The Veil of Veronica is a veil upon which the adorable face was miraculously impressed without paint nor artificial colors, but by the power of the divine Son of God during His passion. After some two thousand years, it is quite darkened, so its features are difficult to make out. It is housed in the epistle side pillar of the papal altar along with the holy lance and wood of the true cross since 1606.

From tradition, we are informed that the holy woman known as Saint Veronica broke through the mob to console Jesus while He was carrying the cross, His holy altar of sacrifice, to console Him. “So full of deep sorrow into which He was then plunged by the weight of the sins of the world.” She took off her headdress of fine Egyptian linen and handed it to Jesus to wipe His face of sweat, mud, spittle, and blood. He gave it back to her with His august image impressed on it. His imprint detailed the marks of the fingers of the cruel men who gave the sacrilegious blows…

The remembrance of this has been attached to the sixth station of the cross since time immemorial… It is still preserved as one of the precious relics in memory of the great Redeemer. The Veil of Veronica represents the face of Jesus in His passion…

Jesus revealed to Sister Mary of St. Peter the commemoration of the wiping of the sacred face with the Veil of Veronica has such an effect: for those who apply themselves to the work of reparation would perform the same work as Veronica. When devotees of the Confraternities of the Holy Face make the prayers contained therein, it is as if they are each there breaking through the mob, consoling the face of Jesus.

Fr. Lawrence Carney, The Secret of the Holy Face – The Devotion Destined to Save Society pp. 25-28

A fresco decorates the arched ceiling at the entrance to Golgotha, the site of Jesus' crucifixion, on the upper level of the Church of Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The Church was reconstructed in 1149 after 800 years of destruction.