In search of the Holy Shroud of Torino, Part VIII, Relic or Forgery.

20 years ago, Estela and I took our 4 children, ages 18, 16, 13 and 10 to Europe to visit Rome for the first time. Before arriving to the Holy City, we brought them Torino to see the Holy Shroud. This was only a few months after a fire that almost destroyed the relic. However, we were able to see the Holy Shroud directly, something which today is  no longer possible, probably for reasons of security.

 

Il Cattedrale di San Giovanni Baptista 

(Cathedral of Torino) has had the custody of the

Holy Shroud since the 17th Century.

 

 I hope that I have not misled the visitors to our blog during this 8-episode coverage "In Search of the Holy Shroud of Torino" over this past week. We will not pretend to offer you the ultimate answer to this question about the historical authenticity of the Holy Shroud.

 

Catholics all around the world

commemorate during Holy Week

the Passion and Our Lord Jesus

Christ.

A great number of very serious researchers have dedicated their lives to this quest, and we are in no condition to confirm or to contest their discoveries. However, after visiting the Holy Shroud of Torino, we have come to the conclusion, very personal, that the question of its authenticity is irrelevant.

 

Believers in the "Holy Shroud of

Torino" in fervent prayer in front

of the chapel where this relic is

preserved.

What is relevant here is the faith of the people who come to visit the Holy Shroud. They believe in Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, who became a man, born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died on the Cross for the Salvation of Man, and rose on from the dead on the 3rd day. We Catholics spend a great deal of our Liturgy, our Devotion on the Passion, on the Death of Christ on the Cross, on His burial, and on His Resurrection. The Holy Shroud is about the forgotten interim. The hours Christ spent with life, in a tomb.

The side altar chapel containing

the Holy Shroud is like a Holy

of Holies, with no direct access

to the Public.

 

Christianity as a religion is a farce, a failure, without the Resurrection. The Holy Shroud represents the launching pad of the Resurrection of Christ, the point from where this miracle of miracle commences. If we, as Catholics, as Christians, remain indifferent, untouched by the image of Christ, abused, tortured, and do not feel that we, as sinners, are the cause of this suffering, and that Jesus Christ bore those sufferings for our salvations, and for our eventual resurrection from the dead, than the eventual discovery of the authenticity of this relic is immaterial and inconsequential. The Holy Shroud is not an article of faith for Catholics. What it represents, the Resurrection of Christ, is the article of Faith, on which we pivot our entire faith. Personally, I believe in the Holy Shroud of Torino.

 

To experience a visit to the Holy

Shroud is spiritually invigorating.