6th Station

THE SIXTH STATION : VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS

“St. Augustine assures us that there is no spiritual exercise more fruitful or more useful than the frequent reflection on the sufferings of Our Lord. St. Albert the Great, who had St. Thomas Aquinas as his student, learned in a revelation that by simply thinking of or meditating on the Passion of Jesus Christ, a Christian gains more merit than if he had fasted on bread and water every Friday for a year, or had beaten himself with the discipline once a week till blood flowed, or had recited the whole Book of Psalms every day” (The Secret of the Rosary, St. Louis Marie de Montfort, “Twenty-Eighth Rose”).

The following passage is taken from The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Anne Catherine Emmerich

First of all, let us explain something about the name “Veronica.” Blessed Anne Catherin Emmerich states that the name “Veronica” was a name that was given after the event to the woman who wiped Our Lord’s face with her veil. She states that her real name was Seraphia, and that “Veronica” is a compound deriving from two Latin words: verus or vera (meaning true) and icon (meaning portrait or picture); thereby meaning “true portrait” or “true picture”—obviously referring to the face of Christ. So, strange as it may sound to our ears, she uses the name Seraphia throughout her account, and we have to interchange that in our minds with the name more commonly associated with the woman, namely Veronica.

The Veil of Veronica

Seraphia was the name of the brave woman who thus dared to confront the enraged multitude; she was the wife of Sirach, one of the councillors belonging to the Temple, and was afterwards known by the name of Veronica, which name was given from the words Vera icon (true portrait), to commemorate her brave conduct on this day.

While the procession was passing through a long street, an incident took place which made a strong impression upon Simon of Cyrene. Numbers of respectable persons were hurrying towards the Tem¬ple, of whom many got out of the way when they saw Jesus, from a Pharisaical fear of defilement, while others, on the con¬trary, stopped and expressed pity for His sufferings. But when the procession had advanced about two hundred steps from the spot where Simon began to assist Our Lord in carrying His cross, the door of a beautiful house on the left opened, and a woman of majestic appearance, holding a young girl by the hand, came out, and walked up to the very head of the procession. Seraphia was the name of the brave woman who thus dared to confront the enraged multitude; she was the wife of Sirach, one of the councillors belonging to the Temple, and was afterwards known by the name of Veronica, which name was given from the words Vera icon (true portrait), to commemorate her brave conduct on this day.

Seraphia had prepared some excellent aromatic wine, which she piously intended to present to Our Lord to refresh Him on His dolorous way to Calvary. She had been standing in the street for some time, and at last went back into the house to wait. She was, when I first saw her, enveloped in a long veil, and holding a little girl of nine years of age, whom she had adop¬ted, by the hand; a large veil was likewise hanging on her arm, and the little girl endeavoured to hide the jar of wine when the procession approached. Those who were marching at the head of the procession tried to push her back; but she made her way through the mob, the soldiers, and the archers, reached Jesus, fell on her knees before Him, and presented the veil, saying at the same time, “Permit me to wipe the face of my Lord.”

Jesus took the veil in His left hand, wiped His bleeding face, and re¬turned it with thanks. Seraphia kissed it, and put it under her cloak. The girl then timidly offered the wine, but the brutal soldiers would not allow Jesus to drink it. The suddeness of this courageous act of Seraphia had surprised the guards, and caused a momentary although unintentional halt, of which she had taken advantage to present the veil to her Divine Master. Both the Pharisees and the guards were greatly exasperated, not only by the sudden halt, but much more by the public testimony of veneration which was thus paid to Jesus, and they revenged themselves by striking and abusing Him, while Seraphia returned in haste to her house.

No sooner did she reach her room than she placed the woollen veil on a table, and fell almost senseless on her knees. A friend who entered the room a short time after, found her thus kneel¬ing, with the child weeping by her side, and saw, to his astonish¬ment, the bloody countenance of Our Lord imprinted upon the veil, a perfect likeness, although heartrending and painful to look upon. He roused Seraphia, and pointed to the veil. She again knelt down before it, and exclaimed through her tears, “Now I shall indeed leave all with a happy heart, for my Lord has given me a remembrance of Himself.”

The texture of this veil was a species of very fine wool; it was three times the length of its width, and was generally worn on the shoulders. It was custom¬ary to present these veils to persons who were in affliction, or over-fatigued, or ill, that they might wipe their faces with them, and it was done in order to express sympathy or compassion. Veronica kept this veil until her death, and hung it at the head of her bed; it was then given to the Blessed Virgin, who left it to the Apostles, and they afterwards passed it on to the Church.

Seraphia and John the Baptist were cousins, her father and Zacharias being brothers. When Joachim and Anna brought the Blessed Virgin, who was then only four years old, up to Jerusa¬lem, to place her among the virgins in the Temple, they lodged in the house of Zacharias, which was situated near the fish-market. Seraphia was at least five years older than the Blessed Virgin, was present at her marriage with St. Joseph, and was likewise related to the aged Simeon, who prophesied when the Child Jesus was put into his arms. She was brought up with his sons, both of whom, as well as Seraphia, he imbued with his ardent desire of seeing Our Lord. When Jesus was twelve years old, and remained teaching in the Temple, Seraphia, who was not then married, sent food for Him every day to a little inn, a quarter of a mile from Jerusalem, where he dwelt when He was not in the Temple. Mary went there for two days, when on her way from Bethlehem to Jerusalem to offer her Child in the Tem¬ple. The two old men who kept this inn were Essenians, and well acquainted with the Holy Family; it contained a kind of founda¬tion for the poor, and Jesus and His disciples often went there for a night’s lodging.

Seraphia married rather late in life; her husband Sirach, was descended from the chaste Susanna, and was a member of the Sanhedrin. He was at first greatly opposed to Our Lord, and his wife suffered much on account of her attachment to Jesus, and to the holy women, but Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus brought him to a better state of feeling, and he allowed Seraphia to follow Our Lord. When Jesus was unjustly accused in the court of Caiphas, the husband of Seraphia joined with Joseph and Nicodemus in attempts to obtain the liberation of our Lord, and all three resigned their seats in the Council.

Seraphia was about fifty at the time of the triumphant pro¬cession of Our Lord when He entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and I then saw her take off her veil and spread it on the ground for him to walk upon. It was this same veil, which she presented to Jesus, at this His second procession, a procession which outwardly appeared to be far less glorious, but was in fact much more so. This veil obtained for her the name of Veronica, and it is still shown for the veneration of the faithful.

CONCLUDING MEDITATION AND PRAYER

V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee,
R.. Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.

MEDITATION
Not everybody was a coward. There was one who refused to blindly follow the hatred manifested by public opinion. However this courageous one is not a man, but a woman. It is Veronica, who overcame all human respect and fear of shame, and broke through the throng of soldiers that surrounded Jesus. She stooped down to wipe the blood and sweat from His face. Simon of Cyrene came reluctantly and was forced by the soldiers to help Him, whereas Veronica broke through the soldiers to help Christ. We daily see the face of the suffering Christ in so many people around us. Do we break through the cordon of human respect to go to their aid, or are we like the majority of bystanders, who look, see and then turn away? We can never outdo God in generosity. That simple act of kindness was enough for God to reward her with a miracle. The veil with which she had wiped the face of Christ, was now imprinted with the miraculous image of His face. So too will our souls receive the image of Christ, if we stop to help our suffering neighbor.

PRAYER
Jesus, I consecrate myself entirely to Thy service. I offer and consecrate to Thee my heart: imprint on it Thy sacred image, never again to be effaced by sin. Let me see Thee in my neighbors and give me courage to go to their aid regardless of human opinion and prejudice.

Our Father Hail Mary. Glory Be.
V. Lord Jesus, crucified,
R. Have mercy on us!