Holy Face of Manoppello: 25 Years Since the Historic Press Conference in Rome of Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, S.J. Announcing that the Veronica is in Abruzzo

Fr. Germano di Pietro, O.F.M, Cap., Antonio Bini, Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, S.J.

May 31, 2024 marked the 25th anniversary of the Press Conference held in Rome by Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, S.J., distinguished professor of the history of Christian art at the Gregorian University of Rome which announced to the world press the rediscovery of the Veronica in Abruzzo, at the shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello. https://holyfaceofmanoppello.blogspot.com/2019/07/twenty-years-ago-world-heard-that.html

It is fitting at this time to remember the devoted work of Fr. Pfeiffer which established with great erudition the rediscovery of the Veronica and that the same cloth was also the "facecloth" (sudarium) that was on the face of Jesus in the tomb.

To that end I would like to post a Holy Face prayer card printed by Fr. Pfeiffer in the year 2000 which was provided to me by Antonio Bini, a close collaborator and friend of Fr. Pfeiffer. The prayer card includes an inscription "to Antonio and the family" alongside a prayer to the Holy Face composed by Fr. Pfeiffer himself, along with a short history of the Holy Veil in Manoppello. Fr. Pfeiffer's recounting of the history of the Veil in Manoppello has now been superseded by more recent research showing that the Veil disappeared from Rome around the time of the Sack of Rome of 1527. and that research on the whereabouts of the Veil from 1527 until 1608 is now ongoing

Text from the cover of the prayer card:

The Sacred Veil of the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello

According to tradition it was brought to Manoppello in 1506 by a pilgrim who then vanished from sight. Recent historical studies instead have reached the conclusion that it is the “Veronica”, smuggled out of Rome in 1608, sold in Manoppello in 1618, given to the Capuchin Fathers in 1638, and exposed for the veneration of the people in 1646. It is a most subtle veil, with the dimensions of 17 x 24 centimeters. The image of the face is seen identically from both sides, a characteristic that makes it an object unique in all the world. It is perfectly superimposable over the face of the Shroud of Turin in such a way that it shows a single image. Researched conducted with a high resolution 3D scanner has revealted the lack of color among the threads and within any of the threads.

Inscription in Fr. Pfeiffer's handwriting: To Antonio and the family best wishes for the celebrations of Christmas and New Year’s Day under the gaze of Jesus.

Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, S.J.

Prayer of Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, S.J.

"Et sudarium, quod fuerat super caput eius" (John 20:7)

"And the cloth (sudarium) which had covered his head"

The Lord wished to leave us his eternally imprinted Face so that everyone might remain steadfast

in love and in Love unite their own gaze with His, so that in the meeting of their gazes –

everyone might recognize the Divine Spirit, Light that illuminates the mind, and that they might

have Love in their heart.

O Mother of sorrows, Virtue shining and permeated with grace, impress this Face within me,

implore for me Purity, Beauty and Light. And as man doubts that the Lord has given us his face,

to remain among us and to let Love flow from our hearts, cast your gaze upon us, O Face of the

Father in the Son, and give us peace at last.

Also to pay tribute to Fr. Pfeiffer I would like to quote from a recent article entitled "The Church, Testing of Relics and the Holy Face" written and posted on her very beautiful blog by Patricia Enk of New Orleans, an artist who is highly knowledgeable about the history and current state of devotion to the Holy Face throughout the Church. https://illuminadomine.com/2024/05/30/the-church-testing-of-relics-and-the-holy-face/

"The late, highly respected Heinrich Pfeiffer S.J. was an eminently qualified teacher of art history and Christian iconography at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He was also an expert “sindonologist.” Sindonology is the study of the Shroud of Turin, which is its own branch of science. In the course of his many years of research he traveled to the Shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello. Upon seeing the Veil for himself, he immediately recognized it as the “proto-image” or original from which most icons, paintings, and other representations of “the Veronica” had been derived. The incredible “Veronica” of Manoppello was believed to be the veil that covered the Face of Jesus in the tomb.
(Author Paul Badde has written much about this search for the “rediscovered face” in his books: The Face of God – the Rediscovery of the True Face of Jesus, The True Icon: From the Shroud of Turin to the Veil of Manoppello, and The Holy Veil of Manoppello: The Human Face of God.)
When, as a scholar, Fr. Pfeiffer joyfully and dutifully reported the fruits of his research, “all hell broke loose.” Instead of being met with rejoicing over the historic discovery of the “proto-image” of the Veronica–a miraculous image that corresponds to historic accounts and countless works of art in museums and churches around the world–Fr. Pfeiffer was roundly vilified by persons who, while accusing him of perpetrating fraud, also refused to look at his evidence. Any requests that Fr. Pfieffer or other scholars and researchers made to look into the authenticity of the relic veil held in the Vatican were declined by bureaucrats.

The indisputable abundance of centuries of art history, that even a child can see, points to the Veil of Manoppello as the original proto-image. But piles of comparisons are not enough to satisfy the outraged critics. Fr. Pfeiffer’s vast research that led him to Manoppello continues to be rejected out of hand, and ignored by those who refuse to look at the data. Unless the relic at the Vatican is examined, the controversy between the two relics of the Face of Jesus will remain at a stalemate, and continue to be a unhappy source of division in the Body of Christ. It was the cause of much suffering for Fr. Pfeiffer in his lifetime, but he was committed to speaking and writing about what he had discovered until he died in 2021."

May the upcoming Holy Year of 2025 bring Fr. Pfeiffer's vision of the Holy Face of Manoppello to the whole Church, through the diligent and loving work of each of us who are devoted to the Holy Face, but also through the honest and free investigation by the Vatican authorities of this important matter utilizing the life's work of Fr. Pfeiffer and that of other reputable scholars and researchers.

Pope Benedict XVI, Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, S.J., Paul Badde and Sr. Blandina Schlömer
at the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello on September 1, 2006