And did she ever exist at all, Saint Veronica? The saintly woman who took pity on Jesus as he
passed by? The compassionate woman who wiped his brow with her own linen scarf and was
miraculously rewarded by the imprint of Jesus' face, the image not made by human hands, the
Mandelyon? A whole story is written around her, and here we see her chapel built to recall her
memory, silent, simple, with the face of Jesus looking on. But did she ever really exist, this saint
of the true icon, the Vera Icona?
Does she not still exist whenever a mother takes pity on another mother's child? Does she not
still exist in each one of us whenever we do some small gesture to help someone else in their
suffering and are we not rewarded still by the miracle of discovering the face of Jesus in our
hands?
