The Face of God

By Paul Badde (Ignatius Press, hardcover book).

 

Paul Badde is the Vatican correspondent for the German daily newspaper Die Welt. He has researched  the mysterious image of a man's face on byssus cloth, also called sea silk. Byssus cloth is a delicate, thin fabric woven from a silky filament produced by mollusks and which is too thin to paint on. Yet the image of a man's face is clearly imprinted on this ancient cloth. Tradition has held that this image is the Face of the living Jesus. When laid over the image of the face on the Shroud of Turin, the match is perfect.

 

The Face of God contains 16 pages of color photos of the image and of events and artifacts associated with it. The face of Christ on the image is gentle, plain, unimposing. It is the Face of God in the flesh, Badde concludes.

 

In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI visited Manoppello, the little town which houses the relic, and spent a long while in silent prayer before the Holy Face. Two weeks later, he raised the little church housing the relic to the status of a papal basilica.

 

The Face of God details Badde's journey and research in exploring and documenting the authenticity of this relic. An extensive index supplements the book. The Face of God will appeal not only to history enthusiasts but to all who are seeking a deeper faith experience of the Living God. Learning the background of this image and its trek through the centuries confirms one's faith in God become Man. The fuzzy image of "what Jesus looked like" becomes clear after reading The Face of God.