"In Him [Jesus Christ] we see mirrored God’s pure and transcendent face.
Through Him the eyes of our hearts have been opened.
Through Him our foolish and darkened understanding springs up to the light.
Through Him the Master [God] has willed that we should taste immortal knowledge."

Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians (ca. 96 A.D.), 36.2

IMAGES OF CHRIST NOT MADE BY HUMAN HANDS

The Greek word "acheiropoietoi" means "not made by human hands." Icons, which are an integral part of the religious life of Eastern Christians, are not seen as mere decorations, but rather as "windows to heaven." The icons are generally believed not to have been painted by human hands but revealed by the Holy Spirit to the artist. Most icons are therefore signed on the back, "painted by the Holy Spirit through the hand of…" followed by the name of the artist.

A similar belief in divine origin is often found through the history of fine arts and music. From Plato to Mozart, who emphasized his middle name Amadeus (Greek: "beloved by God") as he believed that his music originated from God and not himself.

In the sixth century a number of images of Jesus that were reputed not to have been made by human hands appeared. There were different versions of these and as many legends to explain their allegedly miraculous origin.

THE VEIL OF VERONICA

Tradition has it that while Jesus was carrying his cross along the way to Golgotha, a pious woman, "Veronica," moved to compassion, forced her way through the mobs that surrounded him and on her knees offered Jesus her veil to wipe the sweat and blood from his bruised face. When Jesus returned the cloth to her, it bore the impression of his sacred countenance in the vivid colors of his blood.

The legend continues claiming that Veronica later traveled to Rome to present her "Holy Image" to the Roman Emperor Tiberius, healing him from a severe illness.

The treasured veil of Veronica with the imprinted face of Christ became symbolic of the Mysteries of the Passion of Christ, and a sacred relic through which God was pleased to perform miracles. Its touch restored the dead to life, healed the blind, and produced water to quench the thirst of imprisoned Christians.

The veneration of a "Veronice" can be dated back to the pontificate of John VII (705-707). In 1011, Pope Sergius IV consecrated a special altar for the veneration of this "sudarium" (veil, or sweat cloth). A regular veneration was established in the 12th century, adding to the relics status and popularity, which grew considerably.

Half a century later, Dante wrote about it in the Divine Comedy:

"As he who peradventure from Croatia
Cometh to gaze at our Veronica,
Who through its ancient fame is never sated,

But says in thought, the while it is displayed,
My Lord, Christ Jesus, God of very God,
Now was your semblance made like unto this?" Paradiso. Canto XXXI

Two centuries later, in 1580, the French essayist Michel de Montaigne confirmed its still incredible popularity: "No relic has such veneration paid to it. The people throw themselves on their faces on the ground, most of them with tears in their eyes and with lamentations and cries of compassion." Woodcuts of the 16th century show the canons of St. Peter during a traditional "Veronica blessing."

Today, Veronica’s Veil is almost forgotten. The original image is still preserved in a special chapel within St. Peter's Basilica and the traditional Veronica Blessing still takes place once a year: on the 5th Sunday of the Lent, Passion Sunday. The blessing takes place after the traditional Vespers. There is a short procession within the basilica, accompanied by the Roman litany. A bell rings and three canons carry the heavy silver frame out on the balcony of one of the four main pillars of St. Peter's, the one above the statue of St. Veronica holding the veil, a masterpiece of Francesco Mochi (17th Cent.).

Veronica's Veil

Many critics have even questioned the name "Veronica," which seems to be a lexical deformation of the Greek and Latin words "vera icona" ("real icon" or "authentic image") used in the Middle Ages about miraculous images of Christ.

16th Century woodcut of a "Veronica Blessing"

THE MANDYLION OF EDESSA

10th century painting of King Abgar of Edessa receiving
the Mandylion accompanied by a letter from Jesus.

In the eastern Churches, a similar miraculous image of Christ, known as the Mandylion of Edessa, is venerated.

According to legend, King Abgar of Edessa was ill and sent a letter to Jesus asking him to come to his city (modern-day Sanli Urfa in South Turkey) to help him. Jesus replied that he had a mission to fulfill, but when the king's messenger arrived, Abgar was miraculously healed. Therefore he sent his messenger a second time to Jesus, this time to paint him.

In the first version of the "Doctrina Addai" of the 4th century, the messenger returns with a painted portrait, in a later version, the Acta Thaddei, Jesus Himself miraculously created the Holy Image by washing his face and drying it with a towel, on which His likeness appeared.

The original Mandylion, a painted icon of Syrian origin, dated by art historians to the 3^rd century A.D. is preserved today in the Vatican, in the private chapel of Benedict XVI.

It came to Rome in the 13th century, after the sack of Constantinople by French and Italian knights.

The Mandylion kept in the Vatican. 3rd-5th Century, tempera on
linen attached to wood, silver, gold, and precious stones.
Considered the oldest image of Christ.

The Mandylion of Edessa from the private chapel of the pope
in the Vatican. Photograph taken in the pavillion of the Holy See during the
EXPO 2000 in Hannover/ Germany.

Holy Mandylion. 17th c. Monastery of Dionysiou, Aghion Oros - Athos, Greece.

THE VEIL OF MANOPELLO

In 1999, a German Professor of Christian Art History at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Father Heinrich Pfeiffer, announced he had located the real "Veronica's Veil" at a small Capuchin friary, the Sanctuary of the Sacred Face, in Manoppello, a small town in the Abruzzo region about 150 miles from Rome in Italy's Apennine mountains.

Manoppello is an ancient town, its origins dating to the period before Christ. The first Christian community there was formed by the Benedictines in the early Middle Ages.

The veil in Manoppello is a white, transparent piece of linen measuring 6.5 x 9.5 inches (17 x 24 cm), situated above the altar in a small, relatively modern church. From a distance the veil is barely visible. The fabric is so thin that one can easily see through it.

Pfeiffer argues Veronica's Veil was stolen from the Vatican in the years following the Holy Year of 1600, when St. Peter's Basilica was in the chaotic phase of being rebuilt, and he notes that the veil appeared in Manoppello at that time. Recent historical research shows that the Chapel in Rome where veil was kept was demolished in 1608

In 1618, Vatican archivist Giacomo Grimaldi made a precise list of the objects held in the old St. Peter's. On his list: the reliquary containing Veronica's veil. But, he writes, the reliquary's crystal glass was "broken." (Pfeiffer notes that the veil in Manoppello has, on its bottom edge, a small piece of glass.)

According to an account written in 1646 by the Capuchin friar Donato da Bomba, in 1608 Marzia Leonelli sold Veronica's veil, which she had received as her dowry to Donato Antonio de Fabritiis to ransom her husband from jail. In 1638, the Capuchin friars of Manoppello took possession of the veil. The friars cut out the veil's contour and fixed it between two panes of glass framed with chestnut wood - the glass and frame, which can still be seen today.

Account courtesy of livingmiracles.net

The Holy Face of Manoppello

For More Information:

• The Holy Face of Manopello, by Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, trans. Raymond Frost (2000)
• The official site of the Veil of Manopello is: http://www.voltosanto.it/Inglese/paginadx1.php?c=2.

NATIONAL SUMMIT 2006 Endangered Species: Urban and Rural Catholic Schools

This conference, held from June 22-26, 2006, at Boston College, deals with urban and rural Catholic schools. The conference will present "Data on Urban and Rural School." For more information and a registration form, please go to: http://www.ncea.org/services/SPICE.asp

BEARING WITNESS; ANTI-SEMITISM. The Holocaust and Contemporary Issues

This seminar, the Washington, D.C. Regional Summer Institute for Catholic School Educators will take place from August 6-10, 2006. It is a program under the aegis of the Anti-Defamation League, the Archdiocese of Washington, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, in cooperation of the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Bearing Witness was the recipient of NCEA’s 2000 SPICE award (Selected Programs for Improving Catholic Education).

Conditions of Eligibility:

• Catholic school teachers of history, social studies, religion, and English at the middle and high school level; teachers of other subject areas will be considered, but must demonstrate how they will integrate the Holocaust into the content of their courses.
• Participants must attend a four-day institute in Washington, D.C. from August 6-10, 2006; and,
• Participants must submit a "best lesson" six months after the Washington, D.C. Regional Bearing Witness Summer Institute that shows how the information learned during the Institute has been integrated in the classroom.

Please send applications to

Beth Morgenstern
Anti-Defamation League
1100 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 1020
Washington, D.C. 20036

Applications may be faxed to 202-296-2371, or emailed to bmorgenstern@adol.org.

The deadline for receipt of applications is May 19, 2006. Applicants will be notified of their status by June 16, 2006.

For more information or if you have questions, please contact Ms. Morgenstern at: 202-452-8310 or email her at: bmorgenstern@adl.org.

Elementary Home Page

NCEA Home Page