Customer Reviews

The Face of God: The Rediscovery of the True Face of Jesus

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For those who thought that the Shroud of Turin was the first and last of the great Christian relics concerning Jesus Christ, this book might make you believe otherwise. Many of the Shroud authorities are written about in the book including Ian Wilson.

This is a fascinating book which I found to be well witten, exciting and easy to read! It flowed extremely well. I actually had started reading another book and then this one arrived and I began reading it to see how it was and I couldn't put it down!

Ultimately, whether the reader believes that the face on the cloth is made by human hands or not, the story of Paul Baddes journey of discovery and of those others mentioned in the book is quite thrilling.

When I first saw the picture of the face on the cloth, I can't say that I was particularly impressed. However, Badde's descriptions of what it actually appears like in person are quite vivid. Also, hearing about some of the people who believe it to be a genuine likeness of Jesus, such as two Capuchin Stigmatists, which includes Saint Padre Pio, is a very strong argument for authenticity, as far as I am concerned.

I can't wait to make a pilgramage to see it and two other Holy relics I also have been reading about in St. Laurence And The Holy Grail: The Holy Chalice Of Valencia and Sacred Blood Sacred Image: The Sudarium of Oviedo: New Evidence for the Authenticity of the Shroud of Turin.

Part mystery, part history, part theology, part psychology, following in the tradition of classic Catholic pilgrimage authors such as Dante and Chaucer, and utilizing all the means available to a respected and competent journalist, Paul Badde invites and brings us along on his journey to meet the people who guide him to deeper knowledge of the image of the Holy Face of Manoppello, not made by human hands, showing the true face of Jesus formed in the tomb in Jerusalem, which had been nearly forgotten for centuries.

Every believer must know this image, and there is no one who is more qualified than Badde to explain it. Non-believers who wish to delve into the mystery of the Holy Face will be intrigued and rewarded by the multi-faceted approach which Badde, as a veteran journalist and historian, has taken to get to the truth about the image.

Ignatius Press has produced a well made and beautifully printed edition of Badde's book with a number of fine color photos of the Holy Face. This is fitting for Badde's book is no less than a treasure for the ages, a landmark and compass of Catholic culture for the twenty first century.

I first heard about this on Paul Badde's radio interview with Teresa Tomeo on Catholic Connection. After having read much about the Shroud of Turin, I was fascinated that there might be another "original" image of the face of Christ. So I ordered the book immediately on Kindle and dived into it with enthusiasm. I was not disappointed in the least.

Paul Badde traces his own discovery of the "Holy Face" of Manopello, Italy, and his subsequent investigation of the image. His journey reads like a mystery novel--almost as though he were a detective seeking out all the clues to unravel a mystery. At first they seemed as confusing as the disparate pieces of a jigsaw puzzle; but, as they fell into place, a new picture emerged--and several more questions.

By the end of the book, I was convinced that the Holy Face (or "Volto Santo") of Manopello is--at the very least--an image that could not have been made by human hands. The picture is the front view of a man which appears upon a thin, transparent, and very costly cloth called "byssus"--weaved from the fibres of mollusk silk. The threads of this fibre cannot be painted on. It is a "positive" image--as opposed to the "negative" image on the Shroud of Turin.

It appears quite possible that this may have been the "Veronica Image" which was venerated by the early Church until the 16th Century. It may also be the cloth which covered the head of crucified Christ when he lay in the tomb--and which was found "folded up and set aside" apart from the burial shroud when Peter and John entered the empty tomb on the first Easter Sunday morning.

As fantastic as these theories are, Paul Badde paints a convincing picture as he presents his findings in this fascinating book.

The story told in the "Face of God" pushes the limits of the human
mind. I, like the author, felt an overpowering urge to travel to
see the relic myself. The photographs are haunting.

Paul Badde did not go out to find a hot story to write, or seek any fame, rather he followed up on a story about a relic that was stolen from the Vatican, and hushed up for centuries, and was discovered in a church, as a veneration icon for who knows how long. This veil was not painted, and it is said to be Veronica's veil when she wiped the face of Jesus on the way of the cross, or one used to cover his face during burial, but why are his eyes open and teeth showing? You have to read this book to find out all the details. When mounted over the Shroud of Turin, the face features and wounds matched up perfectly. Do we now have the True Face of God. The Church thinks so. The Basilica at Manoppello is not a papal basilica.
"Though out faith does not ultimately depend on relics, they can help deepen our faith and that is why the Church blesses the veneration of relics as a means to assisting us to come closer to the Lord and holiness, and deeper love for the Mass, and Our Lord." (EWTN interview with Fr. John Hogan)
A must read.
Pax et Bonum
Paul

I read a 2 star review a week or two ago and because of it I just about did not get the book and read it for myself. I am glad I read the book because I found, for me, the review inaccurate. The book is very readable and exciting. I enjoyed his investigative approach and I cannot imagine it written any other way. He is a very good investigator, and writer, he documents his findings very well and he reports accurately and does not fudge the facts. I don't know why he got access to everything and it doesn't bother me that I don't know why. He did and, I will attribute it to providence, good connections, persistence and follow up. I don't know if there are any books about this subject written before. I anticipate there will be a flood of books to follow. This one will remain the primary source and gold standard for all future books about the Veronica.

I am of two minds about this book. I originally received a galley copy and assumed it was yet another private revelation story with little to back it up. However, the fact that Ignatius Press published it made me give the book a second look. As I began to read it, incredulity immediately crept in. The first few pages failed to convince me or hold my attention, so I put the book aside and moved on to greener pastures. My biggest obstacle was the feeling that the Holy Face of Manoppello was too ugly, too irregular, too obviously painted to be a true image of Our Lord "not made by human hands."

Then, about a year later, I got a note from a Carmelite friend who had read the finished book and loved it. She had even gone so far as to repeat the experiments Sr. Blandina had carried out, comparing the face on the cloth in Manoppello to that the Shroud of Turin. The book, she said, had convinced her of Badde's thesis--that the cloth in Manoppello was actually the Veronica. With this endorsement on board, I took up the book again and quickly read it from beginning to end. I am glad that I did. Once you get past the occasionally awkward translation from the German, The Face of God reads like a detective story. While not completely convincing, Badde's evidence is compelling enough to force the reader to contemplate the Holy Face anew. Indeed, it was apparently convincing enough for Pope Benedict XVI to make a pilgrimage to visit the Holy Face in 2006.

Having read the book, I now turned to the internet to find more photographs of the Holy Face. Having viewed the image in color from a variety of angles, another strange thing happened. Though the image still appears to me to have been drawn by a human hand, it no longer appears ugly. To paraphrase an astute observation on the Holy Face website, the image seems to contain within itself all the attributes of the mysteries of the Rosary. It is sorrowful, joyful, glorious and luminous all at the same time.

As I said, I am still not sold on the theory that this image is the original Veronica that was displayed in Old St. Peter's Basilica for hundreds of years. But at the very least, it is a very old and mysterious relic. The fact that it appears on byssus, or mussel-silk--an immensely costly material that will not hold a pigment and is nearly impossible to stain--adds to the mystery.

In short, this is an engrossing read. If you enjoyed books like Ian Wilson's The Blood and the Shroud, you will most assuredly find The Face of God to be equally intriguing.

Badde's journalistic interviews and experiences are not to be ignored or underestimated; after all, if his guess is correct that the Image of Manoppello is the true image of Jesus left in the tomb after the Resurrection, then . . . well, what could be more significant?
But whereas the history of the Shroud is traceable right back to the Gospels, there is virtually no traceable history of the Face. Whereas the Shroud has undergone thousands of hours of scientific (e.g. physics, chemistry, photography) analysis, no scientific studies have been permitted on the Face. Whereas the Shroud is based clearly on the testimony of all 4 Gospels, the Face has no Biblical foundation whatsoever. Whereas many of the Shroud details offer both corroboration and surprising new information of the Passion and Death, the Face in some ways contradicts what we know about the Shroud (e.g. its aspect is disarmingly different and its eyes and mouth are open and its mustache seems different). Some details of the Shroud Face (e.g. the reverse "3" on the forehead and the blood and wounds) are largely missing. Badde claims it's an image of Jesus's Face "healed."
As for the book's claim that the Shroud Face and the Manoppello Face match point-for-point when laid over each other, I recall a full-hour DISCOVERY station program wherein a Jewish "face expert" and a scientist "proved" in great detail that the Shroud Face matched perfectly with a self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci. Their conclusion= Leonardo had "painted" the Shroud. Only problem: We know from the Pray MS that the Shroud preceded Leonardo's birth by a couple centuries.
When one looks at the Shroud Face, one is struck with its reverential and dignified qualities; but by page 257 Badde finally alludes to what observers of the Face refer to as its "ugliness"; he even admits his own friends have labeled it as "hideous" and "horrendous." It's not what one would expect after contemplating the Holy Face of the Shroud.
Yet, the Manoppello Face exists; it's there to be seen; it seems to be made of byssus, a translucent-type thread derived from mussels. And there are no easy explanations as to how a Face got onto this handkerchief-size cloth.
It's indeed an enigma, a mystery. But is it even a religious mystery? I don't know. Let's hope there's much more to come.

What does God look like? Neither Muslims, nor Jews, nor any other religious tradition dares to approach that question. Most non-Christian religionists consider it sacrilege to fashion an image, an icon, or a sculpture of God.

But for Christians, God has a face. The Incarnation gives the invisible God flesh and bones and even a visage. Through Jesus, God became human and therefore is a physical being. So for Christians the question, "what does God look like?" ultimately becomes "what does Jesus look like?"

In his new book, The Face of God: The Rediscovery of the True Face of Jesus (Ignatius Press, hardcover, 378 pages), journalist Paul Badde believes he has found the answer. Badde's book centers on his discovery of the Veil of Manoppello, a strange, delicate cloth that, if Badde is right, is the most important relic in all of Christendom.

The haunting Veil displays an eerie, compelling image that Badde claims is the actual Face of God. And he has plenty of evidence to back this up--plenty of historical, scientific, and religious research. One of the strongest, though, is that when the face of the Shroud of Turin is laid over the face of the Veil of Manoppello, the two images form a perfect match.

The Face of God includes not just scientific proofs, though. It's an adventure memoir chronicling Badde's journey from intrigued skeptic to convinced promoter. The book is gripping and full of suspense and surprise, reading like a real-life Da Vinci Code (sans heresy).

Besides reading the book, I also watched a two-part documentary series on the Veil titled The Holy Face. While the book features static shots of the Veil, the documentary really brings it to life. As light hits the Veil at different angles, it shimmers and shifts in ways that words can't do justice.

Yet while the video adds an important visual dimension, most of the film's dialogue is in Italian, German, and Russian, and the translations are often slow and clunky. Nevertheless, if you want to see the Veil in action, The Holy Face documentary provides that.

Overall, I don't know if I'm totally convinced that the Veil is the real deal. I also take issue with Badde's suggestion that at some point, the Vatican "lost" the true Veil and now promotes a fake alternative in St. Peter's Basilica.

At the same time, The Face of God does offer some challenging evidence for the Veil's veracity. Dr. Peter Kreeft concludes, "If I were an atheist, I would not be able to sleep until I had exposed everything in this book as a scam." Ultimately, believers and skeptics alike should find this book interesting even if they doubt its claims.

As much as I wanted to read this book, I just couldn't; the English is unreadable. I can't comment on Paul Badde's German original, but the translation reads as though it were done by a machine. Ignatius Press really should have had an editor look at the work before agreeing to publish it. It's a great shame, and very disappointing.