About the image of Manopello I learned from the book of German journalist Paul Badde “Divine Face. Shroud of Manopello”. The discovery of the oldest image of the Savior is the greatest gift for believers. Who could have expected that in the tiny village of Manopello in the Italian mountains of Abruzzo, there is a precious relic? The greatest sensation of this discovery is that the Shroud of Manoppello exactly corresponds to the Shroud of Turin, that is, the Face of Manoppello and the Face of Turin is the face of the same Man. While on the Shroud of Turin there is the Face of Christ tormented, the Shroud of Manoppello shows the Face of the Risen Lord.
For many years I dreamed of going to Manopello to see the image on thin material like a spider’s web … The dream came true last year. At the end of May we went with my husband and my mother-in-law to Italy. Before Manopello, we stopped in Padua. This was my second stay. In spite of the crowds, perhaps because of this, there was a strong emotion at St. Anthony’s grave … exaltation? And Manopello. My first husband entered my church. I was dealing with an accomodation problem. When I stepped inside, I could not find him, though the church was empty. I saw the altar with the Image. You can go up the stairs from the back so that you do not disturb the liturgy. I saw the kneeling husband … he cried … I never saw my husband in tears. Never. I looked at the Image and I knew why he was crying …. I can not describe it. His eyes … loving, full of tenderness eyes, a little astonished … delicate, shy smile…visible signs of fatigue, bruise, injury … and incredible brightness. I cried … but I was the happiest person on earth … I do not know how long I was kneeling, the time seemed to stop. Photos of Jesus Image I managed to do only the day after the Eucharist. We went also to Cascia and Assisi … but nothing more compares to the meeting with the Image.
