Use this Art Guide video in Step 3: Contemplation of Columban 
A resource to help you pray using the images and Art Guide of the 2023 Columban Art Calendar.
St Veronica Shows the Holy Face to the Virgin and Saint John. Juan Antonio Vera Calvo (1825–1905) Restored Traditions
This painting represents an unusual episode in the story of the icon of the Holy Face on the cloth of St Veronica. While the narrative is not found in the canonical Gospels, it does emerge in its present form during the late-twelfth century in the popular devotional text, Meditations on the life of Christ.
The image of the Holy Face of Christ on the cloth was first displayed publicly by Pope Innocent III in 1297, who also granted indulgences to all who came on pilgrimage and invoked the name of Christ before it. The miraculous Veil of Veronica emerged as a central devotional icon in the Church and one of the most precious of all the Passion relics, attracting thousands of pilgrims to Rome for centuries to follow.
Calvo depicts a scene in which Veronica displays her white veil upon which Christ’s face was miraculous imprinted on the way to Calvary. Her audience is primarily the mother of Jesus and the beloved apostle John, whom Jesus commanded to care for his mother as if she were his own. Along with two holy women, all react with awe and wonder at the sight of the Holy Face of Christ. Mary reaches out to embrace her son as if he were truly alive before her. The contemplative focus is thus not only on the image of the Holy Face of Christ, but also the various reactions of the participants, who kneel to worship and embrace Christ’s perennial presence in their hearts.
