The Volto Santo

A few weeks ago while on our trip to Italy, we went to a town called Lucca. Lucca is located in the Tuscany region of Italy and was believed to have been founded sometime around 180 BC. It is a beautiful place and one that I highly recommend if you ever are in the Tuscany region.

Within the walled part of the city is the Cathedral of St. Martin. Inside the cathedral is the Chapel of the Holy Face, or the Volto Santo. It is also called the Holy Cross. Within the small chapel is a crucifix made of walnut showing Christ wearing a tunic. Yet it is the face, the Volto Santo that grabbed me.

Like all old relics the Volto Santo is surrounded by history, legend, and folk tradition. Legend has it, that the Volto Santo was sculpted by Nicodemus, Jesus’ disciple who asked for his Teacher’s body after the crucifixion so that he might bury it. It is believed that Nicodemus himself carved a wooden image of the Savior, but when he got to the face he could go no further. The facial features of Christ are said to have been completed by Divine Intervention. Seven centuries after Nicodemus carved the image, Bishop Walafrid learned of the existence of the carving in a dream while on a pilgrimage in Jerusalem and procured the crucifix. Leaving it up to Divine Providence, he put the carving on a boat with neither crew nor captain and set it free. It was here that Bishop John of Lucca, notified by an angel during a dream, found the ship and its precious cargo off the port of Luni. After an argument ensued of where the crucifix should find its home, an agreement was made to place it on a wagon drawn by two untamed bulls. Upon being set free, the bulls began their way towards Lucca, where the crucifix has found its home ever since.

Whether the tradition is true or not, the face itself is striking. It is an image of the face of Christ which compels introspection and contemplation. The eyes, the drawn out face, what was He thinking here? Could it be that it was here that He uttered the words,

“Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”

Lk 23:34

Nicodemus is one my favorite characters of the New Testament. He is someone I can relate to. He is someone who was on the journey. We first see him in the 3rd chapter of John’s Gospel. We see him approach Jesus at night. What is it about this meeting at night? Where no one can see him approach Jesus and where shadows can’t be exposed?

How often do I approach Jesus “at night?” How often I use the cover of the darkness to hide from the sight of others so they don’t see me speak with my Savior. How often I am still unsure of the saving power of Christ that I only approach Him when I think He can’t see my sins. I approach Him when I believe my shadows are safe in the dark. It is good that I approach Him but doing so in the dark is safe.

The second time that we hear from Nicodemus is in the 7^th Chapter of John’s Gospel when he reminds the Pharisees that the law requires someone be heard before being judged. I would use “the law” to stick up for Jesus as well sometimes. It is easier, because it doesn’t involve a conversion within my own heart. It is an outward and vocal sign of faith, but it is one step removed from communion because it lacks signs of an intimate relationship with Christ and therefore with others.

Finally we hear Nicodemus a third time in the 19^th Chapter of John’s Gospel when along with Joseph Arimathea, he requests the body of Jesus after His death on the cross. There have been a few times in my life when my reputation has been threatened, my image within a community has been tarnished, my beliefs are labeled and dismissed as naïve and simple, all because I choose to “take His body” no matter what the costs.

The story of Nicodemus is a great insight into my own conversion. From curiosity of Christ’s teaching that is accessed safely at night, to the beginning of upholding my faith by resting everything on the law, to the recognition that the most important thing is the relationship with Jesus no matter what the costs. This continuing conversion, this constant immersion into Truth, has been and continues to be the journey of my own faith. It is always ongoing and never finished.

Looking at the Volto Santo in Lucca has reminded me once again of my baptism. For it has reminded me of the answer that Nicodemus got from Jesus when he approached Him at night. The act of being born again through “water and Spirit” is not a onetime thing, rather a daily act. A daily act that moves us from the shadows to the light. From death to life. A journey that moves from “not knowing what I do” to coming to see everything through the lens of faith.

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