Veneration of the Holy Face of Jesus has its beginning during Christ's
Passion, making it one of the oldest devotions in the Christian
tradition. St. Veronica, as a sign of her love and compassion, offered
Our Savior a veil to wipe the blood and sweat from his face as he
carried his cross on the way to his crucifixion. In reward for her
charity and compassion, Jesus left an impression of his Holy Face upon
the veil. This meeting of Jesus and St. Veronica is forever memorialized
in the Stations of the Cross. According to
tradition, St. Veronica later entrusted the veil to St. Clement, a
disciple of St. Peter who became the third Bishop of Rome. For the next
three centuries the Holy Veil was kept in the Roman catacombs during the
early persecutions of the Church. Veronica's Veil was later moved to
the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome where it remains today. Veronica’s
Veil is displayed annually from the relic niche above her statue in St.
Peter’s Basilica on the fifth Sunday of Lent. Shrove Tuesday is the traditional feast day of the Holy Face of Jesus.
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