The Stations of the Cross today mark a pilgrimage route in Jerusalem that traces Jesus' path to his cruxification and resurrection. At station six, there is a chapel commemorating a woman. Pictured here is its doorway.
I have set before thee an open door,
and no man can shut it. - Revelation 3:8
"In an instant someone from the bystanders broke ranks. It was a woman. She came running to Jesus holding in her hands a piece of wet cloth. She wiped Jesus' face from sweat and blood. She did not bother to look at the soldiers, she did not care about her own safety. She did it instinctively..." - Franciscan Cyberspot, "Jerusalem The Way of the Cross"
No one knows for sure whom this woman was, but the veil she used to wipe His face, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, was said to bear the likeness of the image of Christ's face, and the revered relic "was called vera icon (true image), which ordinary language soon made veronica." The Basilica of St. Peter's in Rome and a Capuchin monastery in the village of Manoppello, Italy both claim possession of the authentic veil. (More of Veronica's story at the Via Crucis grid blog).
The woman now known as Veronica knew a true image, vera icon, of God in human form when she saw Him: a human and a Being. His Presence was so radiant that it was not totally obliterated in her eyes by the current situation.
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