THE VERONICA. 



The first and most important, the " Volto Santo," as 

 it is called, is contained in a shrine hollowed out of one 

 of the huge piers which support the dome of St. Peter's, 

 with a balcony in front of it, and a statue of St. 

 Veronica holding the miraculous veil or sudarium 

 immediately below in a niche. No one who has not 

 the rank of a canon of the Church is allowed to see 

 this relic ; and when foreign sovereigns and princes are 

 admitted to examine it, they have the rank conferred 

 upon them as an honorary distinction for the purpose. 

 Ten times a year it is exhibited to the pope, the cardin- 

 als, and the other dignitaries of the Church, who kneel 

 on the pavement of the nave in front of it. To the 

 general public it is shown on Holy Thursday, Good 

 Friday, and Easter Day, from the balcony, and seven 

 thousand years of indulgence are promised to all who 

 witness the sight. But the height is so great that 

 nothing but a black board hung with a cloth, before 

 which another featureless cloth is held, can be dis- 

 tinguished. So-called facsimiles on linen of the sacred 

 face are sold to strangers in the sacristy of St. Peter's ; 

 but though they are sealed with the seal and bear the 

 signature of one of the canons of the Church, who are 

 the custodiers of the relic, this is no guarantee that the 

 copy at all resembles the original. M. Barbier de 

 Montault, Canon of Anagni, who saw the veronica on 

 the occasion of the promulgation of the dogma of the 

 Immaculate Conception, describes it as a dark, dim 

 picture, covered with a thin plate of glass, and enclosed 

 in a simple square frame of silver. He could not dis- 



