome indicating that they heard these things (about Jesus) from the Acts of Pilate. No mention is made of the Veronica, but it is possible that an early version might have been circulating and was included was known to Justin. Tertullian, an early Church Father, also mentions the Acts of Pilate toward the end of the Second Century.
THE AVENGING OF THE SAVIOUR:
In the late 7th Century mention is made of the name of Veronica and, for the first time, the Legend of the imprinted cloth which healed the Emperor Tiberius is mentioned. The work is also referred to at the Cura Sanitatis Tiberii - The Cure of the Emperor Tiberius.
Decsription and Brief History of the Veil:
The Veil$in Manoppello is 6.5 x 9.5 inches. It is white, almost transparent (17 x 24 cm) and is kept on a high altar in a silver monstrance. The fabric is made of a rare silk called Sea Byssus - a precious marine silk also found inside some sarcophagi of the Egyptian pyramids and it is displayed between two pieces of glass. The Manoppello image has two panes of glass with broken chips on bottom which the Vatican archivist of the 16th century indicated was true of the image in Rome.
Sister Blandina Paschalis Schlomer - German Trappistine nun and iconographer living now in Manoppello claimed that the image of the Shroud of Turin and that of the Veil are super imposable. There are tufts of hair on the forehead and the face has long hair, beard and mustache with a long nose that appears to have broken cartilage like the Holy Shroud image. There are dark red features and open eyes and the figure is asymmetrical like someone beaten and swollen. Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, a Professor of early Christian art at the Gregorian University in Rome and expert on the Veronica claims there is no paint or colored thread on the fabric. Microscopic studies and ultraviolet light testing by Dr. Donato Vittore of the University of Bari and Dr. Giulio Fanti of the University of Padua confirm that the fibers do not have any type of paint. except for some touch ups likely from the Medieval period. Under the microscope there are no woven colored fibers. Particularly noteworthy are several small flecks of reddish brown - presumably drops of blood from the wounds caused by the crown of thorns. Pfeiffer note that the cloth is so thin one can read a newspaper through it. The image appears on both sides of the cloth like a photo slide. There are startling similarities to the Image on the Holy Shroud. He carried out systematic studies of the main works of art which represent Veronica's veil before the image imposed by Pope Paul V. Several details all reflect a single model: The Image in Manoppello including: ...The cut and flow of the hair ...the blood traces ...the shape of the face ...the beard's characteristics ...and the cloth's folds all reflect a single model - the Image in Manoppello. As noted by Pfeiffer: "When all different details are assembled in one image, it means the image must have been the model for all the others." So, we can say that the veil of Manoppello is nothing other than the original Veronica Veil." A BRIEF HISTORICAL PATH OF THE VERONICA:
Fr. Pfeiffer announced recently that the true Veronica is not in Rome but rather in the Monastery of the Sacred Face in Manoppello, Italy. He made this announcement after 13 years of study. Historically, he traces the movement of the Cloth from Jerusalem to Camulia (Kamulia) in eastern Turkey circa lst century. A later Byzantine Historian Cedreno noted that the Veronica them moved to Constantinople - the seat of the Byzantine Empire - around 574 A.D. It was referred to as an "acheiropoietos" or image not made from human hands.
Later history records that, during the Iconoclastic debates in the 8th century when Icons were threatened, the Veronica was brought to Rome in 708 A.D. by the Emperor Germanus for temporary safe-keeping and remained there with the fall of the Byzantine Empire. The assumption is made by later writers that Veronica was present in the Old St. Peter's (built by Constantine the Great circa 325) in the papacy of John VII (705-708) in a Chapel called the Veronica Chapel built during his reign. In 753 a procession was recorded with Pope Stephen II carrying an "Acheropsita" - that is, an icon on which a painted veil was placed known at the time as the Holy Face of the Sancta Sanctorum Chapel in the Pope's Palace in Laterano - likely, according to Pfeiffer, the Holy Face now in Manoppello. Firm recording of Veronica only begins in 1199 when two pilgrims Gerald de Barri (Giraldus Cambrensis) and Gervase of Tilbury made two accounts at different times of a visit to Rome which made direct reference to the existence of the Veronica. From 12th Century until 1608 the Veronica was kept in Vatican Basilica as a popular goal of pilgrims. In 1297 by order of Pope Boniface VIII, the image was brought to St. Peters'. In the Holy Year 1300 the Veil publicly displayed and became one of "Mirabilia Urbis" (wonders of City) for pilgrims. Dante mentioned in Divine Comedy - Paradiso, Canto XXXI (verses 103-111) - the people coming to Rome to see the Veil.' During the fourteenth century it became a central icon in the Western Church - in the words of Art Curator Neil Macgregor "From the 14th century on, wherever the Roman Church went, the Veronica would go with it." Then, during a remodeling of St. Peter's Basilica, Professor Pfeiffer says the Veil was stolen from the Vatican and brought, eventually, to Manoppello. The claim is made that in 1506- as preserved in the Capucine Provincial Archive - a mysterious stranger brought the Veil to Manoppello in 1506 and gave it to a gentleman of the place, Dr. Giacomo Antonio Leonelli. The precious veil was kept in the family for over a century. Then, in 1608, it was included in the nuptial gifts for Maria Leonelli for 400 scudi (an old Italian unit of currency) , but the gift was never delivered. In 1608 Maria's husband, Pancrazio Petrucci stole it from his father-in-law's home. Later, in order to have her husband released from prison in Chieti, she sold the veil to Dr. Donato Antonio De Fabritis who placed it in a Walnut Frame adorned with Silver and gold between two pieces of glasses and presented it to the Capuchins in 1638 as recorded in 1640 by Padre Donato from Bomba wrote a "Relazione Istorica."
IS THE VERONICA IN ROME?
The claim is made that the true Veronica is in Manoppello and not in Rome. The likely case against Rome stems from some facts:
...Popes ordered that no reproductions of the Veronica in the 1600's after the cloth was allegedly stolen were to be made unless by a "canon of St. Peter's."
...The eyes on reproductions of the cloth before the theft were open. After the theft, the eyes on reproductions of the Veronica are closed.
...The Pope ordered destruction in the later 1500's of any copies made. Pfeiffer believe that these orders by Pontiffs of no duplication and destruction of reproductions indicates that the Vatican lost the original through theft.
...It is only on view one time per year - Sunday before Palm Sunday for a very brief time from a balcony high up in St. Peter's. People do not see an image. An associate of mine, renowned artist Isabel Piczek had the honor of viewing the veil in Rome as a young girl and claimed she saw no image, only some stains. Further, the Vatican will allow no study of its possession.
It is interesting to note that Pope Benedict XVI visited Manoppello Sept. 1, 2006 recently after taking his office and prayed before the Image.
THOSE INTERESTED IN A PILGRIMAGE TO MANOPPELLO AND TO TURIN NEXT APRIL 2010 CAN FIND INFO ON THIS WEBSITE OF A TOUR SET UP TO GO TO BOTH LOCATIONS - AND OTHERS. GO TO THE HOME PAGE AND CLICK SHROUD EXPOSITION 2010.
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THE EMERGING TREASURES OF CHRISTIANITY"
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That Reflect The Wonders Of Our Christian Faith
Pope Benedict Visits The Veil in Manoppello
ROUTE OF THE VERONICA AS DETERMINED BY FR. HEINRICH PFEIFFER - PROF. EARLY CHRISTIAN ART THE GREGORIAN UNIVERSITY - ROME
The Veil of Veronica at Manoppello
Pope Benedict at the Altar of the Veronica Veil in Manoppello.
Aerial view of Manoppello in the Abuzzi region in the Apennine Mountains 150 miles east of Rome.
Altar of the Church of the Holy Face. The Veil is in a silver monstrance on top of the altar.
The Vatican's Veil on brief display at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
