THE FACE OF GOD
The Rediscovery of the True Face of Jesus
By Paul Badde
Ignatius, 2010
378 pages, $23.95
To order: Ignatius.com
(800) 651-1531
For century upon century, artists have been trying to depict what Jesus might have looked like. Can we get an idea from the Shroud of Turin? Does a true image of the resurrected Jesus exist elsewhere?
That last question is the subject of a page-turning book in the best of investigative religious journalism. In fact, noted German journalist Paul Badde’s book, The Face of God reads like a thriller.
While Badde explores the Treasury in St. Peter’s in Rome and even searches in Spain for clues to Jesus’ physical appearance, he focuses the book on the veil of the Volto Santo in the Sanctuary of the Holy Face, a Capuchin church in the small town of Manoppello, which is in the Abruzzis overlooking the Adriatic coast.
There he finds, in a silver frame, a 6.7-inch x 9.5-inch image on a mussel silk veil that portrays Jesus’ peaceful face. His eyes are open, looking out. Professors from Bari and Padua Universities have discovered no trace of pigmentation on the cloth.
A novelist couldn’t make up the colorful expert witnesses Badde comes to know there and in Rome. Among the people we meet is a Trappistine nun who has devoted her life to examining and proving that the Volto Santo in Manoppello is the true image of Jesus and a Jesuit professor at the Gregorian University, a leading expert on the Shroud of Turin, who believes the same of the Manoppello image. In fact, the nun in her work has superimposed the images of the shroud and the Volto Santo, trying to show they are one and the same.
Badde comes to believes as they do. He also meets people like the last byssus (mussel silk), weaver in the Mediterranean area. Mussel silk is an extremely rare, ancient, precious material; it’s not possible to paint or write on it. Does this foremost authority-weaver prove that the Volto Santo, the Holy Face, appears on this material?
The author’s meticulous research through Church history and art takes us back 2,000 years, from the Gospels themselves to well-known centuries-old sources. He doesn’t shy away from controversy or asking tough questions either. He checks out, in detailed fashion, the other images venerated as Veronica’s Veil, the Sudarium (sweat cloth), and the Mandylion in Rome.
Badde even details how, even before the original German edition of the book came out, he personally presented his evidence to his neighbor in Rome, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. This was in 2004. The book then recounts one of Pope Benedict XVI’s first journeys in Italy, in 2006, to the Church of the Holy Face in Manoppello, which he raised to a basilica.
We become part of the scenes through Badde’s detailed description of the weather, the places he visits and people he runs across. These read like a classic novel.
Then, too, he has a great Chestertonian way of revealing facts or unfolding critical scenes through an extended dialogue between himself and those he meets.
After years of digging out clues and being given privileged access to religious treasuries, Badde believes this Volto Santo in Manoppello is the true image of Jesus, where “even the horrible wound on his eye, which still showed on the Shroud of Turin, was gone. This was the face that was healed. All the blood had been washed away and all the tears. If there was a relic of the Resurrection, then here it was. A greeting from the other side, from the Kingdom of redemption.”
The Face of God — a great read for Holy Week, if there ever was one.
Register staff writer Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
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Never heard of this one. I remember reading, Ecclesiastic History by Eusebius, as I recall, and how Jesus left an image on a Cloth given to the King of Edessa (sp?) and I carry around with me in my wallet an image of Jesus based on the Shroud which is a Vera Icon (Veronica’s Veil means Vera Icon), True Icon, True Image. Dr Michael Tite failed in his hoax to “prove” the Shroud was a forgery and it was he, Dr. Michael Tite, who substituted cuttings from the Cope of St Louis for the samples cut from the Shroud and that hoax was exposed by an expert associated with The Abbe de Nantes and so we hear little about that hoax but the Cutting from the Cope had a lower atomic weight than the samples from the Shroud and so the hoax was revealed when Nature Magazine published the “findings” of Dr Tite along with the atomic weights etc.
Let us take a moment to do a deep reflection on Hisyoical Igest of Face: The front part if the head, from forehead to chin, aspect ; surface , or physical features ( of land or the earth ) .In the Bible ” face” is frequently used to denote Oresence or vision” . The word is often used figuratively ,especially in references to God, when it means manifestation or presence ( Genesis 1:29; 19:1- Matthew 6:16,17)
biblical Revelation revealed ( Genesis 32:39) Antrropomorphic and Anthropopathic Representations of God: Has Human features and Members ( face) ” And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. We can also do a much deeper reflection on ( Genesis 1:29-30) in reference to in search of the face of Christ ( the sustenance of the Body) The book of Genesis 1:29-30 revealed” varieties of food ( vegetable) ” And God said behold , I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree , in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth , and to every fowl of the air , and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth , wherein there is life, I have given every herb for meat : and it was so.
The universe is a unit- the conception of that Idea - One God - is the foundation of all science and theology
Botany says: ” One God - Only One “
Saint Thonas Aquinas gave the answer for the existence the self- evident of God (Psalm 52:1) we can reflect from this oracular scripture passage on one of the attributes of God as PERSON : God’s Goodness ” why boasteth thou thyself in mischief , O mighty man? The goodness of God endureth continually.
Saint Thomas explained to his objectioners by theologically explaining this particular scriptural passage: A thing can be self- evident in either of two ways: on the one hand , self - evident in itself, though not to us ; on the other, self - evident in itself , and to us .A proposition is self - evident be ause the predicate is included in the essence of the subject,as ” Man is an animal” ,for animal is contained in the essence of man. If, therefore , the essence of the predicate and subject be known to all, the opposition will be self- evident to all ; as is clear with regard to the first principles of demonstration , the terms of which are common things that no obe is ignorant of, such as being and non- being , whole and part, and such like. If, however, there are some to whom the essence of the predicate and subject is unknown , the proposition will be self - evident in itself, but not to those who do not know the meaning of the predicate and subjects of the proposition. Therefore, it happens, as Boethius says ( Hebdom, the title of which is: ” whether all that is , is good” ,” that there are some mental concepts self- evident only to the learned, as that incorporeal substances are not in space.” therefore I say that this proposition , “God Exists” ,of itself is self - evident , for the predicate is the same as the subject ; because God is his own existence as will be hereafter shown. Now because we do not know the essence of God, the proposition is not self - evident to us; but needs to be demonstrated by things that are more known to us , though less known in their nature - namely , by effects.
Jesus teachings on The Father ( Godhead) Bilical revelation in the Gopl of Matthew 22:32 ” Iam the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac , and the God of Jacob? God is not God of the dead , but of the living. This particular scriptural passage can help us also reflect on The Resurrection of at the Body : (Nature of the Resurrection of the Body : will have no marriage)
Lastly one can reflect on Pope Benedict , Encyclucal letter ” Deus Caritas Est” translation God is Love.
God is love is one of the attributes of God as Person ( 1John 4:8)” He that Loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love
Th duties and graces of the new life ( self - denial) Luke 17:33) ” whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.”
A conscious effort of character building ( self - denial ) to help us to be faithful and fulfill the commandments of God.
Self - denial- the denial of one’s self; self - abnegation ; forbearing to gratify one’s own desire. The practice of self - denial requires great strength of will. It is an act of necessity ; or, of an unselfish soul. To give first consideration to others brings it’s own rich reward of splendid inward satisfaction -the greatestvof compensation. To deny yourself is to grow in heart and soul quality , and in the Power of character.
Peace to all, during the remaining of this a Lenten Season. !!!!!!!!
Hello.
I found your article very interesting. I believe that we all have a sincere interest in discovering what the “true image of Jesus” is.
While reading your article, I kept thinking back to a graphic project that I created for my children’s Catholic school (St. Augustin Catholic School, Des Moines, Iowa) just a few years ago.
In it I depict what is our best understanding of what the image of Christ must be like. I’d include it with this post, but there seems to be no way to attach images. Do you have an email that I can send it to?
I think you’ll find it a very interesting perspective to your question, “Does a true image of the resurrected Jesus exist?”
Thanks so much, I look forward to the daily blogs.
Stephen Pyle
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
(515) 283-0789
My good Christ-loving people, do you think Jesus did not ensure He left His Image - His Face - to assist us in strengthening and cementing our Faith????? Of course He did. He never intended us to live in doubt that He lived just like one of us. Yes, I may not be a very intellectual, learned old woman, but I KNOW AND I BELIEVE ABSOLUTELY that the Face of Jesus on the Shroud, on St.Veronica’s Veil and any other authentic Face, when superimposed they all reveal EXACTLY HOW JESUS LOOKED LIKE. The latest, and most moving is the Divine Mercy Image which He asked St. Faustina in 1931 to be painted with a Brush - as He stood before her - with the Signature “Jesus I Trust in You”. He also requested the Universal Church to institute the Feast of the Divine Mercy on the 2nd Sunday After Easter, dictated a Novena to be prayed by those who prepare to celebrate this Feast appropriately in addition to the vital requirement to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He also dictated a very powerful Chaplet of the Divine Mercy. This Prayer is another Gift from Him and as powerful as Our Lord’s Prayer which He taught the Apostles. The other Pillar of the Eucharistic Divine Mercy Devotion is the 3.00 O’clock Holy Hour Adoration. This Divine Mercy Image, is one of the Four Pillars of the Eucharistic Apostolate of the Divine Mercy. When the Original Image painted under the direction of St. Faustina is superimposed on the Image in the Shroud, the Faces match perfectly. We need to remember Christ tells us our Faith and Worship must be in Spirit and in Truth. All the above-mentioned Images, show us exactly how Jesus looked like. The many Holy Saints to whom He has appeared from time to time during the 2000 years’ History of the Catholic Church, present the same Image. So, to make Christ’s Countenance a subject of intellectual discourse is to miss the Divine Message of our Salvation which He brought us by His Incarnation, Passion, Death and Resurrection. And He made sure we would not go wrong by leaving us His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church where the full Revelation of the Salvation and Redemption Mystery subsists. Wishing you all a very blessed Easter and a Grace-filled Celebration of the Feast of the Divine Mercy - instituted for the Universal Catholic Church in the Year 2000 - by the Eucharistic Divine Mercy Apostle - whom Jesus prophesied as the “The Spark from Poland” who would fulfill His Will - our beloved Pope Paul II who is to be beatified on this Feast Day - 1st May 2011. + Laudetur Iesus Christus +
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