The Holy Shroud of Turin
(La Sindone)
The Shroud of Turin is the famous linen cloth
that many people believe once wrapped the dead body of Jesus Christ.
La
Sindone (in Italian), is one of the most highly controversial
and worshipped religious icons in Italy and perhaps in all of
the Christian world. The icon is an ancient linen cloth which
bears the image of a crucified man. The shroud contains
discernable impressions of the face, hands, feet, and torso of a
man, with what are presumed to be bloodstains consistent with the wounds of
crucifixion. It also has a rectangular pattern from where it was
folded over the centuries, The impression on the shroud also
shows a wound in the side of the man's chest, which according to
the New Testament, Jesus was pierced with a lance in order to
conclude he had died.
The shroud is worshipped as an image
of Jesus by those that consider it to be the authentic cloth he
was wrapped in when He died and was placed in a tomb.
Existing records, show that the shroud's
existence dates to the middle 1300s, appearing as though it may
have been stolen from Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey)
during the Crusades of the 1200s. It was previously venerated in
France in the late 1300s and in the early 1400s. It ended up
with the Royal Savoy family who moved to Turin (Torino) Italy in
1583, where they kept it safe for four centuries. In 1983, the
family gave the shroud to
Pope John Paul II and the Catholic Church as a gift.
The Holy Shroud has been subjected to
many studies. Indeed it is most likely the world's most studied
religious artifact. The most reliable studies date the
shroud to around the 11th or 12th centuries, more than 1,000
years after Jesus Christ lived and died. Skeptics argue
that the Shroud of Turin is fake,
intentionally created to have the appearance of a burial
cloth from the era of Jesus Christ.
Those who believe that the shroud is
authentic assert that the damage that occurred over the
centuries, including during a 1532 fire and various
bungled restoration attempts, have corrupted the shroud to
the extent that it is impossible for any scientific
analysis to provide any reliable dating of the shroud. The
Catholic Church has refrained from issuing a judgment on the
authenticity of the shroud but encourages its worship as a
means of remembering the teachings and sacrifices of Christ.
The shroud remains a holy relic
to the faithful, with profound spiritual importance.
Cathedral Basilica San Giovanni Battista (Cathedral of St.
John The Baptist) is the heart of the archdiocese of Turin,
Italy and famous in the world for the Shroud. Also referred to
as the Turin Cathedral, the shroud has been kept there for four
centuries. Their website is translated into four languages (italian,
english, french and russian) and it is the best source of
information on the shroud. Their
sheet media
breaks down the shroud into multiple sections and shows detailed
information concerning the various body part impressions within
the shroud.
The actual Shroud of Turin is housed in the
adjacent Cathedral, or
Duomo of Torino, in a climate-controlled case in a chapel
built just to hold it. Because of its extremely fragile state,
the shroud is not viewable to the public except during very rare
public viewings.
While it is not possible to see the real
Shroud of Turin, replicas
and displays at the
Most Holy Shroud Museum provide excellent detailed
information and explanations of the shroud and its mysteries.
Several artifacts related to the
Holy Shroud are on display at the museum. This display also
includes historical information and the research conducted
on the shroud. Also, there's an
audio guide available in 5 languages and a bookshop. The Museum
is in the crypt of Most Holy Shroud Church at Via San Domenico
28, Turin, Italy.
Giulio Fanti, Professor of
mechanical and thermal measurements at the University of Padua,
Italy who studies the Shroud,
created his 3D “carbon copy”
from The Shroud of Turin.
See the complete set of
Statue Images of the the Slide Show
here.
The
University of Padua and Padua Hospital worked in collaboration
with sculptor, Sergio Rodella. The statue was unveiled in Rome
in early 2018.
“We believe
that we have the precise image of what Jesus looked like on this
earth,” said Professor Giulio
Fanti of the University of Padua.
"This statue is the
three-dimensional representation in actual size of the Man of
the Shroud, created following the precise measurements taken
from the cloth in which the body of Christ was wrapped after the
crucifixion,” explains Giulio Fanti, teacher of mechanical
and thermal measurements at the University of Padua, who studies
the Shroud. Based on his measurements, the professor has created
a “carbon copy” in 3D which, he claims, allows him to affirm
that these are the true features of the crucified Christ.
“Therefore, we believe
that we finally have the precise image of what Jesus looked like
on this earth. From now on, He may no longer be depicted without
taking this work into account.” The professor granted
exclusive coverage of his work to the weekly periodical Chi, to
which he revealed: “According to our studies, Jesus was a man
of extraordinary beauty. Long-limbed, but very robust, he was
nearly 5 ft. 11 in. tall, whereas the average height at the time
was around 5 ft. 5 in. And he had a regal and majestic
expression.”
Through the study and
three-dimensional projection of the figure, Fanti was also able
to count the numerous wounds on the body of the man of the
Shroud:
“On the Shroud,” the
professor explains, “I counted 370 wounds from the
flagellation, without taking into account the wounds on his
sides, which the Shroud doesn’t show because it only enveloped
the back and front of the body. We can therefore hypothesize a
total of at least 600 blows. In addition, the three-dimensional
reconstruction has made it possible to discover that at the
moment of his death, the man of the Shroud sagged down towards
the right, because his right shoulder was dislocated so
seriously as to injure the nerves.”
(Source:Aleteia)
Luigi Mattei, Sculptor, created a
bronze statue from The Shroud
of Turin, titled
"The Body of the Man of the Shroud"
and can be found at the Holy Shroud
Museum in Turin, Italy and whose replicas are housed
elsewhere in three different continents.
Luigi Mattei's
website can be found
here.
The Shrine of Divine Mercy in Kraków-Łagiewniki,
Poland
Chapel of the miraculous image of the Merciful Jesus and the
tomb of St. Faustina
|
