The Basilica of San Pedro will exhibit this Sunday, April 6, fifth Sunday of Lent, the so -called “Velo Verónica”, a cloth that according to tradition would have risen the face of Christ the Camino del Calvario, renewing a rite of an ancient tradition of the Catholic Church.
At 6:00 p.m. (local time), while the litanies are sung, the faithful will travel the ships of the Basilica entering through the Holy Gate. From the Lodge of La Verónica, the ostension of the relic also called Santa Faz in an extraordinary liturgy will be carried out.
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Then it is expected that the arciprest of the papal basilica of San Pedro, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, celebrates a mass in which the canons will participate.
But what exactly is this relic and why it attracts, for centuries, more and more people?
This relic is deeply linked to the Via Crucis, where it is mentioned that a woman named Verónica cleans Jesus’s face with a cloth while carrying the cross towards the Calvary.
According to tradition, this cloth carries the true image of the face of Christ.
The woman who cleaned Jesus’s face is commonly known as Verónica, derived from the Latin “Vera Icona”, which means “true icon.” It is believed that the image of Christ was printed in the veil during his way to the cross. The cloth itself also is called Verónica.
Together with a relic of the cross and the relic of the spear of San Longinos, the veil of the Veronica occupies a place of great importance within the Basilica of San Pedro.
The cloth, canvas or veil of the Veronica (or Veronica A dry) is normally guarded in one of the pillars that hold the dome, on a colossal statue of the saint, of Francesco Mochi.
In any case, Veronica is a character who does not appear in the Gospel. He is related in the Middle Ages to the hemorrísa, cured by Jesus of blood flows and is called Bereniké. In the apocryphal book of the Acts of Pilate (6th century), there is talk of a woman, known as Verónica, who wrapped the face of Christ in the veil in the Crucis via.
Victoria Cardiel
Victoria Cardiel is a journalist specialized in social and religious information issues. Since 2013, he has covered all the news of the Vatican for various media, such as the Spanish news agency Europa Press, or the weekly of the Archdiocese of Madrid, Alfa and Omega.