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"And
Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean shroud, and laid it
in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock: and he rolled a
great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed". (Matt. 27:59,60)
The linen cloth in which Joseph
of Arimathea enveloped the Sacred Remains of Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Holy
Shroud, whereupon "we behold with deep emotion and solace the Image of the
Lifeless Body and the broken Divine Countenance of Jesus". (Pope Pius XII)
The Holy Shroud is preserved in
a precious encasement in the Archives of the Royal Chapel at Turin, Hence its
name: The Shroud of Turin.
Charles
Cardinal Borromeo of Milan made the first of his pilgrimages to Turin in 1578.
When he beheld the Sacred Relic for the first time he could not restrain his
tears of joy. The Saintly Cardinal remained in Turin for eight days, which were
spent almost entirely in prayer and in various devotional practices connected
with the Holy Shroud. St. Charles offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass before
the Sacred Relic almost daily, carried it in solemn procession and preached to
the people of Turin. In all, he made three pilgrimages to venerate the Holy
shroud. When in 1584 -- only six years after his first pilgrimage to Turin -- he
lay on his deathbed, an altar was erected in his room over which he ordered a
picture representing the burial of Christ to be placed. So impressive was St.
Charles Borromeo's veneration of the Holy Shroud!
St. Francis De
Sales was one of the Bishops who held the Holy Shroud when it was shown to the
people during its Exposition in 1613. Because of the heat of the day the
Archbishop of Turin warned St. Francis to be careful lest his sweat fall upon
the Shroud. St. Francis De Sales refers to this incident in a letter to St. Jane
Francis De Chantal, co-foundress with him of the Nuns of the Visitation,
and also deeply devoted to the Holy Shroud. "It occurred to me to tell him"' he
wrote, "That Our Lord was not so dainty, and that He shed His Blood and sweat
for no other purpose than to mix them with ours, and give them as the price of
eternal life."
St. John Bosco
(1815 - 1888) was another Saint deeply devoted to the Shroud. While a student at
the nearby Franciscan School at Chieri, John Bosco, together with his
companions, would walk to Turin on Sunday to visit the Chapel of the Holy Shroud
before going to the Jesuit church to hear instructions on Christian Doctrine.
St. Pius X,
during his holy pontificate, approved the Oeuvre St. Luc, founded by Emanuel
Faure, for the sole purpose of promoting veneration of the image of Christ
revealed by the photograph of the Holy Shroud. His Holiness called this "The
True Image of the Holy Shroud"' and declared that it can be an effective means
in meditating on the Passion and Death of the Divine Savior. He expressed the
desire that it be held in veneration in all Christian families. To this end, he
recommended it to all Bishops and Priests and gave a special blessing to all who
would propagate the image and cult of the Shroud.
Papal
recognition of the Shroud as the true winding-sheet of Christ began with the
signal privileges conferred on its sanctuary and its guardians at Chambery.
In 1467, Paul
II, authorized the Blessed Amedeo IX and his consort Yolandi of France to erect
a Church in the confines of their castle "for the preservation of certain most
precious relics" which were in their possession, and to find a college of Canons
and subordinate ministers for the worthy celebration of Divine Worship.
The Shroud is not mentioned
explicitly, but we may be sure that the new church was intended primarily as its
sanctuary. Amedeo IX was the son of Duke Louis I, who had received the Shroud in
1452 from Margaret De Charny. It was deposited provisionally in the nearby
church of the Franciscans and was there venerated as the true Shroud of Christ
while its future abode was in building.
Sixtus IV, in
four distinct Bulls (1472-80), confirmed the privileges already conferred on the
guardians of the Shroud and granted more himself. To the Dean, he gave the right
to Officiate with Episcopal Insignia, and to the Canons the right of precedence
over all other ecclesiastics. He also instituted additional offices and provided
for the maintenance of the Canons with revenues of title Sainte Chapelle,
"Principally because of the most glorious Shroud in which Our Lord Jesus Christ
was wrapped when He was laid in the tomb".
It was certainly from personal
conviction that Sixtus IV, a brilliant theologian and a renowned teacher,
affirmed the authenticity of the Shroud. Before his election, he had taken part
in a famous dispute as to whether Christ at His Resurrection had re-assumed all
the blood shed during the Passion. He maintained that the Savior had left the
remnants of His blood upon the earth, and pointed to the Shroud at Chambery as
one of his proofs: "A similar proof could be adduced from the Shroud in which
the Body of Christ was wrapped when It was taken down from the Cross. This is
now preserved with great devotion by the Dukes of Savoy and it is colored red
with the Blood of Christ".
This statement occurs in a
treatise on the Blood of Christ, written while the author was still a Cardinal
but published in 1473, two years after his election as Pope. This was precisely
at the time when he was exercising his apostolic authority to pay such
exceptional homage to the Shroud at Chambery.
In 1506, Julius
II instituted the feast of the Holy Shroud with its proper Mass and office,
appropriately assigned to May 4, the day which followed the feast of the finding
of the True Cross.
Julius cites the statement
quoted above from the treatise of Sixtus IV on the Blood of Christ. He notes
that multitudes of the faithful were drawn by their devotion to venerate the
great relic in which they could see the true blood and the image of Jesus
Christ. He states also that the Most High wrought many miracles among the devout
worshippers.
The Pope instituted the Feast
with the following solemn formula: "We, therefore, who by Divine Disposition,
albeit unworthily, preside over the ministry of the sacred apostolate,
considering that, if we adore and venerate the Holy cross on which Our Lord
Jesus Christ was suspended and by which we are redeemed, it surely seems fitting
and binding upon us to venerate and adore the Shroud on which, as is reported,
there are clearly seen the traces of the Humanity of Christ which the Divinity
had united with Itself, that is, (there is seen) His very Blood; and desiring
that divine worship flourish and increase everywhere, and that the
faithful, whom Our Lord Jesus Christ cleansed with His Blood, render devout
thanks and praise to the Redeemer and His Glorious Mother with solemn
festivity.... (We) approve and confirm the aforesaid day and night office of the
Shroud together with its proper Mass".
The grant of
Julius II was only for the Canons of Sainte Chapelle at Chambery. Leo X extended
the Feast with its proper Mass and Office to the whole of Savoy. This was
confirmed by Clement VII, the legitimate Pope who assumed that title in order to
annul its usurpation by the Antipope. It was during the Pontificate of Clement
VII, in 1532, that the Shroud was damaged by fire in the Sainte Chapelle.
In 1582, four
years after the transfer of the Shroud to Turin, Gregory XIII extended the Feast
to the entire realm of the House of Savoy, both to the North and to the South of
the Alps. It was a Feast of precept with the rank of double of the first
class with an octave.
Many other
Popes took official action in regard to the Feast of the Holy Shroud and its
Liturgy by confirming its institution, by extending it to new territories, by
approving the revised text of the Mass and Office, and by granting special
indulgences on the occasion of the Feast -- all in order to foster love of the
Divine Redeemer and penance for sin through veneration of the Shroud. Among
these Popes were the following: Clement VIII, Paul V, Urban VIII, Innocent X,
Alexander VII, Clement IX, Benedict XIII, Clement X, Innocent XI, Alexander
VIII, Innocent XII, Clement XI, Innocent XIII, Benedict XIV, Pius VII, Gregory
XVI, and Pius IX.
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