Exhibit of Holy Face of Manoppello in Santa Cruz, California

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_12125858

excerpted from an article by Cathy Kelly April 12, 2009 in the Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper

"At the Shrine of St. Joseph on West Cliff Drive (in Santa Cruz, California) the Rev. John Warburon has compiled an exhibit containing replicas of three miraculous images of Christianity -- the Shroud of Turin, the Holy Face of Manoppello and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Catholic church intends to keep the items on exhibit permanently, by appointment."...


"For Warburton, a visit to Italy last year after reading a magazine article about the Holy Face of Manoppello sealed his determination to bring information about the image home to Santa Cruz. The priest has been interested in such images since hearing about the Shroud of Turin many years ago, he said.

Warburton visited the Italian village where the image is kept, he said. Sometimes referred to as "Veronica's Veil," it is believed by some to be the face of the risen Christ, his wounds healed and his eyes open. It is on an ancient fabric known as sea byssus.

It is less renowned than the Shroud of Turin, believed to be the burial cloth Jesus was wrapped in, or the image of Jesus' mother known as Our Lady of Guadalupe, on a cactus-fiber tilma, or cloak, after she appeared to a Mexican peasant.

Science has been unable to explain how the images appeared, Warburton said.

The Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego in 1531 and scientists have said the cloak should have disintegrated centuries ago, he said.

The Shroud of Turin is the most studied article in history, he said, adding that of more than 2,000 scientists who studied it, an overwhelming majority ended up believing in Christ. It contains marks from the wounds Jesus is described to have gotten in the Bible, including some 120 scourge marks.

There is much evidence pointing to its authenticity, he said.

If one superimposes the Holy Face on the facial portion of the shroud, they match perfectly, Warburton said. Visitors to the exhibit can try that for themselves, using replicas of the images.

"For someone like me, the supernatural explanation is the only one that fits," he said. "But people can come and see for themselves. Make an appointment. Do the experiment.

"I hope they can be a help to people's devotion."

Articles and videos explaining the three items are available at the church as well, he said, and some groups have chosen to make it part of a one-day retreat the shrine offers.

For more information, call the Shrine of St. Joseph at 471-0442."

A Prayer in an English Church on St. George's Day

Holy Spirit make my soul a living mirror which reflects the love of Jesus Christ.
Father write on my soul, more precious than the most richly byssus, the true and living image of Jesus Christ.
Mary, weaver of my soul, re-arrange those strands which have come undone, re-arrange them to your loving eye so that you may honor and glorify your Son. Amen.

Padre Domenico da Cese (1905-1978), Stigmatist Capuchin Who Gave the Holy Face Back to the World

Padre Domenico, friend and fellow Capuchin of St. Padre Pio, also bore the Stigmata, marks of the wounds of Christ. From 1965 to 1978 Padre Domenico was the Rector of the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello. During those years he devotedly dedicated himself to the spreading of the knowledge of the Holy Face, which he considered not sufficiently known. In 1977 Padre Domenico had the foresight to bring to the Eucharistic Congress of Pescara a large photograph of the Holy Face so that it might be brought to the attention of all at that important gathering. A journalist from Switzerland in attendance at the Congress was so moved, that he wrote the first article in German about the Holy Face. It was this article that caught the attention of Sr. Blandina Schloemer and caused her to begin her great mission to share the knowledge of the Holy Face with the world. But it was to Padre Domenico that we all owe our deepest gratitude for this most precious gift of the world's first sight in 400 years of the Holy Face. In these days the cause for the beatification of Padre Domenico will be opened in the Archdiocese of Chieti-Vasto. (The photograph and information on Padre Domenico's life is taken from an article by Antonio Bini which appeared in the magazine of the Shrine of the Holy Face)

Fra Angelico and the Holy Face

Blessed Angelico: Face of Christ - fragment of a fresco - circa 1446-47.

The Italian scholar Francesco Colafemmina posted the above photographs demonstrating the complete and insuperable connection between a fresco of Blessed Fra Angelico and the Holy Face of Manoppello on his blog

http://www.fidesetforma.blogspot.com/ on April 14, 2009.

According to Colafemmina:

"There is no doubt: the fresco of Blessed Angelico presently being exhibited in Rome at the Capitoline Museum is a copy of the Veronica, or rather of the Holy Face of Manoppello".

Colafemmina also puts forth a possible scenario: "Blessed Angelico was present in Rome in 1445, called by Pope Eugene IV to paint some frescoes for a chapel of St. Peter's Basilica which was later destroyed during the building of the new edifice. It's highly probable that the artist from Vicchio was able to see during that period the Face of the Veronica kept in the Vatican, this image that was secretly transferred to Manoppello during the construction of the new St. Peter's, as has been amply demonstrated by my friend Paul Badde."

See also Colafemmina's video comparing the fresco of Blessed Angelico, the Holy Face of Manoppello and the Shroud of Turin: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEaLq1TSeQI

The exhibit of the works of Fra Angelico (1395-1455)at the Capitoline Museum in Rome concludes the celebration of the 550th anniversary of the death of the artist beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1984.

Sacred Image of the Divine Mercy

To prepare for the Feast of Divine Mercy, Sunday April 19 this year see: http://thedivinemercy.org/message/

Angelicos Testes, Sudarium et Vestes. Surrexit Christus Spes Mea

What Mary Magdalen saw: Testifying that Christ my hope has arisen: angels, shroud and sudarium.

and What Peter and John proclaim:
From Pope Benedict XVI's homily at the Easter Vigil 2009

There is a surprising parallel to the story of Moses’ song after Israel’s liberation from Egypt upon emerging from the Red Sea, namely in the Book of Revelation of Saint John. Before the beginning of the seven last plagues imposed upon the earth, the seer has a vision of something “like a sea of glass mingled with fire; and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb …” (Rev 15:2f.). This image describes the situation of the disciples of Jesus Christ in every age, the situation of the Church in the history of this world. Humanly speaking, it is self-contradictory. On the one hand, the community is located at the Exodus, in the midst of the Red Sea, in a sea which is paradoxically ice and fire at the same time. And must not the Church, so to speak, always walk on the sea, through the fire and the cold? Humanly speaking, she ought to sink. But while she is still walking in the midst of this Red Sea, she sings – she intones the song of praise of the just: the song of Moses and of the Lamb, in which the Old and New Covenants blend into harmony. While, strictly speaking, she ought to be sinking, the Church sings the song of thanksgiving of the saved. She is standing on history’s waters of death and yet she has already risen. Singing, she grasps at the Lord’s hand, which holds her above the waters. And she knows that she is thereby raised outside the force of gravity of death and evil – a force from which otherwise there would be no way of escape – raised and drawn into the new gravitational force of God, of truth and of love. At present she is still between the two gravitational fields. But once Christ is risen, the gravitational pull of love is stronger than that of hatred; the force of gravity of life is stronger than tha t of death. Perhaps this is actually the situation of the Church in every age? It always seems as if she ought to be sinking, and yet she is always already saved. Saint Paul illustrated this situation with the words: “We are as dying, and behold we live” (2 Cor 6:9). The Lord’s saving hand holds us up, and thus we can already sing the song of the saved, the new song of the risen ones: alleluia! Amen.

Let Us Look Upon the World With the Eyes of Jesus

"Let us pray that we will look upon the world with eyes of love, with the eyes of Jesus, recognizing our brothers and sisters who need our help, who are awaiting our word and our action"

Pope Benedict XVI from his Homily on Holy Thursday 2009