The Way of the Cross: Sixth Station

Deus, in adjutorium meum intende. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.

In St. Peter's Basilica there is a piece of cloth or towel with the image said to be of Christ in His agonizing trek to Calvary. The story is that Veronica, a good woman in Jerusalem, overcome with pity, pushed through the crowd and offered the towel to Our Lord to wipe His face. The features were apparently imprinted on the cloth.To give credence to this story an actual cloth exists. It saw several homes over the centuries, but found its permanent home in St. Peter's. Modern negative photographic imaging has been used to bring up more detail in the image. Being compared to the face on the Shroud of Turin, it is shown to be almost identical in form and detail. The difference is that the face on the cloth is of a live person, obviously suffering, one eye swollen closed. The one on the shroud is that of the deceased Christ. Lending more to proof is the fact that on both images there are three spot injuries on the nose in the exact same places. Both relics have been examined and are not painted. There is no human explanation, although science is closer to proving the shroud to be authentic.

                                                       **************************

Sixth Station: Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

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

Consider that the holy woman named Veronica, seeing Jesus so afflicted and His face bathed in sweat and blood, presented Him with a towel, with which he wiped His adorable face, leaving on it the impression of his holy countenance.

My most beloved Jesus. Thy face was beautiful before, but in this journey it has lost all its beauty, and wounds and blood have disfigured it. Alas! my soul also was once beautiful, when it received Thy grace in Baptism, but I have disfigured it since by my sins. Thou alone, my Redeemer, canst restore it to its former beauty. Do this by Thy passion, O Jesus. I repent of having offended Thee. never permit me to offend Thee again. Grant that I may love Thee always, and then do with me what Thou wilt.

                                        Our Father....Hail Mary....Glory be....

Lord Jesus, crucified,
Have mercy on us!

                                          Can the human heart refrain
                                          From partaking in her pain,
                                          In that Mother's pain untold?