Veronica’s Veil

Volunteer Requirements:

• Male, at least 18 years or older
• Committed to helping those in need with a heart for the poor and those experiencing homelessness, mental health issues, and poverty
• Maintain confidentiality of our guests
• Complete the Archdiocesan volunteer screening procedure
• Must be able to work as part of a team
• Participation in training sessions

Volunteers are specially trained in de-escalation tactics, crisis management, public health guidelines and handling drug toxicity.

Volunteers help give each guest dignity by:

• Welcoming and registering guests as they arrive
• Escorting guests to their assigned beds
• Serving hot beverages and snacks at the canteen
• Helping guests with their clothing, toiletries or shower needs
• Extending sympathetic ear and a caring heart
• Providing information about other service providers relative to their needs

1. Volunteer your time during the months of January to April for a four-hour shift (at this time, we are only accepting male volunteers).
2. Donate – here are the ways to donate:
   1. Go to stmaryscathedral.ca/give and specify your donation to go to Veronica’s Veil;
   2. Cheques can be made out to St.Mary’s Cathedral; or
   3. E-transfer to smarys@cogeco.net.
3. Pray/Submit a Mass Intention for the men who come to the shelter nightly and for the volunteers who make it possible to provide a warm safe space.
4. Share our Veronica’s Veil Overnight Shelter for Men posts within your community to raise awareness on homelessness and poverty in the city of Kingston.
5. Donate juice boxes, bottles of water, granola bars, cookies, instant oatmeal, sugar, hot chocolate, tea, instant coffee.

• juice boxes
• bottles of water
• granola bars; cookies
• instant oatmeal
• sugar
• hot chocolate; tea; instant coffee
• milk
• breakfast cereal

• Kneeling before Christ as he carried his Cross towards Golgotha, a woman moved with compassion and love stretched out her fingers holding a simple piece of cloth, her eyes focused solely on the face of our Lord with not a hint of discouragement. Veronica’s Veil would be used for mere seconds if not maybe for a full minute to offer reprieve. To wipe the sweat, dirt, blood, and tears from our Lord’s kind eyes. Eyes that never shied from the poor, the hungry, and the desperate.
• St. Mary’s Cathedral’s Veronica’s Veil Overnight Shelter for Men who are experiencing homelessness, has graciously taken her name from this most humbling woman.
• In Veronica, we see a person whom we should all strive to emulate. To let us all see the face of Christ in the men that come to our Warming Centre door in the evening’s darkness and those that are out on the Kingston streets. Let us humble ourselves and kneel before those who come seeking warmth, food, a hot shower, clean sheets, and a safe place to rest.

• The name Veronica is derived from the Latin vera (true) and icon (image) and was likely given to this woman due to the credence that as she tried to absorb the sweat, dirt, and blood from the face of Jesus, a miraculous image of his face was left on the fabric. St. Veronica’s cloth bearing the imprint of Jesus’ face is claimed to be in a variety of places, including St. Peter’s in Rome and a monastery in Manoppello, Italy. (National Catholic Register)
• Our Veronica kept her treasured veil stained with the precious blood, sweat, and tears of our Lord. Let our volunteers keep the treasures, and stories brought forth by the men who enter through our centre door in their own hearts.
• She is honoured with a feast day on July 12th.

Can you be brave enough, my other self, to wipe my bloody face?
Where is my face, you ask?
at home whenever eyes fill up with tears,
at work when tensions rise, on playgrounds, in the slums,
the courts, the hospitals, the jails-
wherever suffering exits-
my face is there.
and there I look for you
to wipe away my blood and tears.
(Everyone’s Way of the Cross, Clarence Enzler)