The Holy Face at Manoppello : Sister Blandina: Part I

Based on the same 'Inside the Vatican' article as the previous post, this one will look at Sister's background and her first encounter with the Holy Face veil.

Sister Blandina Paschalis Schloman:

1943 Born at Karisbad-Aich , Germany
1962 Left school and joined Missionary Sisters of Jesus' Precious Blood
1965 Specialises in mosaic painting and Conducts her first study of the Holy Shroud of Turin
1966 Begins study of Pharmaceutics at University of Wurzburg and Bonn
1973 Enters the Trappist order
1976 Begins the study of Icons in France
1979 Is shown a photograph of the Holy Face of Manoppello in a magazine. It is the first time she has seen or heard of it.
1984 She contacts tow Holy Shroud specialists. begins a comparative study of the Shroud and the Manoppello Face
1991 Produces first superimpositions of the two images.
1998 She exhibits 27 panels known collectively as 'Face of Faces. these show the coincidence ot the images on the Shroud and on the Veil. The panels are now on display at Manoppello and I do hope the Holy Father had time to visit them when he was there in 2006.

Sister's reaction on first seeing the magazine photograph: "I didn't even want to look at it, as I believed that the only image of Christ's face was that of the Holy Shroud (I had read all the German Literature about it.) Yet I was deeply impressed by the look of that face and, in compliance of what I felt to be Jesus' will. I eventually resolved to find out whether that image was in any way related to the Lord."
From the article that accompanied the photograph Sister learned that the Shroud and Veil images were the same size. She cotinues: "Obstinate as I was, I tried to disprove that statement. So I begain to study this subject which easily fitted in with my new activity of icon painting. As I compared the two images, I realised they referred to the same person.

Sister proved, at least to her own satisfaction, that the images on Shroud and Veil showed the same asymmetry. and so she began to think that the face on the Veil was also the Face of Christ. Speaking in 2009 she says "Throughout these years I've done nothing but compare the two images with new photographs and photocopies." Further she says, that in 1991 she was "able to notice the coincidence of the wounds and other details: in other words, the two images showed the same person."

Next post: Difficulties, dangers and Sister's present convictions about the Veil at Manoppello.