VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS.
The sixth station of the Via Dolorosa has been under scrutiny for some centuries now. I recently found an apologia of it being shared on Facebook and Whatsapp. From all that was said, I wish to go a little further by adding to your depth of knowledge.
There is no reference to the story of Veronica and her veil in the canonical Gospels. The closest is the miracle of the woman who was healed by touching the hem of Jesus’ garment (Luke 8:43-48); her name is later identified as *Veronica* by the apocryphal "Acts of Pilate." The story was later elaborated in the eleventh century by adding that that Christ gave her a portrait of himself on a cloth, with which she later cured Emperor Tiberius.
It seems unlikely that the medieval authors, well known for their pious creativity, could have known something that the author of Luke did not know.
It is even more unlikely that the woman's name, Veronica which means "True Image", happened to coincide with what she was famous for in this story of wiping Jesus' face and receiving a true image of his face.
According to the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, at Our Lord’s trial before Pilate, a woman named Veronica testified, “Twelve years I was in an issue of blood, and I only touched the edge of his garment, and directly I was cured.” Apparently, the tradition of St. Veronica being the "Haemorrhissa" (victim of hemorrhage) is more popular in the East than in the West.
This event is being immortalized in the sixth station of the Via Dolorosa/The Way of the Cross. “Your face, Lord, do I seek. Hide not your face from me” ( Ps 27:8-9). Veronica embodies the universal yearning of the devout men and women of the Old Testament the yearning of all believers to see the face of God.
On Jesus’ Way of the Cross, though, she at first did nothing more than perform an act of womanly kindness: she held out a facecloth to Jesus. She is the image of that good woman, who, amid turmoil and dismay, shows the courage born of goodness and does not allow her heart to be bewildered.
While she is not included in the Roman Martyrology, she is honored with a feast day (July 12). Her symbol is the veil bearing the face of Christ and the Crown of Thorns. St. Veronica is the patroness of laundry workers and photographers.
Could we know the whereabout of the veil after 2000years?
To be continued...
#Ps_23🙏🏽
#Grace_Abounds💫
#Fr._Kplorla✒
Beautiful piece
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