Feast Day: 12th July

Patron Saint: images; laundry workers, pictures, photos, photographers

Quote:  "Revelation teaches that God dwells in us through Grace that the soul becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit and in addition, a dwelling place of the entire Trinity."

Bell Burnell house chose St Veronica as our house saint due to her representations of kindness and charity. Our house has always been majorly active in raising as much money we can for charity and we thought it was important to have a saint that could represent that.

St Veronica is known as the woman who offered her cloth to wipe jesus’ face as he carried his cross. Most will know this as it is the sixth station of the cross and this simple act of compassion and kindness is what got it to be there. Jesus’ face would’ve been dripping in blood and sweat and st Veronica offered her veil to wipe his face, which had led to an imprint of Jesus’ face onto the cloth. 

Such cloth is believed to still exist today and the Vatican value it as being one of the most treasured artefacts, residing at St Peter’s in Rome. However, there is known to be six copies of the veil, including the one in the Vatican, which has been claimed to be the one from mediaeval times, although no studies have been conducted.

The importance of following St Veronica's simple act of kindness and humility can be brought to help guide us in our everyday lives. It shows us how even the smallest of actions can mean so much to someone, as hers did for Jesus, and we should be remembered most for our compassion, just as Veronica was commemorated for hers in the sixth station of the cross.

It has also been believed by many that St Veronica was the same woman from the bible who had suffered 12 haemorrhages and reached out to touch Jesus in hopes to be healed. When Jesus discovered who it was who had touched his cloak, he was impressed by her good faith and subsequently healed her. If this is so, we can also learn how we never forget a kindness bestowed upon us and how, when the time comes, we can equally offer that same kindness back to that person.

All of these teachings and values gained from the actions of St Veronica is what helps us evolve as a house dedicated to being there for each other when times are tough, but to also help those people outside of our school community through our charity work to contribute to that difference being made for the better.