Veronica, ST

Veronica, ST, was, according to the legend, one of the women who met our Lord on His way to Calvary, and offered Him her veil to wipe the sweat from His brow; when, wondrous to tell, the divine features were miraculously imprinted upon the cloth, and remained as a permanent picture of the face of our Lord. This miraculous picture is reported to have been preserved in Rome from about the year 700, and was exhibited in St Peter's on 8th December 1854. Milan and other places, however, dispute with St Peter's the possession of this most sacred relic; and many Catholic writers have supposed that the name 'Veronica' is but founded on an erroneous application of what was meant to designate not the personage, but the picture, which was called vera icon (Gr. eikôn), 'the true image' (i.e. of Christ). Berenice, however, is in the Clementines the name of the daughter of the Canaanitish woman healed by Jesus, with whom also Veronica (perhaps a form of the same name) has been identified. The Bollandist legend does not seem to be older than the 15th century. See Karl Pearson's monograph Die Fronica (Strasb. 1887), and Dublin Review (1885).