Virtual Visit of Shroud: World Net Daily Video of Visitors at Shroud of Turin

Committee grants exception to

A 7-Minute Video Conveys the Experience of Viewing the Shroud from within Turin's Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. "Lord Jesus, In the Holy Shroud we contemplate all the signs of your suffering seen in the Passion.You have taken upon yourself all the suffering and the crosses of all humanity, permitting us to feel through you sustained, consoled and pardoned.We desire to begin a new life because "through your wounds we are healed." Amen

TURIN, ITALY (Catholic Online) - While the New York Times is happy to suggest the Shroud of Turin is a "faded relic of Christendom" that the Catholic Church is using to divert attention from Pope Benedict XVI's "past dealings with pedophile priests," a steady stream of visitors continues to file into the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist for the rare chance to view in person what well may be the actual burial cloth of Jesus Christ.

The Shroud committee established by the Archdiocese of Turin to oversee and manage the exposition granted World Net Daily (WND) press credentials to attend the 2010 Shroud Exposition that began April 10 and is scheduled to close on May 23.

In response to a WND request made in Turin, the Shroud committee further granted WND permission to record a video of the Shroud in the Cathedral during actual visiting hours.

Visiting hours at the Cathedral begin daily at 7:00 am local time, with the last group of visitors granted on-line reservations to enter the Cathedral at 7:45 pm in the evening.

Visitors are strictly prohibited from operating cell phones or taking photographs of the Shroud within the Cathedral.

In what typically takes an hour of walking in line from the entrance in the Royal Gardens aligning the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, visitors are permitted to spend an average of about 3 minutes to stand in front of the Shroud in three observation tiers built within a few feet of the Shroud.

For the exposition, the Shroud is displayed in a bulletproof illuminated case that is bordered on all sides by thick red drapery before the Cathedral's central altar.

In the WND video lasting slightly over 7 minutes, viewers from around the world are now allowed to share via the Internet in the experience of the pilgrimage to see the Shroud as two groups of visitors fill three observation tiers within a few feet of the Shroud to stand before the relic for a few minutes in-person.

Once each group of visitors files into the viewing stands before the Shroud, a prayer in Italian is read from podium positioned to the immediate right of one of two Italian elaborately uniformed Carabinieri national police Italian guards stationed at either side of the Shroud display.

Translated into English, the prayer read to each group of visitors describes physically the faint image of the crucified man depicted in the Shroud and offers a meditation on the meaning of the passion and death of Jesus Christ:

We Are In Front of the Shroud:

Between the two dark lines are seen:

• From the center toward the left: the face, the injuries: to the side, to the wrists and to the feet;
• From the center toward your right: the neck, the back and the legs with the signs of the scourging and the wounds to the feet.

We pray:

Lord Jesus,

In the Holy Shroud we contemplate all the signs of your suffering seen in the Passion.

You have taken upon yourself all the suffering and the crosses of all humanity, permitting us to feel through you sustained, consoled and pardoned.

We desire to begin a new life because "through your wounds we are healed."

Amen

After a few minutes of silence, the lector instructs in Italian the following: "The pilgrims will now have the kindness to head toward the exit to make way for the following group."

The only alteration to this procedure followed throughout visiting hours is the number of minutes allowed to remain silently before the Shroud, calculated depending upon the number of visitors remaining in line to allow the maximum number of visitors to stand directly before the Shroud during the hours established daily for visitation.

-----

Jerome R. Corsi's new book "The Shroud Codex" was published in coordination with the display of the Shroud in Turin, Italy.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'

Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online