Holy Face of Manoppello (Volto Santo)

The **Volto Santo di Manoppello** (Holy Face of Manoppello) is one of Christendom's most enigmatic relics—a transparent veil measuring 17 × 24 centimeters that bears the image of a bearded man's face, believed by many to be the true image of Jesus Christ. Unlike the Shroud of Turin, which shows Christ with closed eyes in death, the Manoppello image depicts open eyes gazing upward, as if captured at the moment of resurrection. The face shows swollen cheeks consistent with beatings, blood traces, and an expression that witnesses describe as simultaneously wounded and consoling. ## 📜 History & Tradition According to the *Relatione historica* written by Capuchin friar Father Donato da Bomba around 1640, the veil arrived in Manoppello in **1506** when a mysterious pilgrim handed a wrapped package to Dr. Giacomo Antonio Leonelli, a local physician. When Leonelli opened the package and discovered the veil, the stranger had vanished without trace. The relic remained with the Leonelli family until 1618-1620, when it was sold for 400 scudi to Dr. Donato Antonio de Fabritiis, who donated it to the Capuchin friars in **1638**. The Capuchins have guarded the veil ever since. In **1999**, Father Heinrich Pfeiffer, S.J., Professor of Christian Art History at the Pontifical Gregorian University, announced his identification of the Manoppello image as the original **Veil of Veronica**—the cloth used by a woman named Veronica to wipe Jesus's face on the Via Dolorosa. According to this theory, the original Veronica was lost from St. Peter's Basilica during renovations or the 1527 Sack of Rome. ## 🔬 Scientific Properties The veil exhibits extraordinary properties that have attracted serious scientific investigation: - The fabric is so thin that approximately **42% of its surface is empty space** between threads - The image appears on **both sides simultaneously**, with subtle variations - No paint, dye, or pigment has been detected between the threads - When superimposed with the Shroud of Turin, the facial features align with less than 5% variance in proportions - The material may be **byssus** (sea silk from the Pinna nobilis mollusk), which cannot retain paint ## ⛪ Veneration The Holy Face is venerated at the **Basilica del Volto Santo** in Manoppello, Italy (Province of Pescara, Abruzzo). Pope Benedict XVI made a historic pilgrimage there on **September 1, 2006**—the first papal visit in over 400 years. The church was elevated to Minor Basilica status shortly afterward. The main feast day is celebrated on the **Third Sunday of May**, with a solemn procession carrying the relic through the streets of Manoppello.