In Manoppello Clues for Peoples and Nations Transfiguration August 2013

photos by Paul Badde

Report from a Pilgrim to the Holy Face of Manoppello from the Heartland of the USA

An Eyewitness Report on a True Image of Jesus' Face,
The Veil of Veronica, found in Manoppello, Italy

By Carol Surowiec, Naperville, Illinois
originally published in Medjugorje Magazine, Fall 2012 edition

photos below by Paul Badde


(editor's note: I am so happy to share this wonderful eyewitness account with you. Scans of the original article can be seen below at the end of the article, if you click on the scans they will open and you can enlarge them so they can be read.)

It all started simply enough, with a catalogue of Catholic books. I like to read and the title drew my attention. The book was titled “Face of God” (editor's note: by Paul Badde, published by Ignatius Press) and the excerpt on the book jacket appealed to my love of all things Catholic.

I pored through the book in a short time, and I was hooked.
I became convinced that the Holy Relic was indeed one of several burial cloths still extant, the most notable of which is the Shroud of Turin. This second cloth, the Veil of Manoppello, Italy, is unknown to most of the English-speaking world, and as I found out later, to the Italian-speaking world that I came in contact with on my journey to Manoppello.

I am not a stranger to Catholic shrines, pilgrimages nor the Shroud. I believed in the Shroud from the moment I heard of it. But now to behold the face of the Risen Christ as in a photograph? Could it be true? Should not the news be broadcast to every Christian in the world? To see the Living God and not just ponder what he looks like? Unthinkable grace! Unimaginable gift! And yes, I must report as an eyewitness, a seeker, a lover of God, of Jesus, of all things true and holy: that the veil is real, it is the image of the living God!

Shortly after being captivated by this image of Jesus Holy Face and reading about the mysteries of how the Veil came to reside in Manoppello, Italy, I began planning a trip to Rome with my two daughters.

Our daughters grew up hearing stories of both Rome and Medjugorje. As a single woman in the 80’s, I made five pilgrimages to Medjugorje including three side trips to Rome. My dream was to travel with all my family members back to these holy places. I promised my older daughter a trip to Europe for high school graduation. Seven years after graduation, we finally made it in March 2012.

What started out as a trip to Rome, ended with the highlight (for me!) being a side-trip to an obscure, mountain village called Manoppello. After we arrived in Rome and made arrangements for a car to take us to Manoppello, even our driver asked us why we were traveling to this small mountain town. He had not heard of the existence of the relic or its significance.

We left Rome early in the day, 7:30 am and arrived around 10 am, missing the morning Mass. I was surprised to discover that the church of the Holy Veil was a basilica. A church is deemed a basilica based on either unusual beauty or historical significance. Here in Manoppello, the Church is called Volto Santo, or Holy Face. Pope Benedict traveled to the shrine of the Volto Santo in 2006 and soon after, elevated the shrine to a basilica.

While the exterior of the church is certainly beautiful, the interior is simple compared to the many extravagant churches and basilicas of Rome and antiquity. The official website for the Manoppello Basilica Volto Santo reports that the current church was completed in 1871 and the high altar area dates to 1923. We did not realize until we returned home that we could have registered our visit and had a guided tour of the shrine. Instead we made a quiet pilgrimage with only a few other persons present.

We hoped that we might be able to talk to Sr. Blandina whose research on the veil catapulted it into recent notoriety. But because of our inability to speak Italian or German, we were content with viewing the Holy Veil of Jesus Face and praying as private pilgrims.

Sr. Blandina writes on the official Basilica website, that she was always fascinated by the human face. She was the first to discover, by superimposing an image of the Holy Veil over a photocopy of the Shroud of Turin, that the dimensions are a perfect 1:1 match. She has also done extensive scientific research on the Veil and noted other significant features of the face of Jesus, such as the asymmetry of his eyes.

On first view of the veil, the image was difficult to see with the sun streaming through the large stained glass windows behind. We were able to walk behind the main altar, climb a short flight of stairs, approach and stand inches away from the beautiful relic. We knelt in prayer and snapped a few photos. With a little discussion, we realized that the photos might not turn out due to the bright light behind. But moving around the image brought a more crisp view of Jesus face, so we took a couple of photos while kneeling and they were the best of the images we captured.

Afterward, we went down into the church facing the altar where there are chairs set up in front of the pews. While quietly reflecting, a Capuchin friar returned to the area with another pilgrim and we watched while he turned off the interior light in the enclosure holding the veil. The face on the veil disappeared and only a white linen was visible from where we were sitting. He turned the light back on and the image reappeared with the reflection of the light.

The veil has been referred to as “Acheiropoieta” or not made by human hands. The cloth in fact is made from a rare silk called byssus or sea silk. It is the most expensive cloth known to the ancient world. The cloth is transparent like a nylon stocking.
Jesus’ image is seen on both sides of the cloth. Standing in front of the relic, with the sunlight streaming through stained-glass windows, it was difficult to see the image or photograph it. But kneeling, we were able to capture the beauty and magnificence of the King! (Had I known I would be graced to write an article, I surely would have taken more photos)

It is thought that the cloth was one of several burial cloths used in a traditional Jewish burial, the face cloth or sweat cloth (also called a sudarium). And conjectured to be the image captured at the moment of Resurrection! The cloth is also referred to as the Veronica, which comes from Vera Icon meaning true Icon.

The internet has an explosion of information on wikkipedia, youtube and other websites both pro and con concerning this amazing relic and shrine. ( www.volto-santo.com)
I also recommend a video by Ignatius press, The Holy Face. I have continued to read about this holy relic since my trip in March 2012.

I have been asked why the Western world has not heard of this most-holy relic, when the Shroud has been visited and seen by millions. One only has to turn on the television, listen to the “worldly news” the killing, the culture of death here in the United States to know that now is the acceptable time, now is when we most need to know and see the Face of God.

Prayer of Pope Benedict XVI on Sept. 1, 2007

Lord Jesus as the first apostles whom you asked "What do you seek?", accepted your invitation to "Come and see", recognizing you as the Son of God, the promised Messiah for the world's redemption, we too, your disciples in this difficult time, want to follow you and be your friends, drawn by the brilliance of your Face much desired yet hidden. Show us we pray you your Face ever new, that mirror, mystery laden, of God's infinite mercy. Grant that we may contemplate it with the eyes of our mind and hearts, the Son's Face, radiance of the Father's glory and the imprint of his Nature (Hb 1:3), the human Face of God that has burst into history to reveal the horizons of eternity. The silent Face of Jesus suffering and risen, when loved and accepted changes the heart and life. "Your Face, Lord, do I seek, do not hide your Face from me" (Ps 27:8ff). How many times through the centuries and millenia has not resounded the ardent invocation of the Psalmist among the faithful! Lord, with faith we too repeat the same invocation: "Man of suffering, as one from whom others hide their faces" (Is. 53:3) Do not hide your Face from us! We want to draw from your eyes, that look upon us with tenderness and compassion, the force of love and peace which shows us the way of life and the courage to follow you without fear or compromise so as to be witnesses of your Gospel with concrete signs of acceptance, love and forgiveness. O Holy Face of Christ, Light that enlightens the darkness of doubt and sadness, Life that has defeated forever the force of evil and death, o inscrutable gaze that never ceases to watch over men and people, Face concealed in the Eucharistic signs and in the faces of those that live with us, make us God's pilgrims in this world, longing for the Infinite and ready for the final encounter when we shall see you Lord "face to face" (1 Cor 13:12) and be able to contemplate you forever in heavenly Glory. Mary, Mother of the Holy Face, help us have "innocent hands and a pure heart", hands illumined with the truth of love and hearts enraptured by divine beauty, that transformed by the encounter with Christ, we may give ourselves to the poor and the suffering whose faces reflect the hidden presence of your Son Jesus who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen!

Holy Face of Manoppello at the Meeting in Rimini

The Story of the Holy Face of Manoppello at the Center of an Exhibit at the Rimini Meeting - August 18-24 2013 -
http://www.meetingrimini.org/default.asp?id=673&item=5680

"The Rediscovered Face: The Unmistakable Features of Christ "



by Antonio Bini

The goal of the exhibit is to make known the history of the ancient acheropite (i.e. not made by human hands) images of Christ: the Camulia, the Mandylion and the Veronica in Rome and relate them to the Holy Face of Manoppello, that mysterious portrait of Christ which arrived in the town in Abruzzo in the sixteenth century and remained almost completely unknown until just a few years ago.

Particularly extensive is the iconographic research on the Roman Veronica as seen in the copies made by artists for pilgrims who came to Rome prior to 1500. The exhibit's comparison of these copies to the Face of Manoppello supports the hypothesis of Father Heinrich Pfeiffer, professor of art history at the Gregorian University in Rome, who in 1999 claimed that the Veil of Manoppello is to be identified as the lost Roman relic.

It is therefore this rediscovered Face which would allow us, already on this earth, to encounter the Face of God in the living Christ.

By means of this exhibit, which is part of the Year of Faith, the Meeting will also want to respond to that which previously Pope Benedict XVI and now Pope Francis have called us "to look upon Christ and to let ourselves be looked upon by Him".

The rector of the Shrine of the Holy Face, Father Carmine Cucinelli, recalling that Benedict XVI came as a pilgrim to Manoppello on September 1, 2006, expressed gratitude to the organizers of the event and to the participating scholars, and in particular to Raffaella Zardoni, among the main sponsors of the exhibit, who through her "Veronica Route " project, has encouraged the search for historical images of Veronica to be found in churches, museums and collections from the various countries around the world.

Quoting Fr. Carmine: "It is wonderful to witness the widening circle of scholars in Italy and abroad who are passionate about the Holy Face. In addition to the expansion of research on the influence of the Veronica on the religious iconography of the past, it is quite satisfying to see the profound research done on the Relatione Historica of Father Donato da Bomba, the first document attesting to the gift of the Holy Face to the Capuchins, which confirm the authenticity and veracity of the document as well as of the important local persons cited. "

The exhibit is accompanied by a catalog - with a cover that reproduces the Face of Manoppello - which has a rich collection of images belonging to the history of depictions of Jesus.

The exhibit and catalog are the result of the work of a group of researchers and scholars from various disciplines in collaboration with the Shrine of Manoppello: Paul Badde, Emanuele Colombo, Michele Colombo, Brother Paolo Martinelli, Paola Moretti, Giovanna Parra, Arianna Petraccia, Davide Rondoni, Marco Rossi, Silvana Tassetto, Cristina Terzaghi, Paola Vismara, Raffaella Zardoni.

In Rimini on the afternoon of August 21, Fr. Cucinelli,the rector of the Shrine, together with Paul Badde, Raffaella Zardoni and Antonio Bini will meet with young visitors to the exhibit.

Father Carmine points out that interest in the Holy Face is growing in the world, by means of books, television programs and pilgrimages.

During the same period as the exhibit in Rimini, and precisely from August 6 until September 30, 2013,there will be held at the Marian shrine of Lourdes the third edition of the exhibit "L'image du Christ à travers the visage de la Vierge." (The image of Christ through the face of the Virgin. This exhibit, organized in collaboration with the Shrine of Lourdes, came about at the urging of the former bishop of the diocese Tarbes-Lourdes - Philippe Perrier - who came as a pilgrim to Manoppello in spring 2010. It was the French bishop to "see" in the wounded Face of Manoppello the suffering of the Madonna of Lourdes.

Christ is the Mirror in Which We Find Ourselves Fully Realized

Cardinal Robert Sarah, President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, in prayer before the Holy Face of Manoppello June 30, 2013
photos by Paul Badde

Today is a great and marvelous day, Blessed be the Lord Forever! With the announcement of the canonizations of Blessed John XXIII and Blessed John Paul II, and the release of the Encyclical Letter Lumen Fidei (Light of Faith) of Pope Francis (completing the work begun by Pope Benedict) a new era is beginning in the life of the Church. "those who believe come to see themselves in the light of the faith which they profess: Christ is the mirror in which they find their own image fully realized. And just as Christ gathers to himself all those who believe and makes them his body, so the Christian comes to see himself as a member of this body, in an essential relationship with all other believers." (chapter 22 Lumen Fidei)




Cardinal Sarah preaching during the celebration of the Eucharist at the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello

Steve Ray, Popular Catholic Author and Pilgrimage Leader Interviewed from the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello

photo by Paul Badde


Steve Ray, one of the best informed Catholic media personalities in the United States on the nature of the Holy Face of Manoppello, was interviewed on the topic on Relevant Radio on June 21. In fact Steve was speaking from right next to the Holy Face in the shrine of the Holy Face by cell phone with Wendy Wiese the guest host of the "Morning Air with Sean Herriott" program.

Steve Ray has led several pilgrimages which have included visits to the Shrine of the Holy Face and has another pilgrimage in October. In this interview Steve speaks with great enthusiasm about Paul Badde's research on the Holy Face related in the book The Face of God published by Ignatius Press and about the inexplicable nature of the holy image and how available it is to pilgrims for prayer and devotion who make the two hour trip from Rome to the little hilltop town of Manoppello. Steve Ray also wrote about his visit to the Shrine in his blog: http://www.catholic-convert.com/blog/2013/06/21/face-of-god-in-manappello-2/

Follow this link to Steve's interview at this link starting at minute 29 ---http://relevantradio.streamguys.us/MA%20Archive/MA20130621c.mp3

Yesterday Lech Walesa a Pilgrim in Manoppello

Thank you to Antonio Bini for allowing me to post his timely report along with his photos of this important visit to the Holy Face of Manoppello.

by Antonio Bini

Yesterday, Friday, June 14,the former Polish Prime Minister and Solidarity leader Lech Walesa visited the Shrine of the Holy Face where he was welcomed by the Capuchin friars headed by their provincial Father Carmine Ranieri and also by the Polish nuns of the Holy Blood who recently established themselves in Abruzzo.
Upon arriving at the Shrine the former Polish president, a practicing Catholic, went first to pray before the Holy Face and then attentively listened to the explanations regarding the Holy Face offered to him by Fr. Ceslao Gadacz, a Polish Capuchin friar who belongs to the community of Manoppello.

In this photo taken in front of the Shrine – from the left Sr. Pia, Fr. Dariusz Stancryk, Fr. Ceslao Gadacz, Lech Walesa, Sr. Immaculata and Fr. Carmine Cucinelli, Rector of the Shrine of the Holy Face with some of the miners standing behind.

The priest remembers as a young seminarian meeting the Solidarity leader in the Capuchin monastery in Krakow during the troubled year of 1989. Walesa, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, asked Fr. Ceslao several questions about the origins of the Veil and its presence in Manoppello. He also asked the reasons why the Vatican does not recognize the historical authenticity of the Holy Face. In this regard, Father Ceslao outlined the studies leading to the identification of the Face of Manoppello with the Veronica, including the studies which in recent years have been contributed by Polish researchers.

The Solidarity leader wished to know if John Paul II had been to Manoppello. He was told that the Pope had loved and visited Abruzzo and its mountains a number of times -- far beyond his limited official visits and that one could not completely rule out the possibility that the pontiff may have paid an informal visit to the the Shrine, on a weekday, just as any ordinary pilgrim might do. In the past rumors regarding such a visit were heard in various quarters. In fact the Shrine of the Holy Face in the countryside was visited very little until just a few years ago and thus was well suited to visits that could have remained unnoticed, especially on weekdays, such as on a Tuesday,a day which was usually chosen for such excursions outside the Vatican palaces.

After the death of Pope John Paul II his secretary Stanislaw Dziwisz who later became cardinal and archbishop of Krakow, revealed in his book "A Life with Karol" (published in Italy by Rizzoli, 2007) that the Polish Pope had taken refuge in Abruzzo more than a hundred times to pray, to walk in the mountains, and also to ski, using a ski pass just like any other skier. It should also be noted that John Paul II was informed of the thesis put forth by Father Heinrich Pfeiffer, the first scholar to publish his research on the Holy Face which began in 1991.

According to what Saverio Gaeta related in his book "The Enigma of the Face of Jesus," the Polish Pope, physically weakened, in the year 2000 requested from the Canons in charge of St. Peter's Basilica that they bring to his apartment the reputed Veronica which is kept under their care. After having carefully observed it he came to see for himself the lack upon it of any kind of an image, a circumstance which confirmed that, for centuries, the Veronica has not been at the Vatican.

His encyclical letter "Tertio Millennio Ineunte" - at the end of the Great Jubilee of 2000 - can be read as the pressing invitation of the Pope, elderly and ailing, to seek the Face of Christ --tangibly present upon the Veil of Manoppello and the Shroud of Turin -- as his message delivered to the third millennium.

These angles ought to be studied at greater depth following the valuable testimony of the Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz.

For Lech Walesa the inevitable recalling to mind of the great figure of the Polish pope appeared to be made even stronger when he discovered to his surprise the presence in Manoppello of other Polish members of religious orders. After hearing the warm greeting of Sr. Immaculata and Sr. Pia, of the order of the Holy Blood, who arrived about two years ago in Manoppello, "Szczesc boze panie Prezydencie" (" May God welcome you Mr. President") he remarked, "Even Sisters from Poland have come here."

He admitted his awareness that the Shrine of the Holy Face in recent years has become very popular among Polish pilgrims, but confessed that the close encounter with the Face was very emotional for him, such that for a few minutes it seemed to him that he had been far removed from the numerous people who accompanied him.

Among those who came to meet him in Manoppello was Father Dariusz Stancryk. Currently in Italy, Father Dariusz at the end of the eighties was a young priest and chaplain of Solidarity in the city of Skarżysko-Kamienna. His memory runs deep of the difficult years in which the Polish Episcopate, with the help of Pope Woityla supported as much as possible the Catholic trade union movement led by Walesa, also assisting those in prison who had been arrested as activists of the union.

Before the visit to the Basilica, the former Solidarity leader wished to honor the memory of the miners who died in the Marcinelle mining disaster in Belgium, which took place on August 8, 1956, and who are buried a few meters away from the Shrine alongside the graves of the departed Capuchins. The victims of Marcinelle were 262 coming from many different European countries. 136 of the victims of the mining disasters were Italian immigrants with Manoppello paying the highest price with 22 deaths, while others came from neighboring towns such as Lettomanoppello, Turrivalignani and San Valentino. In fact San Valentino is the hometown of the family of the current Prime Minister of Belgium, Elio Di Rupo, the son of a miner. A history was revealed of misery and pain, but sometimes also of far more decent and safe working conditions and social redemption for the children of the many "black faces" as the Italian immigrants who worked in the coal mines were derogatorily called.

The tragedy struck other miners who had left their homeland in search of a job, including those emigrating from Poland and other countries. A mining disaster that seemed to repeat the tragedy which had occurred 49 years earlier, December 6, 1907 in Monongah, West Virignia, in the coal mine of the Fairmont Coal Company: the worst coal mining disaster in American history, with the total number of deaths remaining unknown. This tragedy, often labeled as the "American Marcinelle", also caused the deaths of numerous emigrants, mainly Italians, Poles and Hungarians.

Among those who welcomed Lech Walesa in a short, heartfelt ceremony were some former miners and relatives of the victims of Marcinelle, as well as the mayors of Manoppello and other municipalities in the district. During the day, the labor union UGL, on the initiative of Geremia Mancini, presented Walesa with the "Miner's Lamp", the recognition which for many years has been awarded to persons who have devoted themselves to the memory of Marcinelle and to the struggle for work and for the safety of workers. The award recognizes the Polish leader Lech Walesa as an icon of the struggle of labor and trade unionism in defense of the working classes.

In the small ethnographic museum which can be visited in the Sanctuary, next to the room containing the "ex voto" left in recognition of answered prayers, is displayed the helmet belonged to Geremia Iezzi, the last miner to come up from the bowels of the mine on that tragic August 8, 1956, just prior to the explosion in the Bois du Crazier coal mine of Marcinelle.

Before Walesa's departure the rector of the Basilica gave the illustrious guest the Polish edition of Paul Badde's book and a video on the Holy Face. The deeply moved Walesa said farewell after writing in the visitor's book this brief, simple yet strong message "I thank you Lord God for what I experience today."

Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini Visited and Wrote About the Holy Face of Manoppello

by Antonio Bini
from Il Volto Santo di Manoppello
December 2012, p. 11


The religious community of the Shrine of the Holy Face remembered in prayer Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini (born 1927 in Turin, died 2012 in Gallarate) pilgrim to the Holy Face. The cardinal encountered the Holy Face September 8, 2003, and remained profoundly moved by it. He wrote in the visitors book a brief prophetic reflection: Il Volto che contempleremo in eterno! "The Face that we will contemplate in eternity!". The shaky handwriting revealed the initial stage of his illness.

But this phrase did not just remain there, confined to the visitors book, as merely a testimony of his visit and as a simple expression of a momentary emotion, of a temporary suggestion linked to his knowledge of the Holy Face. That encounter, which preceded by three years the first papal visit to Manoppello, remained imprinted in the mind and heart of the Cardinal, who in those years had retired to a life of prayer in Jerusalem. In fact, a year later, in bringing to fruition his book entitled "La trasformazione di Cristo e del cristiano alla luce del Tabor", (The transformation of Christ and of the Christian in the light of Tabor) published by Rizzoli,

he wanted to remember in the preface his visit to Manoppello, sharing with his readers his emotion, repeating that message left in the visitors book. Prior to the visit of Benedict XVI, Cardinal Martini was among the first cardinals, together with Cardinal Fiorenzo Angelini, to express himself without uncertainty regarding the Holy Face.