Christian Saints

St. Veronica

  St. Veronica, or Berenice, was probably purely fictitious. According to legend, she was a pious woman of Jerusalem who moved to offer Christ her handkerchief as he bore his cross to Calvary, so that he could wipe his forehead. After using it, Jesus handed the handkerchief back to her, an image of his face miraculously impressed upon it.
The name Veronica is a latinisation of the Macedonian name Berenice, meaning ‘bearer of victory’. Folk etymology has ascribed the name to the words ‘vera’ (Latin for ‘true’) and ‘icon’ (Greek for ‘image’), referring to the image of Christ imprinted on the cloth.
See: Robert Campin St. Veronica.
Hans Memling St. Veronica.
Rogier van der Weyden Crucifixion Triptych. St. Veronica.

By Sergey Mataev and Olga Mataev
Recommended reading:
The Book of Saints: The Lives of the Saints According to the Liturgical Calendar by George Angelini, Victor Hoagland (Editor). Regina Press, Malhame & Company, 1986.
365 Saints: Your Daily Guide to the Wisdom and Wonder of Their Lives by Woodeene Koenig-Brick (Author). Harper SanFrancisco, 1995.
Veronica and Her Cloth: History, Symbolism, and Structure of a True Image by Ewa Kuryluk. Blackwell Publishers, 1991.
 

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