November 27, 2011 - Catechism 1159-1162

It has been accepted in the Catholic Church almost since the beginning that images are to be accepted and cherished. Images of Christ, Mary, and other saints are to be placed so that they can aid in reflection and a reminder to us of how to live our lives. Before Christ, images of God were not allowed because no one had any idea what God looked like. When Christ took human form, that limitation changed. Christ took on a visible form and so a visible portrait could be made and shared. The question becomes, how do we really know that the images we have are accurate. There are two things I want to say about that.

First, have you ever realized that 90% of the images you do see of Christ are pretty similar. Dark brown hair, slender face, piercing eyes. Granted not all portraits are exactly the same and they all have their own details that may differ, but the basics are almost always the same. That gives some credence to the fact that they share the same source and are reliable. If half had red hair, some blonde, some brown, then I think there could be a question about their reliability. But with the vast majority looking very much alike, that appears to prove their accuracy.

Second, there are several, at least 4 that I know of, miraculous images of Christ that are out there. Not only do they look very similar to most portraits of Christ (it is actually the other way around because the artist portraits were likely taken from these images) but they all are miraculously similar to each other. It would benefit everyone to look into the stories of these images and what has been done to study them and how they have been adored throughout the centuries, and still today. We have seen the face of God and God came down to us so that we could relate to Him in a more familiar way. One of the ways this continues is by leaving us with accurate images of what He looked like when He was here so that we can have confidence that the incarnation was real and our hope can be more secure.