THE “HOLY SHROUD”

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 July 1931, Page 9

THE “HOLY SHROUD”

SACKED RELIC REVEALED The exposition of the “Holy Shroud,” one of the most sacred relics of the Roman faith, took place to-day for the first time for 33 years, wrote a special correspondent of the “Daily Express” from Turin on May 3. The Shroud, which, according to Roman Catholic tradition, was the winding-sheet of the Saviour in the sepulchre, is the treasure of the royal house of Savoy, whose present representative is the King of Italy, and it was shown to commemorate the marriage last year of the Prince of Piedmont and also the reconciliation of the Kingdom of Italy with the Vatican.

The ceremony began this afternoon at four o'clock in the cathedral behind closed doors, only those honoured by special invitations from the King or from the Archbishop of Turin being present. Outside there was a great clanging of bells. Every church bell, not only in Turin itself, but all through Piedmont, was rung continuously to remind people of what was happening In the cathedral.

‘The opening of the reliquary and the first exposure of the Shroud took place in a. chapel of the Royal Palace, which is between the palace and the cathedral. There were sixteen members of the royal house present—ten princes’ and six princesses—the Prince of Piedmont representing the King of Italy as. the owner of the relic. The only ecclesiastics present, besides the members of the Royal Chapel, were the Archbishop of Turin and the bishops of the Province of Piedmont, 21 in number, all in red copes and mitres. INCENSE BEARERS. The three keys of the reliquary, kept respectively by the King, the Archbishop, and the guardians of the Royal Chapel, were then produced, and the reliquary was unlocked and the seals examined. The Shroud was taken out by the archbishop, and partially opened, so that the royal princes and princesses and a few others of the Court might sec it and give it proper honour. The cross and the incense hearers went in front, followed by the 21 bishops and the archbishop. Then came the sacred relic, replaced in its case and borne under a canopy by four priests in dalmatics. The royal princes and princesses and others of the court followed immediately behind, all carrying lighted candles. The six princesses, each walking alone, with diamond coronets holding their black veils in position, were a striking sight. The procession came down the long staircase into the cathedral and passed down the aisle and up the nave to the high altar, where a great frame of gold, like a vast picture frame, 15ft by sft., had been prepared, making, as it were-a rcredos to the high altar. When the great procession reached the altar Ihe Shroud was once more taken from its chest and was stretched upon a frame made to receice it. This frame was then placed in position so that it is visible from the whole nave of the cathedral.

The archbishop reached a short sermon. The Te Deum was sung. The procession was reformed, and left the church, and the ceremony was over, and all present were able to go up and examine the Relic close by. The Holy Shroud, seen thus closely, is a long sheet of very ancient linen, not very line, and of the same appearance and colour as much of the linen fragments found with Egyptian mummies. On it can be discerned what are apparently stains left by a wounded human body—the double image, front and back, of a man about sft. Ilin, in height. All the wounds—in the hands and feet and in the side —are visible. A point which is of great interest, and which was discovered in 1898, when the Shroud was last brought from its shrine, is that these stains, which are indistinct and only dimly suggestive to our eyes, become, when they are reversed in a negative taken by a photographic camera, a positive and very beautiful picture. New photographs are now to be taken. The Relic has been in the possession of the House of Savoy since about 1350. It seems probable that it was looted at Constantinople by a French knight during the Crusades and brought to Savoy.