|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 11 April 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Today is Easter Sunday : 'Shroud of Turin' - proof of the risen Christ by LENARD R. MAHAARACHCHI Jesus who died at sun down on Good Friday is believed to have risen at sun set on Easter Sunday accounts of which are related in all four gospels. According to believers, the Turin Shroud is the proof of this miraculous event.
Swiss Botanist and forensic scientist Max Frei who conducted research of the shroud said that he had found different types of plant from the pollen and that many such plants still grow in the middle east. Do the description of the synoptics and John give any clue about what happened to the Shroud after Sts. Peter, John and the Holy Women found it in the sepulcher sans the Body of Jesus ? No. Only a vague reference to it has been found in a gospel to the Hebrews an Apocryphal work (non canonical literature) which says that "Jesus handed over this cloth to a servant of the High Priest" and nothing more. However it was not found in the early church till 593 AD where Church historian Evagrius mentions it. But came AD 639 and the Saracens stole it away only to be bought by one Athanesus a nobleman. As the Holy Linen came to be venerated, the Council of Constantinople in 691 permitted the faithful to draw images of Jesus which till then had not been done. In August 944 the Shroud came to Constantinople and there is a reference to a sermon on it preached by Pope Stephen III. Frenchman Robert de Clari is said to have paid his respects to it vide a document dated 1203AD. Again in 1204 it went missing again when the crusaders sacked Constantinople. After 150 years it resurfaced through the noble de Charney family and was exposed to the public for the first time. Soon it went underground again and His Holiness Pope Innocent happened to hear that the Shroud was in Genoa and threatened the Genoese with excommunication if the stolen relic was not returned. Then Geoffrey de Charney came to possess it in 1502 and 30 years later the relic caught fire while reposing in the chapel of the Chamberly Castle. It was repaired by the Poor Clares and in 1578 it was taken to Turin Cathedral from where it got its new name. In the year 1983 the Shroud came under the custody of Pope John Paul II, after he travelled in person to the Lisbon residence of the exiled monarch to persuade him to bequeath the cloth to the Holy See. When photographer Secunda Pia took a photograph of it, lo and behold, the Shroud turned out to be a positive instead of a negative as is usual in the science of photography. Another photograph of it was taken for the 2nd time in 1931. This time it was Giuseppe Enrie and he confirmed that the blood therein was human blood. Further studies disclosed the following details. The body of the man who was wrapped in it was named at the time of entombment, he had died on cross, that he had been stripped, whipped, made to carry a cross beam and pierced with a lance after he died. In the year 1969, on the direction of Cardinal Pellegrino of Turin the Shroud was subjected to further analysis by an international panel of scientists, that included a syndonologist to study the texture of the cloth. NASA of the US too studied the Holy relic, where the tonal values of the photographs were converted into computer data. Now there is a new dimension to the Shroud when Rebecca Jackson a Jewess, and the only woman in the panel, stresses that this very cloth is the one that was lain on the table at Last Supper on the 1st Holy Thursday, when Jesus said the first mass thus instituting the Holy Priesthood. Ms. Jackson insists that since there had been no time to purchase winding bands to use at Jesus's burial, as was the custom of the Jewry, Joseph of Aramathea who was prominent in the performance of Jesus's burial rites, and who owned the Senacle where the Supper was had the eve before, thought of using the selfsame cloth in the absence of any other. If that is so, the Shroud of Turin not only bears witness to the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection, but also to the incident mentioned earlier. This is also proven by the blood samples as well as the drops of wine that had fallen onto the cloth both of which belong to the AB positive group, which has been found to be the blood group of Jesus. By passing it may be mentioned that the miracle of Lanciano, Italy, where a Bohemian priest on a pilgrimage to Rome doubted that at the Transubstantiation the Bread and Wine offered becomes the very Body & Blood of Jesus was stupefied when it did happen. Studies showed that the Flesh and Blood was human in character and that both species belonged to the AB positive group of blood. Shroud studies indicated that the man in the shroud weighed about 175 lbs, was a six footer, had 20 head wounds, 13 on the forehead, two major wounds on the back made by the cross bar, a punctured heart, nail marks on both wrists and had died of crucifixion, after enduring excruciating pain. To those who argue against the resurrection, it needs to be said that even the birth of Jesus was a mysterious one and hence death could hardly have been as that of any ordinary man. The simplest of explanation is what happened at the Resurrection was that Jesus got back His divinity which he emptied at His birth. It will be recalled that on Mt. Tabor, Jesus showed a glimpse of Himself via the Transfiguration. St. Luke says that His garments became as white as snow. (9/28-36). St. Peter who was fortunate to witness the phenomenon, later wrote about it that he was a personal witness. (2 Peter 1/16-19) Famous and controversial author, Holger Kersten in his best seller "Jesus lived in India" devotes as much as 32 pages to the Shroud, calls it "A scientific sensation". Jesus after His resurrection showed Himself to Mary Magdalene, Sts. Peter and John, then to the 10 Apostles (sans Judas and Thomas) again to the 11 when Thomas the doubter was in, to some 500 odd people and last but not the least, to St. Paul on his Damascus journey. St. Thomas had the rare privilege of touching His Resurrected Body, while St. Paul's conversion is a result of his meeting the Post Resurrection Jesus. He also showed Himself to the two disciples going to Emmaus, even breaking bread with them. But do we need a Shroud to testify to Jesus' Resurrection? No. The Resurrected Lord is alive and living with us today and will continue to live till He comes again in glory as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The first 33 Popes were martyrs who died for the Risen Lord, and so are thousands of saints thereafter. Well is that enough proof for the Resurrection ? |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
Mark describes the shroud as 'Fine linen' vide chapter 15 verses 42-46.
The cloth that is kept in the Cathedral church of St. John the Baptist is
4.36 metres long and 1.10 wide. Though this relic was a silent witness to
the passion, death and Resurrection of Jesus till recently arousing
speculation, now after the latest tests based on new technology, it tells
a huge tale as we shall see. The relic has burnt marks due to a fire in
1532 at a chapel in Chamber in France where it lay then. Studies indicate
that this type of linen has been used in ancient Egypt even 5000 years
ago.
