St. Veronica

Who they were

Veronica is not in Scripture, and that belongs in the first sentence. She is the Sixth Station of the Cross, tradition's answer to a question the Passion narratives leave open: did anyone in that crowd do anything kind?

The tradition is ancient and beloved. A woman stepped out of the crowd on the road to Calvary, past the soldiers, and wiped the bleeding face of a condemned man with her veil, and received the image of that face imprinted on the cloth. Her very name may be the relic's label walking backward into a biography, from vera icon, true image. The devotion survives full honesty about all of it, because whatever her name was, the Church has insisted for centuries that the gesture happened and must keep happening. She could not stop the crucifixion, lighten the cross, or change the verdict. She could wipe a face, and did.

Why people turn to St. Veronica

Caregivers who cannot cure: the spouse at the bedside, the hospice aide, the friend who can only show up. Photographers by the old title, from the image on the cloth. In parishes that pray the Stations she is already an old friend.

How to ask their intercession

By doing the Veronica sized thing today, the cold cloth, the visit, the meal, and offering it as the prayer.