Did Veronica Really Exist?

Veronica and the story of her wiping the face of Jesus do not appear in Sacred Scripture. The name “Veronica” also does not appear in the earliest surviving martyrologies. An ancient relic in Rome believed to be the imprint of the face of Jesus on a cloth used to wipe his face during the Passion was called vera icon (“true image”) in order to distinguish it from others. Some historians think the name Veronica came from the term vera icon. And indeed, some medieval sources refer to the veil itself as “Veronica.”

It is not outside the realm of possibility that a woman performed an act of kindness to Jesus by wiping his face with a cloth on his way to the cross and that pious tradition kept her memory alive. Veronica may be her actual name, or perhaps her name was lost to history and Veronica came from vera icon. Either way, the person and action would be real.