The Shroud of Turin*

The Shroud of Turin*
In pursuit of the truth – www.cinopsbegone.com –Happy Easter Sunday, April 24, 2011

“Extensive research has been conducted on the Shroud of Turin over the past hundred years points to overwhelmingly the authenticity. The cloth measures about 13’6” by 4’3”, continues to astound the scientific world in that it provides a “photographic image” of the front and back of Jesus’ body. The image of the body is a photographic negative with the bloodstains appearing as a positive print.

“Scientists have identified about 700 body wounds on the Shroud. What is also striking is that the image of the crucified man is three-dimensional. Modern science, for all its state-of-the-art methods, has been unable to reproduce such an image…

“Many scientists believe that this indelible photographic negative of the crucified body was caused by a mysterious explosion of energy inside the Shroud, by a searing of the surface of the cloth fibers by infrared irradiation or exposure to proton particles. Just how this occurred remains an insoluble enigma to modern science.

"One thing is certain. The cloth bears the impress of a crucified man executed in exactly the manner described in the Gospels – a Jew of the first century AD, six feet tall, of strong muscular build, with long hair, a beard, and handsome Semitic features…

“Our Savior Jesus Christ stamped a true image of his suffering and death on His burial cloth. The Shroud might well be called the Fifth Gospel – written not in ink, but in blood, shed or our salvation. It ought to stir and enliven our faith, draw us into a closer, personal encounter with Christ.

“The face on the Shroud attests to the torments Jesus endured. The head reveals numerous bloody punctures caused by the crown of thorns. We see a stick-inflicted wound across the nose and right cheek. There are abrasions to the eye-lids and eyebrows, a swelling over the right zygonna, traces of bleeding through the nostrils, bruises and bone displacement at the tip of the nose, scalp lesions from hair being torn out by the roots.

“An examination of the torso and lower body area reveals 120 wounds inflicted by the scourges, a sort of cat-o’-nine-tails with three longer thongs tipped with metal fragments. These tore out pieces of flesh in the process of lashing. Evidence points to the fact that Jesus was scourged by two soldiers. The thongs wrapped around His body, hitting the front parts, the chest, the abdomen, the shins and the thighs. Gibson’s film shows the terrible cruelty…

“From the shoulder wounds imprinted on the Shroud, researchers agree that Jesus carried the horizontal beam of the cross, which was approximately six feet long and weighed about 66 lbs. He had to carry it for a distance of about 550 yards… [F.Y.I., there is a Shroud Center in Fountain Valley, Ca.]

Pope John Paul II, Turin, May 24, 1998 said, “The Shroud calls on us to discover the deepest reasons for Jesus’ redemptive death … [It] invites all of us to stamp the image of God’s love onto our hearts and root out the terrible reality of sin … In the silent message of the Shroud, we hear an echo of God’s words and the centuries-old experience of Christianity: believe in God’s love, the most precious gift offered to humanity; beware of sin, the greatest misfortune to have befallen humankind.”

Geo. H. Kubeck * Fr. M. Piotrowski, S.Chr. “Love One Another Catholic Magazine No.2/2004 - Schprov@aol.com