Veronica is without doubt one of the best known of all saints and is famous for the 6th station of the cross. There are many different written versions but the following is one extract:

“As Jesus proceeds on the way, covered with the sweat of death, a woman moved with compassion, makes her way through the crowd and wipes his face with a handkerchief. As a reward for her piety, the impression of his face is miraculously imprinted onto the handkerchief.”

But who is Veronica? No one knows for certain but many attempts have been made to identify her with one of the women mentioned in the New Testament. The earliest known attempt to do this was in the Acts of Pilate dating from the 4th or 5th century which makes her the woman whom Jesus cured of hemorrhages (Matt 9:20-22). A French tradition has her as wife of Zacchaeus while another identifies her with Martha of Bethany. She was also make out to be a Syrian princess, the wife of a Roman officer on duty in Jerusalem. To be honest it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that she took the courage to do that beautiful gesture of love and kindness which the world has never or will never forget.