Some interesting tidbits of information from a blog, The Sunday Morning Forum at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Palm Desert, California. Two legends, Abgar and the Veronica are discussed in a posting, He wrote a letter to Jesus (or did he?). This seems to be the basis for discussions on Sunday morning:
The Armenian Apostolic Church:
In the Armenian Church, Abgar is regarded to be a saint and his story continues to be told as tradition. The Church calendar honors “St. Abgar” in a worship service in December of every year and the name Abgar continues as an Armenian given name. It also is the root of the surname Abgarian (also spelled Abkarian, or Abcarian); from the family of Abgar.
The Roman Catholic Church:
Despite an absence of Biblical reference or historical evidence that a person given the name Veronica ever existed, canonization took place and now “St. Veronica” is celebrated on special church festival days. The whereabouts of the veil is obscure; it is said to be in the Vatican archives but other locations have been suggested. A great number of churches and schools are named in honor of Veronica and it is a popular given name.
The Shroud of Turin
The Shroud of Turin underwent radiocarbon testing in 1988 and the result of the test indicated the cloth was made during the Middle Ages approximately 1300 years after the death of Jesus. Unanswered questions remain, however, and the test result neither satisfied nor was accepted by people who believe the Shroud is, in fact, the actual cloth used to cover the body of Jesus. The tested portion, they believe, was from a section that was a restoration and not part of the original cloth. It has not been tested again.
This could be an interesting discussion.
Another nice piece of data. I was unaware that Abgar, at least according to legend, was the King of Armenia and is a saint in the Armenian church.
This posting sent me off on a surf and search on Saint Veronica, and also on the Holy Face of Manoppello. There are some references to Veronica (known by various other names) in both Eusebius and the apocryphal Acts of Pilate (4th c). Most of the accounts seem legendary, which were added to over the centuries. One reputable Catholic site I visited, for instance noted the name Veronica was a Latinised version for “True Image”.
However there was definitely a cloth kept at the Vatican known as the Veronica, which later went missing. It is suspected that the Holy Face of Manoppello may in fact be the Veronica. There have been some serious attempts to reconstruct a history for the Manoppello.
The Veronica, known as “acheiropoietos”, was said to have come from Jerusalem, by way of Camelia in Cappadocia, arriving in Constantinople in the 6th c. It stayed there until 705 when it disappeared mysteriously, perhaps to save it from one of the periodic bouts of iconoclasm. It was in St Peter’s Rome under Pope “Gregorio” (there were two popes Gregory II and III between 715 – 741). The chapel where it was held was demolished in 1608, but there was no trace of the Veronica.
An account of the Manappello veil written by a Fr Donato from Bomba in 1640 states that it arrived in Manappello in 1506 when it was given to an astrologer and phycist, one Giacomo Antonio Leonelli by an unknown foreign man who promptly disappeared. In 1683 it was given to the Capuchin Friars after due notarisation.
There is a close match between the Manoppello and the Shroud face.
I found a number of sites on the subject. A reasonably reputable looking informative site can be found at: http://www.gditaly.com/italy/abruzzo/hermitages/sacred_face.htm
We may now, I suppose, speculate whether the Mandylion and Veronica were both the same object, or whether in fact the Mandylion is to be associated with the Shroud image.