The Feast of St. Veronica

Today is the feast day of St. Veronica.  In reading about her this morning, I just learned that she is the Patron Saint of Photographers and Laundry Workers--which makes perfect sense, as an image of the face of Our Lord was imprinted on her veil (just as modern-day images are caught on film) and this miraculous "stain" never came out of the cloth.  So St. Veronica has been helping me out over the years, and I never even knew it.  Because although I'm not a professional photographer, I am an incurable shutterbug.  I also raised five active sons who generated mounds and mounds of dirty clothes for me to wash.  On top of that, I washed the Varsity football uniforms at their high school after every game...for eight years in a row...and if that doesn't make me a laundry worker, I don't know what does!  So thank you, St. Veronica!

I have often thought that St. Veronica was one of the luckiest human beings who ever lived.  On the day of Christ's Passion and Crucifixion, she personally--with her own two hands--offered Him what comfort she could.  Moved by His great suffering as He struggled under the weight of His Cross on the way to Calvary, she removed her veil to wipe His face.  Imagine that!  Imagine being able to show your love for Our Lord in such a real and tangible way...being able to actually touch the face of God.  Nowadays, we must show our love through fasting and prayer and through trying to live the Faith fully.  And sadly, in this day and age--when secular politicians are trying to remove God from the public square completely--the great sacrifices He made for our salvation are often forgotten or scorned by many as mere fiction.

It is said that St. Veronica's veil possesses miraculous qualities, being able to cure blindness and sometimes even raise the dead.  The fact that this veil with an image of Christ's face on it even exists--along with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Juan Diego's tilma, and the image of Christ's crucified body on the Shroud of Turin--makes me believe that God used St. Veronica as a vessel to provide visible proof to those of His children who would be "doubting Thomases" otherwise.


What I wouldn't give to have the opportunity to gaze upon St. Veronica's veil!  I've never really had a "bucket list," but if I did, that would be on it.