First Century
FEAST July 12
Veronica does not appear in the Roman Martyrology, the church’s official list of feasts. According to legend, she was the woman who took pity on Jesus as he carried his cross, wiped his face with a cloth and was left with an image of the suffering Christ. Many such images, known as “veronicas” and “vernicles,” existed in the Middle Ages. Veronica was sometimes associated with other New Testament women, but there is no evidence that she was real. Her name may come from a combination of Latin (“vera” for true) and Greek (“eikon” for image) words. Her story was included in the Stations of the Cross in the 19th century.