July 12: St Veronica’s Veil Icon of Jesus Face, A Healing Miraculous Veil

One of the churches in South San Francisco St Veronica in Alida Way is named after the woman who was able to capture the face of Jesus in her veil.

July 12 honors the woman who showed kindness and compassion to Jesus as he was carrying the cross to Golgotha to be crucified. Christianity (Anglican, Evangelical-Lutheran, Western Orthodox) celebrates St Veronica’s feast day.

Veronica is derived from Vera (true) Icon (image eikon) "true image" from "Otia Imperialia" of Gervase of Tilbury in 1211), who says: "Est ergo Veronica pictura Domini vera" (“The Veronica is, therefore, a true picture of the Lord.").

Though her name isn’t in the Gospels, the closest theory is she was the woman, suffering from bleeding for 12 years , was healed upon touching the hem of Jesus garment.(Matthew 9:20-22). Or Berenikē or Beronike in the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus who attempted to testify in Jesus trial but women were not permitted to testify when Jesus was alive nor women were allowed to study the Torah in the temple. Children and women were not counted during the miracle of feeding bread and fish to thousands of people.

In 1885, Pope Leo Xlll approved the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus of St Veronica veil on July 12.

There are two St Veronica veils, one in Vatican St Peter’s Basilica, and the other in Italy at Santuario del Volto Santo (Shrine of the Holy Face) a double sided image , a man with open eyes in the veil of Manoppello which pilgrims believe to be true veil.

I love words and language ; my vocabulary increases in describing the world but as you grow older, there are still new words to encounter.

I learned that St Veronica’s veil is an example of Acheiropoieta , icons made without hands. Our Lady of Guadalupe is Acheirpoieta, Greek cheiropoietos(handmade), an A means not; not handmade but created by supernatural/divine means.

Another word : mulquiniers,the art of weaving and trading.

Saint Veronica is the patron of the French mulquiniers—weavers, designers, traders , highly skilled craftsmen using fine fabrics of linen, flax, cotton.

Another word: Byssus, sea silk from byssum, made from mother-of-pearl, thin,illuminated,fireproof, not affected by alcohol or acids , very expensive material in Jesus’s era and today.

The Manoppello veil is made of byssus; Byssum appears in the Old Testament for material for priests robes, in Revelation, for gown for the Bride of Lamb. The Manoppello veil also aligns with the Shroud of Turin. The veil and the shroud can be seen as hologram, photograph, painting, drawing.

The occasion of St Veronica’s Feast reminds me to introduce a new SSF resident a Parochial Vicar Fr. Caleb Ogbe from the Archdiocese of Makurdi in Nigeria to replace the cheerful priest Fr. Oliver Ortese who also belongs to same archdiocese. He arrived in St Veronica Church SSF in December 2024 to assist Pastor Fr Driscoll.

I’ve mentioned several priests in articles published in Everything South City (now defunct) and Patch SSF. This is the first time I’m including Fr Ogbe. He’s tall and healthy skinny, smiles with a lot of charm, friendly, exudes gentleness , patience, gratefulness, intelligence.

I asked him if I can take his picture; he seemed puzzled since he didn’t see any camera. I informed him my eyeglasses is a camera, a Meta Ray Ban given by nephew two years ago who works at Meta . If you see Mark Zuckerberg wearing eyeglasses, that’s a sample of Meta Ray Ban which can do fascinating things.

Aside from Fr Ogbe and Fr Ortese , other Nigerian priests I met were Fr. Andrew Berinyuy from Mater Dolorosa SSF, and Fr Gabriel Wankar from St Anselm, Marin County. Fr Berinyuy & Fr Wankar led the Legion of Mary Recollection day in June 2025 and 2026. Both exude the same aura, ambience of compassion, kindness, humility and intelligence like Fr Ortese and Fr Ogbe.

The Nigerian priests presence is a gift to the San Francisco Archdiocese. According to demographics, Nigeria has the fastest growing devout Catholics in the world. The Nigerian Catholics per statistics, have the highest rate (94%) of weekly Mass attendance globally. Gen-Z generation of young people are leaning more towards Catholicism per news coverage.

Legend has it that anyone who touches the veil of St Veronica gets healed like Emperor Tiberius. Also, St Veronica is patron saint for laundry and photographers.