Pilgrims continued a Lenten tradition in Rome on Sunday, March 22, 2026, visiting sacred sites and venerating relics of saints and martyrs. The observance culminated in a special exposition of the Veil of Veronica at St. Peter’s Basilica, a centuries-old custom offering a moment of reflection ahead of Easter. The event underscores the enduring importance of religious tradition and pilgrimage for Catholics worldwide.
The Basilica of St. Peter welcomed worshippers on the Fifth Sunday of Lent, gathering around the altar above St. Peter’s tomb to await the unveiling of the Veil of Veronica. Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Vicar General of Vatican City, described the relic as an invitation to contemplate the suffering and ultimate glory of Christ on the cross.
The exposition of the “Holy Face”
The Celebration
The sound of bells announced the moment. In the silence, all eyes turned toward the statue of the woman who showed mercy to Christ on the way to Calvary. From there, the “Holy Face” was revealed, contemplated by the faithful in a silence that deepened with the suffering of Jesus imprinted on the veil. The blood shed by the Savior during Lent served as a reminder of both the humanity and divinity of Jesus.
During the Eucharistic celebration, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti spoke of the stark contrast between the life that Christ brings and the death of Lazarus, referencing the Gospel reading. He noted that Jesus promised “the ultimate victory over the exiles to which we are condemned: abandonment, slavery, illness, defamation, insult, persecution, death.”
A Death That Becomes a Sister
If the Veil of Veronica evokes death, the Cardinal explained that death can develop into a sister, as preached by St. Francis. “It becomes a sister when it opens the doors to encounter with Jesus, as happened with Lazarus. Dying physically, but also our fragility, especially of the heart, mortifies life. The death of the soul can become a sister when we pray from the depths of our being.”
A moment from the celebration
A Sign of Divine Compassion
The key to the change that brings latest life from death is love, the Cardinal continued. “Today’s Gospel,” he said, “reminds us of Jesus, who loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. Love is the reason that leads him to experience the pain of loss with his friends.” From this love arises the compassion of Christ, leading to a necessitate for closeness: “Where have they laid him?” The same question, he added, “permeates incomprehensible deaths and situations of violence and war that we witness helplessly.”
Gambetti explained that Jesus’ weeping at the tomb of Lazarus is a sign of divine compassion because, “man is not made for death, not made for isolation or selfish pleasures, not made to be chained or sad. Man is made for life, to share gifts with others, to relate, to be free and joyful.”
Experiencing the Joy of Resurrection
Just as Jesus called Lazarus, he calls each of us. “May the woman who wiped Jesus’ face with the veil we venerate,” Cardinal Gambetti concluded, “teach us the feelings with which to follow Jesus. And may Mary, who carried the seed of life in her womb even when her son died and a sword pierced her soul, accompany us at the foot of the cross to experience with her, amid tears, the joy of resurrection in every situation, at every moment, in every instant.”
