Editing Saint Veronica

{{Short description|Christian saint}}
{{About||the Italian saint|Veronica Giuliani|the [[Billy Talent]] song|Saint Veronika|the Syrian saint|Febronia of Syria|other uses of saintly "Berenice"|Berenice (disambiguation)|other uses of saintly "Veronica"|Veronica (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox saint
|honorific prefix= Saint
|name=Veronica
|birth_date      = 1st century [[AD]]
|feast_day       = July 12<ref name=CathOrg/>
|venerated_in    = [[Catholic Church]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], [[Anglican Communion]]
|image           = Hans Memling 026.jpg
|imagesize       = 220px
|caption         = ''Saint Veronica'', by [[Hans Memling]], c. 1470.
|birth_place     = [[Caesarea Philippi]] or [[Jerusalem]], [[Judea (Roman province)|Judea]]
|death_place=
|titles=
|canonized_date  = [[Congregation for the Causes of Saints#Pre-Congregation|Pre-Congregation]]
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes      = Cloth that bears the image of Christ's face
|patronage       = images; laundry workers, pictures, photos, photographers,<ref name=sqpn/> [[San Pablo, Laguna|Santa Veronica, San Pablo City]], [[Laguna (province)|Laguna province]]
|major_shrine= 
|suppressed_date=
|issues= 
}}

'''Saint Veronica''', also known as ''Berenike'',<ref>{{Cite web |title= St. Veronica - Saints & Angels |url=https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1953}}</ref> was a widow from [[Jerusalem]] who lived in the 1st century [[AD]], according to extra-biblical Christian traditions.<ref name= Trinity/> [[Apocryphal]] texts relate how Veronica was moved with sympathy seeing [[Christ Carrying the Cross |Jesus carrying the cross to Calvary]] and gave him her veil so that he could wipe his forehead. Jesus accepted the offer, and when he returned the veil the [[Holy Face of Jesus|image of his face]] was miraculously captured on it. The resulting relic  became known as the [[Veil of Veronica]].<ref name= N&Q/><ref name= AI/><ref name= Butler/>

The story of Veronica is celebrated in the sixth [[Stations of the Cross|Station of the Cross]] in [[Anglican]], [[Catholic Church| Catholic]], and [[Western Orthodox]] churches.<ref name= Trinity/><ref>[https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/2005/via_crucis/en/station_06.html "Sixth Station"] at vatican.va.</ref><ref name= Prothero/> A celebrated saint in many pious [[Christianity by country| Christian countries]], the 17th-century ''[[Acta Sanctorum]]'' published by the [[Bollandist]]s listed her feast under July 12,<ref name= Harper/> but the German [[Jesuit]] scholar Joseph Braun cited her commemoration in ''Festi Marianni'' on January 13.
[[File:0 Ste Véronique et les saintes Femmes - Hôtel-Dieu à Cluny - Mac's.JPG|thumb|right|260px|Saint Veronica and the [[The Three Marys|Holy Women]], Grégoire Guérard, c.1530]]

== Background==
[[File:Cloth_of_St._Veronica,_Bernardino_Zaganelli,_c._1500,_oil_on_panel,_Philadelphia_Museum_of_Art.jpg|left|thumb|''Cloth of Saint Veronica'', [[Bernardino Zaganelli]], c. 1500, oil on panel, [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]]]]
[[File:AGAD Albrecht Dürer – The Sudarium.jpg|thumb|[[Albrecht Dürer]]'s 1513 ''Veronica'']]

There is no reference to the story of Veronica and her veil in the [[canonical gospels]]. The closest is [[Jesus healing the bleeding woman|the miracle of the unnamed woman who was healed]] by touching the hem of Jesus’s garment.<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|8:43–48}}</ref> The apocryphal [[Gospel of Nicodemus]] gives her name as Berenikē or Beronike ({{langx|grc-x-koine|Βερενίκη}}). The name Veronica is a Latinisation of this [[ancient Macedonian language|ancient Macedonian]] name. The story was later elaborated in the 11th century by adding that Christ gave her a portrait of himself on a cloth, with which she later cured the Emperor [[Tiberius]]. The linking of this with the bearing of the cross in the Passion occurs only around 1380 in the internationally popular book ''[[Meditations on the Life of Christ]]''.<ref name= Wilson/>[[File:Saint veronica.jpg|thumb|upright|Statue of Veronica by [[Francesco Mochi]] in a niche of the pier supporting the main dome of [[St. Peter's Basilica]]]]

At some point a relic became associated with the story. [[Pedro Tafur]], a Spanish knight visiting Rome in 1436, describes the following in the Church of St. Peter in his 1454 travel account:<ref name= Letts/>
{{blockquote|
On the right hand is a pillar as high as a small tower, and in it is the holy Veronica. When it is to be exhibited an opening is made in the roof of the church and a wooden chest or cradle is let down, in which are two clerics, and when they have descended, the chest or cradle is drawn up, and they, with the greatest reverence, take out the Veronica and show it to the people, who make concourse there upon the appointed day. It happens often that the worshipers are in danger of their lives, so many are they and so great is the press.
|source=}}

However, he does not say specifically that he witnessed for himself this exhibition of the relic.

Some academic sources suggest a different origin for the legend of St. Veronica: that the cloth bearing an image of Jesus's face was known in Latin as the ''vera icon'' ("true image"), and that this name for the relic was misinterpreted as the name of a saint. The ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' of 1913 writes:<ref name= Dégert/>
{{blockquote|
The belief in the existence of authentic images of Christ is connected with the old legend of King [[Abgar V|Abgar of Edessa]] and the apocryphal writing known as the {{ill|italic=yes|Mors Pilati|qid=Q3863244}} (''"the Death of [[Pontius Pilate|Pilate]]"''). To distinguish at Rome the oldest and best known of these images it was called the ''vera icon'' (true image), which in the common tongue soon became ''"Veronica".''
It is thus designated in several [[medieval]] texts mentioned by the [[Bollandist]]s (e.g. an old Missal of Augsburg has a Mass ''"De S. Veronica seu Vultus Domini"'' – ''"Saint Veronica, or the Face of the Lord"''), and [[Matthew of Westminster]] speaks of the imprint of the image of the Savior which is called Veronica: ''"Effigies Domenici vultus quae Veronica nuncupatur"'' – ''"effigy of the face of the Lord which is called a Veronica"''. By degrees, popular imagination mistook this word for the name of a person and attached thereto several legends which vary according to the country. [''translations in italics added'']
|source=}}

The reference to Abgar is related to a similar legend in the [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Church]], the [[Image of Edessa]] or Mandylion.

The ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' says this about the legend:<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Veronica, St |volume= 27 |last= Delehaye |first= Hippolyte |author-link= Hippolyte Delehaye | pages = 1037-1038 |short= 1 }}</ref>
{{blockquote|
Eusebius in his ''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Historia Ecclesiastica]]'' (vii 18) tells how at [[Caesarea Philippi]] lived the [[Jesus healing the bleeding woman|woman whom Christ healed of an issue of blood]] ([[s:Bible (King James)/Matthew#Chapter 9|Matthew 9]]:20–22). Legend was not long in providing the woman of the Gospel with a name. In the West she was identified with [[Martha|Martha of Bethany]]; in the East she was called Berenike, or Beronike, the name appearing in as early a work as the ''"[[Acta Pilati]]",'' the most ancient form of which goes back to the fourth century. The fanciful derivation of the name Veronica from the words Vera Icon (eikon) "true image" dates back to the ''"Otia Imperialia"'' (iii 25) of [[Gervase of Tilbury]] ([[floruit|fl.]] 1211), who says: ''"Est ergo Veronica pictura Domini vera"'' (translated: "The Veronica is, therefore, a true picture of the Lord.")
|source=}}

[[File:Saint Veronica. Gouache painting. Wellcome V0033128.jpg|thumb|Gouache painting of Saint Veronica]]

Veronica was mentioned in the reported [[visions of Jesus and Mary|visions of Jesus]] by [[Marie of St Peter]], a [[Carmelites|Carmelite nun]] who lived in [[Tours]], France, and started the [[Catholic devotions|devotion]] to the [[Holy Face of Jesus]]. In 1844, Sister Marie reported that in a vision, she saw Veronica wiping away the spit and mud from the face of Jesus with her veil on the way to Calvary. She said that sacrilegious and blasphemous acts today are adding to the spit and mud that Veronica wiped away that day. According to Marie of St Peter, in her visions, Jesus told her that he desired devotion to His Holy Face in [[reparation (legal)|reparation]] for [[sacrilege]] and [[blasphemy]]. [[Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ]] are thus compared to Veronica wiping the face of Jesus.<ref name= Cruz/><ref name= Scallan/>

The Devotion to the [[Holy Face of Jesus]] was eventually approved by [[Pope Leo XIII]] in 1885. Veronica is commemorated on 12 July.

== Official patronage ==
Saint Veronica is the patron of the French [[Mulquinerie|mulquiniers]] whose representations they celebrated semi-annually ([[summer]] and [[winter]]) as in many pious [[Christianity by country|Christian countries]]. She is also the patron saint of photographers, and laundry workers.

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="210">
File:Mattia Preti - Santa Veronica con il velo.jpg|''Saint Veronica with the Veil'', [[Mattia Preti]]
File:La Verónica (Strozzi).jpg|''Saint Veronica'' by [[Bernardo Strozzi]]
File:Cristo con la Cruz a cuestas, encuentra a la Verónica (Museo del Prado).jpg|''Christ with the Cross on his back, encountering Veronica'', [[Antonio Fernández Arias|Antonio Arias Fernández]]
File:La Verónica, Ángel María Cortellini Hernández.jpg|''Saint Veronica'' by [[Ángel María Cortellini|Ángel María Cortellini Hernández]]
</gallery>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="210">
File:La Verónica mostrando la Santa Faz a la Virgen y San Juan (Museo del Prado).jpg|''Veronica showing the Holy Face to the Virgin and Saint John'', 1864, by Juan Antonio Vera Calvo
File:Giovanni Cariani - Road to Calvary with Veronica's Veil - WGA04215.jpg|''Road to Calvary with Veronica's Veil'', [[Giovanni Cariani]]
File:Saint Veronica by Rupert Bunny (c, 1902).jpg|''Saint Veronica'', 1902 by [[Rupert Bunny]]
File:Kemptener Kreuzigung.jpg|''Kempten Crucifixion'', 1475 by unknown artist
File:Gaspar de Crayer (1582-1669) Veronica en de kruisdraging van Christus - Sint-Janskerk (Mechelen) 13-09-2018.jpg|''Veronica and the Carrying of Christ'', [[Gaspar de Crayer]]
</gallery>
== See also ==
* [[Acheiropoieta]]
* [[Women at the crucifixion]]
* [[Jesus healing the bleeding woman]]
* [[List of names for the biblical nameless]]
* [[Relics associated with Jesus]]
* [[Scapular of the Holy Face]]
* [[Veil of Veronica|Veronica's Veil]]
* [[s:Bible (King James)/Matthew#Chapter 9|Matthew 9]]
* [[s:Bible (King James)/Mark#Chapter 5|Mark 5]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name=CathOrg>[http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1953 Catholic Online]</ref>

<ref name=N&Q>{{citation |title=St. Veronica |journal=Notes and Queries |volume= 6 |date=July–December 1852 |location= London |page=252 |url=https://archive.org/stream/notesqueriesmedi06lond#page/252/mode/1up}}</ref>

<ref name= sqpn>{{Cite web |url=http://saints.sqpn.com/saintv02.htm |title=Saint Veronica |access-date=April 19, 2008 |archive-date=May 12, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512064350/http://saints.sqpn.com/saintv02.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name=Trinity>{{cite web |url= http://www.trinityevansville.org/stations-of-the-cross/ |title= Stations of the Cross |date=24 March 2013 |publisher= Trinity UMC |access-date=17 April 2015 |quote= This tradition began most prominently with St. Francis of Assisi (1182–1226) and spread to other churches in the medieval period. It is also observed by a growing number of Anglicans, Methodists, and Lutherans. It is most commonly done during Lent, especially on Good Friday. |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150417235143/http://www.trinityevansville.org/stations-of-the-cross/ |archive-date=17 April 2015 }}</ref>

<ref name=Butler>{{cite book|first=Alban |last=Butler|date= 2000|title=Lives of the Saints|isbn=0-86012-256-5|page= 84|publisher=A&C Black }}</ref>

<ref name=Cruz>{{cite book|first=Joan Carroll |last=Cruz|publisher=[[Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites|OCDS]]|title=Saintly Men of Modern Times|date= 2003|isbn=1-931709-77-7}}</ref>

<ref name=Letts>{{cite book|first=Malcolm |last=Letts|publisher=[[George Routledge & Sons, Ltd.]] |title=Pero Tafur: Travels and Adventures 1435-1439|date=1926}}</ref>

<ref name=Dégert>{{cite CE1913|wstitle=St. Veronica|first=Antoine |last=Dégert|volume=15}}</ref>

<ref name=Harper>{{cite web |last= Harper |first= Douglas |url= http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Veronica |title= Veronica |work= Online Etymology Dictionary |date= November 2001 |access-date=2007-08-24}}</ref>

<ref name=Scallan>{{cite book|first1=Dorothy|last1= Scallan|first2= Emeric B.|last2= Scallan|title=The Life & Revelations of Sr. Mary of St. Peter|date= 1994|publisher= Tan Books|isbn=0-89555-389-9}}</ref>

<ref name=AI>{{cite journal|title=Archaeological Intelligence|journal=Archaeological Journal|volume=7|issue=1|year=1850|pages=413–415|issn=0066-5983|doi=10.1080/00665983.1850.10850808}}</ref>

<ref name=Wilson>{{cite book | last = Wilson | first = Ian | title = Holy Faces, Secret Places | publisher = Doubleday | location = Garden City | year = 1991 | isbn = 978-0-385-26105-0 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780385261050/page/125 125] | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780385261050/page/125 }}</ref>

<ref name=Prothero>{{cite book|last=Prothero|first=Stephen |title=Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know—And Doesn't|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G46CxhgQw8UC|year=2009|publisher=HarperOne|isbn=978-0-06-185621-1|page=284}}</ref>

}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Saint Veronica}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veronica}}
[[Category:1st-century births]]
[[Category:1st-century Christian female saints]]
[[Category:1st-century deaths]]
[[Category:Saints from the Holy Land]]
[[Category:Stations of the Cross]]
[[Category:Veil of Veronica]]