At the time when our Savior was on earth, there lived at Edessa, in Armenia, a King called Abgare. This monarch, having heard of the miracles worked by our Lord and of the holiness of his life, conceived a strong desire to have Him near to him of at least to possess his portrait. He, therefore, sent a solemn embassy to Jesus Christ. Our Lord could not leave Judea, but in order to satisfy in some measure the desire of the pious Sovereign, he took from the hands of the ambassadors a linen cloth, “a handkerchief,” the tradition calls it; Himself applied it. to His Face and gave back the linen which had now become sacred, bearing as it did upon it the impress of His august Face.

King Abgare received the precious portrait with holy transports, and paid it the greatest honor. During several centuries the Holy Face of Edessa was the glory and palladium of the town, which believed that on several occasions it owed to it its deliverance and its safety. Later on, transported to Constantinople, it was obliged to be removed at the time of the Muslim invasion, that it might not he exposed to the fury of the infidels. Some Armenian Religious saved it by taking it with them to Genoa, where it is, at the present day, the object of a popular worship.

The origin and translation of this holy Picture are illustrated by miraculous legends, respecting which the most learned authors do not agree, and the authenticity of these legends has consequently never been fully attested. Therefore, spite of the respect it inspires, we cannot attach to it the same importance, or give to it the same worship that we do to the veil of Veronica preserved at St. Peter of the Vatican.