Holy Face of Manoppello

The Veronica is not in St. Peter's

2012-01-06T07:37:00.000-08:00

by Antonio Bini

After almost five centuries the Vatican admits its disappearance in 1527. A circumstance which makes credible the hypothesis that it is identical to the Holy Face

On May 31, 1999 at a crowded press conference held in Rome at the foreign press association Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer revealed the results of his study affirming that the Veronica and the Holy Face of Manoppello should be seen as one and the same. This news was reported by Italian and foreign television networks among their top stories for the day. Usually the coverage was linked to the classic stereotype of the mountainous Abruzzo region, so that Manoppello was described as a "forgotten village at the foot of the Maiella range".

Some of the journalists asked the Vatican for an opinion in this matter. The response was "total silence", said the correspondent for the Spanish television network Antenna 3's news program of May 31, 1999, as he broadcast with the facade of the Basilica of St. Peter's behind him.

The Catholic press and church leaders showed indifference and kept their distance, effectively isolating Father Pfeiffer, director of the Course on Cultural Patrimony for the Gregorian University, who is considered to be among the world's most authoritative scholars of Christian art. Some Italian scholars of the Shroud of Turin (sindonologists) didn't hesitate to show their annoyance at the news, and in some cases gave their opinion that at best the Holy Face could only be a copy of the Veronica.

Padre Germano di Pietro, OFM Cap., Antonio Bini and Father Heinrich Pfeiffer, S.J. on May 31, 1999 the day of the press conference

On the same occasion the results of Professor Donato Vittore's research were also presented. Professor Vittore, who teaches at the University of Bari, demonstrated by means of a high intensity scanner that there was no pigment on the cloth.

The problem was not so much the Holy Face itself, which had been at the center of a beloved and popular yet strictly local devotion centered in the mountains of Abruzzo, but rather the bringing up for discussion that the legendary Veronica was no longer to be found in Rome at St. Peter's Basilica.

Throughout the centuries the Veronica has been Christianity's most important relic. Coming from the East, it was venerated at St. Peter's from the eighth century, until it became the fundamental reason for pilgrimages to Rome, even prior to the first jubilee year proclaimed by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300.

Among the pilgrims coming to Rome to venerate it were Dante and Boccaccio.

After the 1500's a great silence fell over this prodigious image. But as the great Jubilee for the Holy Year of 2000 approached two important exhibitions were organized at Rome with the collaboration of the Vatican's Apostolic Library. Both exhibitions, the first on the history of the Pilgrimage to Rome in the Middle Ages (at the Palazzo Venezia) and the second on "The Face of Christ" (at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni) recalled to mind the historic role of the Veronica by means of documents, medals, etc. from a number of foreign museums. From the two exhibitions there emerged the clear distinction between the reproductions and engravings of the Veronica prior to the 1500's, which showed the image with eyes open, and the reproductions following which showed the image with eyes closed. In any case since the 1500's there continued to be a persistent silence regarding whether or not the relic was present at St.Peter's.

The arrival of the Jubilee Year of 2000 was marked also by an extraordinary production of books and articles which involved historians, experts on the Middle Ages, theologians, art historians, etc. At the end of 1999 one of the many books of a historical perspective published a photo of the cover of the "Opusculum del Grimaldi" preserved in the Vatican archives and which up until then had been unknown.

This document, dated 1618 (but which seems from every indication to have been changed from the original date)presents the image of the Veronica with open eyes and represents an important contribution compared to the overall confusion on the matter.

The importance of this image was at the center of my article entitled " La Veronica com'era" (The Veronica as it was) which I wrote for the pages of the Bollettino del Volto Santo (Bulletin of the Holy Face -- official publication of the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello). There followed a further reflection on this by Padre Germano Di Pietro, then superior of the Shrine, which had the title "E' ancora in San Pietro la Veronica" (Is the Veronica still in St. Peter's?)

After the publication of these articles two Canons of St. Peter's came to Manoppello to advise Padre Germano to stop bringing up this issue.

When Pope Benedict XVI decided to go on pilgrimage to Manoppello his visit was announced and then denied for months. Contrary to the long advance notice which precedes the Pope's public appointments it was confirmed by the Vatican press office only around ten days before September 1, 2006. We know that the visit was strongly opposed by the Canons of St. Peter's, precisely for the significance that would be given to the event, with its implicit recognition of the thesis which had been advanced by Father Pfeiffer after years of research that the Holy Face is to be identified with the Veronica.

The visit was then described as a simple "private pilgrimage", a label which brought a smile to Pope Ratzinger himself at Manoppello.

In the meantime other scholars, especially from foreign countries, began to draw closer to the Holy Face. Paul Badde's book published in Germany in 2006 caused the weekly Der Spiegel to describe it as "a cultural thriller, full of suspense and intrigue, similar to Dan Brown"

Among the Italians the importance of Saverio Gaeta's study "L'enigma del Volto di Gesu'" (The Enigma of the Face of Jesus) published by Rizzoli in 2010 must be emphasized. Gaeta in his book, among other things, puts forth an interesting hypothesis concerning several important people linked to Abruzzo who were involved in the Sack of Rome in 1527.

His hypothesis is compatible with the arrival in Manoppello of the Holy Face, which according to the first document attesting to the presence of the relic in Abruzzo - the Relatione Historica (Historical Report) of Padre Donato da Bomba, came to the Abruzzi town "around the year 1506". The imprecise phrasing used by the Capuchin suggests using due caution, considering that the report wasn't published until 1640.

Bruno Forte, Archbishop of the diocese of Chieti-Vasto, in whose territory Manoppello falls, on many occasions has shown that he trusts the reliability of the studies which have so far been conducted concerning the Holy Face.

Pilgrims who arrive in Manoppello from the world over are not so much interested in this research, wanting above all to pray and to meditate before this mysterious image with its profound and human gaze which no work of art is able to render.

In April of 2011 an exhibit on the Holy Face opened in Lucca and another exhibit was held in September of the same year at Lourdes which was seen by over 150,000 people. The exhibit of Lourdes was strongly desired by Philippe Perrier, Bishop of the diocese of Lourdes-Tarbes who is very much devoted to the Holy Face.

But the year just completed is particularly significant because after almost five centuries the silence regarding the disappearance of the Veronica from St. Peter's came to an end. On December 6, 2011, with Christmas close at hand, L'Osservatore Romano welcomed an article by Paul Badde who on a number of occasions, in articles and in his book which so far has been translated into seven languages, had criticized the Vatican for their reticence. Badde was able to write for the first time in the press organ of the Holy See that the Veronica is for centuries in Manoppello, in as much as it disappeared during the so called Sack of Rome.

This follows a press release from Rome dated July 14, 2011 concerning the announcement of the exhibit entitled "L'uomo, il volto, il Mistero" (Man, Face, Mystery).

The last segment of the exhibition, inaugurated in August in San Marino, was dedicated to the "Holy Face". The surprise comes from the part of the press release where it affirms that the ancient relic of the Veronica "disappeared following the Sack of Rome of 1527".

In this brief phrase, there are two points to be gathered which are quite extraordinary.

This press release, ascribable to Professor Paolucci head of the Vatican Museums, is the first document which refers, even if only incidentally to the necessary information connected to the announcement of the exhibit, that the Veronica is no longer present in St. Peter's. It confirms an important series of hypothesis and doubts advanced by historians and other scholars, especially in recent years. But the press release offers a further element by indicating with precision that the disappearance of the Veil coincided with the Sack of Rome of 1527.

Professor Paolucci, with his authoritative stature as a former Minister for Cultural Patrimony in the Italian government, has finally been able to shed light on the doubts and uncertainty which have dragged on for far too long.

Regarding the Holy Face there will continue to be much discussion, but certainly it will no longer be able to exclude, a priori, the hypothesis that it is in fact the Veronica.

The True Icon by Paul Badde to be Published In March by Ignatius Press

2011-12-14T15:04:00.000-08:00

After many years of study of the Shroud of Turin and the Holy Face of Manoppello Paul Badde has made a significant contribution to the understanding of both relics with a book already published in german which will now be available in english starting in March of 2012 from Ignatius Press of San Francisco. In my opinion it is no exaggeration to say that the english edition of this book, entitled the True Image, will mark the beginning of a new era and opportunity for scholars of the Shroud of Turin, as well as of the Holy Face of Manoppello.

See this announcement of the book by Ignatius press:

The True Icon - Paul Badde : Ignatius

The True Image -- Polar Star of the New Evangelization

2011-11-28T17:00:00.000-08:00

Holy Face of Manoppello

Holy Face above the entrance to the Election Chapel, Frankfurt Cathedral

The True Image –
Polar star of the
new Evangelization

by Paul Badde

Facebook of heaven for the Word that became flesh.
A new Mount Tabor for a divided Christianity.
Reference point of return for the formerly Christian nations:
The human face of God

“Truth is a person“ – Nicolàs Gómez Dávila

At last month’s baptism of our latest granddaughter Josephine, we discovered a copy of the “true image” in Frankfurt Cathedral as I had never seen it before: Christ’s mild face, levitating in front of a transparent veil on which it lies as on a nimbus. I do not know who painted it, though for certain it was done by the hands of a master. The image sits within a six-fold lunette on the left side at the rear of the sanctuary of this venerable gothic cathedral above the door leading to the election chapel for the kings of the Germans' Holy Roman Empire. In 1345 Frankfurt on Main had been determined as the location for royal elections by the Golden Bull of Charles IV. The church had been completed shortly before this while the election chapel was only finished in 1425. This is also around the time when this image was affixed above the architrave, the door through which the “Roman kings” of the Germans along with the electors stepped into the cathedral right after their election, to present themselves to the people in order to sing the Te Deum together.

This door therefore occupies a key position in Europe’s history. The architects were well aware of this when they had the image of the Savior of the World, unknown to any other culture, painted precisely here. The fact that Christians do not just have one but the image of God in Christ, was and remains a unique feature of Christianity amongst the other religions. Only Christians have this. They know: God showed his face through Jesus. Additionally they believe that God left an image of this face which could not have been created by men. “The secret of a person is expressed in his face,” as Sister Columba wrote to me from a monastery in the orthodox world where this belief is maintained to the present day. “In the face of the one who lives in the midst of all as the Alpha and Omega, are – as Dante put it – also our faces engraved. Only if we wholly behold the face of him who is called I AM, will we be able to say – now within him: I AM.” This knowledge let blossom icon painting among the orthodox. The icon of icons, however, is the Vera Icon. Here he is painted in an incredibly modest manner so that the only one who recognizes it is the one who has seen the original before. The painter had surely seen it.

Copies of the original received the most exclusive and prominent places of honor in the eastern and western cathedrals. But in order to see the prototype one had to travel to Rome. Because for the “true image” itself only the most prominent place in the West could suffice: the tomb of St. Peter. It was no surprise that the largest church in the world was to be built for this original in 1506. Bramante erected a tower-like treasury for the true image right above the foundation stone of the new Basilica of St. Peter's.

This mysteriously beautiful yet ethereal veil arrived in Rome under Pope John VII in 706 during the age of Byzantine iconoclasm. It remained here for 820 years until 1527. During this time numerous copies were made, one more beautiful then the other, from the mosaic in the Zenon Chapel in Santa Prassede to the large depictions by Italian, German, French and Flemish masters.

The most fascinating factor for us in the origin and history of this true image is, however, that it disappeared during the “sack of Rome” in 1527, went missing for centuries but luckily did not remain lost. For it returned into history almost as silently as it had disappeared the moment Pope Benedict XVI – as the first pope after 479 years – got down on his knees on a hill behind Manoppello on the Adriatic in front of this most precious papal treasure of former times. It was the first pilgrimage of his pontificate within Italy of his own choice. No one was prepared for this rediscovery. Contrary to the case of the Shroud of Turin, which at the time when it was first photographed in 1898 had already been venerated for centuries in the West, the true image had been forgotten by us for centuries. No one had anticipated its reappearance. No one had expected it. Not a single researcher had it on his radar anymore – only a few shepherds and farmers and fishermen in Abruzzo, by whom it had been reverenced in a local shrine.

Unbelieving amazement therefore accompanied the rediscovery. Yet the finding was by far no Christian Troy. It is not an unearthed ruin, rather a living picture, as blazing and self-explanatory as it was on the first day, but actually even brighter, more revealing and surrounded by so much more light than ever before. It is incredibly easy to access on every day of the year and this access is free. Most uplifting of all is, however, that this legendary “true image” of the Church is no legend at all despite being described in this way even by extraordinary scholars such as Hans Belting. According to him, it could never have existed. If examples of the legendary kind would have been preserved, he wrote in his 2005 book “The real image”, they would have quickly “revealed themselves as fake”. But the authentic image is preserved here; and despite manifold attempts no one has yet been able to expose it as a fake. Here we have it in front of us.

The mother image of all Christ Icons, inexplicable, it is therefore no surprise that amazement and disbelieving skepticism have always accompanied this image – from Dante to Martin Luther. Because this isn’t just any image. It changes with every reflection of light, is painted by light and sometimes looks like photography. Yet there exists no objective photograph of it. Almost all photographs of this image show an unambiguity and one-dimensionality that in fact it doesn't have. It contains thousands of images, all of which are different – except for the merciful look in his eyes: “Would you like to become my friend?” It is the facebook of heaven.

It is impossible to count and explain all the names it has previously been called: Mandylion, Abgar-Image, Camuliana Veil, Sanctum Sudarium, Holy Face, Byssus Cloth, Veronica – but no name has captured its essence as has the term “true image”. Truth is the archimedic reference of its being. That is why we may best imagine this image in its wafer-thin, transparent fabric as a piece of material truth. Such a thing cannot exist, as everyone knows, because we commonly view the truth as a strictly philosophical term. Nonetheless, we are faced with a paradox. “Truth is a person,” Nicolàs Gómez Dávila says. That is how it is. Here he is. Jesus himself, on the other hand, remains silent when Pilate puts the question to him: What is truth? The true image is silent in a similar way. He only looks at us.

Generation Facebook and the following Christian generations may perhaps discover and recognize it as an almost cosmic memory chip of the merciful God, with innumerable gigabytes of unread information, which they will then begin to try to decode. In fact, it returned to us in history precisely at the dawn of the digital age. At the Iconic Turn! During the daunting return of images and hieroglyphs at the gates of our perception, it today reminds us as no other document does: We have an image of God! The word became flesh.

Nobody must therefore demand that this icon shall be elevated to become the polar star of evangelization. It is and will become so in any case, even without any publicity campaigns. Since Benedict XVI's visit, a massive migration movement from all parts of the world has begun to reach the true image on top of the Tarigni Hill behind Manoppello, as to a new Mount Tabor, and is unlikely to cease. The pope, who never tires of praising the “human face of God”, has led and initiated this movement with his pilgrimage. “During these times we will need to keep our gazed fixed upon Jesus Christ,” he said on October 11 during his announcement of the upcoming “Year of Faith”. The ecumenical procession leading the new-evangelization of formerly Christian nations, made up of people from all sides of a Christianity divided in so many ways, has long reached its destination here. By 2027, the 500th anniversary of the abduction and recovery of the veil from the Vatican, Manoppello will be unrecognizable. – “He looks like a sheep!” my wife frightenedly said when we stood in front of the true image of Christ for the first time. In the meantime, many thousands of people myself included recognize in this face the most beautiful being of all. But my wife was obviously right. Behold, the lamb of God!

26. November 2011

(thanks to Paul Badde and to his daughter Christina who translated the article from the original German)

Puebla Conference on the Holy Face and the Madonna of Guadalupe

2011-11-17T08:21:00.000-08:00

by Antonio Bini

Father Carmine Cucinelli, rector of the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello, has been invited to participate in the Second Guadalupana Week which is being held from November 15 to 18, 2011 in the Mexican city of Puebla, capital of the region of the same name.

Father Carmine's conference -- awaited with great anticipation -- is scheduled for today, November 17, at the Popular Autonomous State University of Puebla (UPAEP).

Prior to leaving for Mexico Father Carmine emphasized that the year 2011 will be remembered for the significant activities which brought together the Holy Face with the Madonna of Lourdes and of Guadalupe, which are the most visited Marian shrines in the world.

The exhibit “L’image du Christ à travers le visage de la Vierge”, held at Lourdes from September 1 to October 2, 2011 -- at the request of the Bishop of the Diocese of Tarbes-Lourdes -- Monsignor Philippe Perrier -- was visited by thousands of people, and coincided with the time of the year in which is recorded the greatest number of pilgrims. The level of interest raised by the exposition is shown by the distribution of more than 100,000 leaflets prepared by the Capuchin Fathers in the various languages.

If the exhibit of Lourdes pertained to the relationship between the Holy Face and the Face of the Madonna in the variety of expressions of devotion and of faith which Lourdes and Manoppello share, the conference of Puebla -- which opens new perspectives for the spreading of the knowledge of the Holy Face of Manoppello (Santa Faz) in South America -- will concentrate on a comparison of studies on the acheropite ("not made by human hands) origin of the two images, in a historical, scientific and religious perspective.

Under this aspect, it should be remembered that the two images -- together with that of the Shroud of Turin -- were at the center of the International Workshop on the Scientific Approach to the Acheiropoietos Images – held at the Research Institute of Frascati from May 4 to 6, 2010.

http://arquidiocesisdepuebla.mx/
http://www.todopuebla.com/eventos/conferenciasantafazdemanopellosegundasemanaguadalupana

European and African Bishops to go Together as Pilgrims to the Holy Face in February 2012

2011-11-15T08:57:00.000-08:00

In February of 2012, as part of the European and African Bishops symposium in Rome to prepare for the upcoming Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization, there will be a pilgrimage of these Bishops to the Holy Face of Manoppello. May Our Lady bless and guide this holy and inspired effort.

The Holy Rosary and the Holy Face

2011-10-28T07:41:00.000-07:00

One of the unique characteristics of the Holy Face of Manoppello is that the Face of Jesus can be seen bearing many, even seemingly infinite expressions. It can be said that in the variety of moments over time the Face of Jesus in Manoppello shows Himself to be sorrowful, joyful, glorious and luminous. As well it can be said the Face of Jesus in Manoppello has all these characteristics at one and the same time. Without doubt the Holy Face as a historical reality is a help to our praying the Holy Rosary, taking to heart Blessed Pope John Paul II's description of the Rosary as "the school of Mary where we are led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ, in union with Mary and to experience the depths of his love." (Apostolic Letter "The Rosary of the Virgin Mary, number 1)

thanks to Paul Badde for his beautiful photos and to Robert Feeney the author of "The Rosary, the John Paul II Method"

"To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ" Blessed Pope John Paul II

Youtube Course on Holy Face of Manoppello

2011-09-19T11:12:00.001-07:00

A talented Italian artist, Raffaela Zardoni, has recently posted a beautifully illustrated course, entitled The Rediscovered Face, describing the history of the Holy Face of Manoppello from the first century until today.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF32FC9003C098D97

There are four segments totaling approximately 38 minutes. Originally available only in Italian, it has now thankfully been translated into English. This course is a great introduction to the wonderful image.

Scriptural Emblem Linking Holy Face of Manoppello to Our Lady of Guadalupe Discovered by Paul Badde

2011-09-06T10:30:00.000-07:00

Recently I received the following e-mail from Paul Badde with some exciting news.

"In the little chapel of the Basilica of Manoppello, where the Holy Face had been kept and locked away for centuries until 1948 throughout the year (with the only exception of two annual processions) I found this Latin scripture the other day emblazoned on the ceiling: NON FECIT TALITER OMNI NATIONI.

This quotation (from psalm 147,20) is precisely the same famous saying, in fact, with which Pope Benedict XIV officially acknowledged on May 25th, 1754 the divine and not man-made nature of the Image on the Tilma of Juan Diego in Guadalupe. In Mexico nearly every taxi-driver knows these words by heart, as I experienced there 12 years ago: HE (GOD) HAS NOT DONE THIS FOR ANY OTHER NATION!

Strangely enough a day before my discovery the first pilgrims from Mexico had arrived at the shrine bringing one of the oldest photos of Juan Diego's Tilma to Padre Carmine (Rector of the Shrine of the Holy Face), whom they invited to Mexico for this October

They are completely enthusiastic about this new discovery in the chapel where the Holy Face has been kept until 1948, too, of course."

The Procession of May and the Popular Devotion

2011-08-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

The Pilgrim Companies

by PROF. ANTONIO BINI

from "Il Volto Santo di Manoppello" Anno XCVI n. 1 June 2011

For a number of years every day of the year pilgrims and visitors from around the world arrive at the sanctuary,while the solemn celebrations of the third Sunday in May remain still largely anchored to the Abruzzo devotion, in the wake of a centuries-old tradition of worship and veneration of the Holy Face.

A phenomenon of faith - common to many ancient Italian shrines - is still represented by companies of pilgrims, in the past much more widespread, which has survived to the present time, although adapting to the conveniences of modern society. I note with pleasure how May 15 last, after a 25 year interruption of the pilgrimage on foot, a group of young people from Santa Giusta da Lanciano has taken up once again the ancient tradition of participating in the procession of the Holy Face on the third Sunday in May, led by the banner of the Holy Face carried with enthusiasm by Filippo Valentini who was keen to show me how on the reverse of the
iconographic representation of the relic was indicated the year 1934.
Among the group were many young couples with their children who gathered on the steps of the Basilica at the end of the Mass, joyfully preparing themselves for the procession.

As usual, in fact, companies of pilgrims coming from the surrounding areas
are placed at the head of the procession. Padre Filippo da Tussio in his "Historical memories of the Holy Face" (1875) vividly describes the celebration of May "to which many people participated not only from the neighboring countryside, but also from distant places,"stressing that Manoppello welcomed "The very many pilgrim society from distant areas, from Friday evening to Sunday morning. It is a continuous arrival of pilgrims which comes along with manoppellesi to pay their tribute to the Holy Face". The testimony of Padre Philip describes for us a large and supportive extended community, able to join with faith in their common devotion to the Holy Face.
Until the sixties, many pilgrims found hospitality in homes and stables of the
country, while others preferred to lie on the bare floor of the sanctuary, as in other sanctuaries, practicing the ancient rite of "incubation" (incubatio), to which the people's devotion attributed the effects of penance (cf. V. Cianfarani, Ancient cultures of Abruzzo and the Adriatic Molise, 1978 109),
But back to the companies present for the procession of the May 15, 2011.
The company Vacri, in the province of Chieti - that includes people of all ages - has always been present in the rites of May, seamless in time. The community is preceded by three girls with the white dress of their First Communion. One in the center
bears the insignia of the company. Until the sixties, the community reached Manoppello on foot from Sablone says Raffaele (78 years) - following a route that included the ancient passage through several villages including Semivicoli,
Fara Filiorum Petri Roccamontepiano and Serramonacesca, often cutting through
hilly paths, on which converged other companies also aimed at Manoppello.
Raffaele had attended as a boy each year the pilgrimage. Then as a young man the search for a job took him like so many others to migrate away, then return to the country, with the desire to return to the ancient paths of faith of their communities which had imparted newer values acquired over time. Today the company arrived by the Manoppello bus, but along the way to the shrine they still sang the songs and recited prayers that marked the long pilgrimage on foot. These songs were recently collected in a booklet produced by the "Vol-Vacri Company of the Holy Face" which operates in the the Parish of San Biagio Vacri. A publication really appreciable as an expression of piety and distant in time, which has become an integral part of culture for the
vacrese community. In the past, the company remained in Manoppello on Monday too - like other companies - participating in the procession that brought the Holy Face to the Sanctuary.

From the book are some of the songs in dialect verses of the song of the pilgrims
"O Blessed Holy Face" for the time at the beginning of the procession exiting the Shrine

O santissimo Volto Santo
Mo 'nu n'arieme ,
dacci la santa benedizione
eg 'putercene ariturnà

O santissimo Volto Santo
Mo 'nu ce n'arieme ,
se n 'gia' revedeme qua
c'iarevedema all'eternita'

Another company - represented almost exclusively by women - comes from Carpineto della Nora, in the province of Pescara, led by the banner which during the year is kept in the parish church. Even the older members have not been able to tell in what year, or period began the traditional pilgrimage from their community, but all agree that these forms of worship passed down from generation to generation, from a distant past and which are in continuity until today.

The Bulletin aims to underline the significant human and spiritual value of these communities on their centuries old pilgrimages to the Shrine of the Holy Face, urging those who possess documentary and photographic evidence to report them to the shrine, including by e-mail address to unosemper@libero.it.

many thanks to Prof. Bini and Fr. Carmine Cucinelli O.F.M., Cap. for allowing me to publish my translation of this important study

Lourdes Exhibition on Holy Face Announced by Shrine of Manoppello

2011-07-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

Basilica of the Holy Face of Manoppello (Pescara) - Italy

PRESS RELEASE
EXHIBITION ON THE HOLY FACE AT LOURDES
September 1 - October 2, 2011

The Shrine of the Holy Face announces an exhibition titled "The IMAGE DU CHRIST A TRAVERS LE VISAGE DE LA VIERGE" ("The image of Christ through the face of the Virgin"), to be held in the exhibition hall of the famous Marian Shrine of Lourdes from September 1 to October 2, 2011.
This is an extraordinary event which brings to fulfillment the proposal of the Bishop of the diocese of Tarbes-Lourdes, Most Reverend Philippe Perrier, after his visit to the Shrine of Manoppello, which occurred in April of last year. On that occasion, Msgr. Perrier was impressed by the encounter with the Holy Face. In the presence of Archbishop Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti, Bishop Perrier said he saw in the suffering Face of Manoppello the suffering of the Madonna of Lourdes.
The exhibition will consist of a series of large multi-lingual panels - made under the direction of Prof. Heinrich Pfeiffer S.J. with the collaboration of Sr. Blandina Paschalis Schlomer - which illustrate the history and meaning of the Holy Face, comparing it with the Shroud and with the original iconography of the face of Christ in art as well as recount the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Manoppello.
A significant part of the exhibition will focus on the relationship between the Holy Face and the Face of the Madonna in the various expressions of devotion and faith that are common to Lourdes and Manoppello, the faces of sick, suffering and pilgrims.
The organizational phase of the exhibition was preceded by a visit to Lourdes by the Capuchin Provincial of Abruzzo, Padre Carmine Ranieri, inasmuch as the event - because of its importance - involves the whole community of Capuchins in the region.
During the opening of the exhibition there will be meetings, conferences and film screenings.
In France, the understanding of the Holy Face is spreading thanks to the French edition of the book by Paul Badde, published in Paris in April of last year with the title "L'autre Suaire: enquête sur le secret de Manoppello" (The other Shroud: investigation of the secret of Manoppello).

Doubled Infinity Squared

2011-07-26T09:51:00.001-07:00

Behind every image there is an image unseen
Whose foundation is only a part

of the whole which is infinite
being Three persons Yet in one case
We see we think only two yet three doubled squared to infinity
Oh the stars!

watching over light

sharing One Body

Lifting eyes heavenward

to our true celestial home

Videos of Feast of Holy Face of Manoppello May 2011 on Youtube

2011-06-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db3X0cB9o2w
video of the Procession of the Holy Face about to leave the Shrine on its way to the Church of San Nicola

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFSEEGAvjHc
people in procession of the Holy Face accompanied by fireworks on the way to the Church of San Nicola

these videos were taken by me and are not very well filmed but give some idea of the amazing Feast of the Holy Face. Special thanks to the Fr. Carmine and the other Capuchin friars, as well as to the people of Manoppello and the Abruzzo region for their devotion and example.

More Photos of the Holy Face May 15 and 16 2011

2011-06-22T20:28:00.000-07:00

the Holy Face in procession through the streets of historic Manoppello, note Paul Badde to the right in the white hat

the Holy Face about to leave the Church of San Nicola to return to the Shrine

Thanks to Paul Badde for the first and fourth of the above photos and to Antonio Bini for the second and third photos. What a blessed time to be able to see the Holy Face among the people who have been devoted for centuries. My Lord and my God!

Italian Magazine Devoted to Padre Pio Dedicates Special Edition to the Holy Face of Manoppello

2011-06-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Antonio Bini for sending me this striking cover of the Italian publication and for the following note

"Il Settimanale di Padre Pio" (The Padre Pio Weekly) number 16 of April 24, 2011 - comprises a special Easter edition dedicated to the Holy Face of Manoppello entitled "the True Face of the Risen One". The magazine, edited by Father Stefano Miotto, contains a number of number of contributions and articles authored by Renzo Allegri, Sr. Blandina, Lorenzo Bianchi and Antonio Farina, accompanied by numerous images. The nineteen page special edition includes the significant testimony of Renzo Allegri, the author of the article published in 1978 by a german language swiss Catholic magazine which attracted the attention of Sr. Blandina and which began her research into the Holy Face. Allegri is a journalist and author well known for his studies and publications on Padre Pio of Pietrelcina.

Paul Badde's Photos of the Holy Face May 15 and 16, 2011

2011-05-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Paul for his kindness in so many ways including sharing these photos which are just a sample of the ones he took during the feast of the Holy Face in Manoppello last week. Let those who aspire to become great artists study such photos well. As Paul told me when I met him for the first time on May 15 in the Shrine in Manoppello, "Cling to the Holy Face!"

Video from Feast of Holy Face May 15, 2011

2011-05-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

Here is some video which I took in Manoppello on Sunday May 15 of the beginning of the procession from the Shrine of the Holy Face to the parish church of San Nicola.

Scenes from Feast of the Holy Face May 15-16, 2011

2011-05-24T10:06:00.001-07:00

This year my wife Liany and I had the great grace to be in Manoppello for the feast of the Holy Face. We took a number of photos and some video as well which I am happy to be able to share through the means of this blog. This is the first installment of our efforts.

Fr. Carmine Cucinelli, O.F.M., Cap., Rector of the Shrine of the Holy Face carries the Holy Face at the end of the Feast to return the relic to its place above the altar of the shrine.

The Holy Face in Processional Throne

Saint Pancratius, the youth-martyr who proceeds the Holy Face in procession

Some of the people in procession through the narrow streets of Manoppello

The Holy Face arrives on its way from the Shrine of the Holy Face to within a block of the parish church of San Nicola where it remained overnight, as on the third Sunday of May each year, from Sunday May 15 to Monday morning May 16.

Bishop Brandolini On Father Domenico da Cese

2011-05-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

Fr. Domenico sharing the Holy Face of Manoppello at the Eucharistic Congress held in Pescara in 1978

As a follow up to my posting on April 28 of this year of the prayer for the beatification of Father Domenico da Cese which was sent to me by Antonio Bini who received it from Mr. Nicola Iacobone of Rome during the recent Manoppello conference on Father Domenico by the express wish of Bishop Brandolini, I am now sharing my translation of Bishop Brandolini's preface to the book on Father Domenico written by Mario Sgarbosso which I also received through the same channel. Many thanks to all of them.

Father Domenico da Cese: A Friar Who Lived the Beatitudes

Presentation of Monsignor Luca Brandolini
Bishop of Sora-Aquino-Pontecorvo

Father Domenico da Cese was the living expression of the Gospel of the beatitudes which he faithfully followed in perfect joy, humble and aware of having the duty of sharing with others the gifts which God had given to him. Every believer is called to think and act as Christ has shown by his example ("learn from me who am meek and humble of heart") and by his word. Unfortunately in recent years, although there have been abundant examples of holiness highlighted by the large list of new saints and blesseds, many have been given little notice by many Christians, as if they would have nothing to say to us and as if they were not able to restore to Christianity that freshness and youthfulness which have always been the hallmark of the Church, of which the saints are the maternal face, in which are easily seen the features of Christ.

The saints in fact are the ones who recall us to the authentic sense of the Christian life, contradicting the theory that would suggest that we comport ourselves "as if God did not exist". Holiness which is lived and experienced, even in hiddenness and in anonymity, sweeps away so many prejudices against Christianity - how could we not think of Mother Teresa of Calcutta? -- and is the demonstration of how every Christian is able to live "according to the beatitudes" proclaimed by the Redeemer. The saints, by their example, show us the way of liberation from evil, credible witnesses of a truth unknown by many -- which is that living according to the evangelical beatitudes is not a privation of the honest pleasures of life, but is happiness and holy joy, even in the midst of suffering. This is what is shown to us by the life of this humble Franciscan friar, Father Domenico, whose mystical and real sharing in the sorrowful Passion of the Redeemer, in the secret of his cell and of his soul, has now been made public, for the edification of the Christian community, since during his earthly life he carefully concealed every divine predilection behind the screen of discretion and silence. Humility and candor were always the mark of his person. He absolutely did not love to be talked about and the one who has assumed the task and the courage of bringing to the notice of the public the many secrets of Father Domenico's soul, has had the sensation of "not following orders". But it is good to speak of them and the author has done this with a skillful dosage of style and content which makes for an interesting read from the first page to the last.

Play Debuts in England: Destination the Holy Face of Manoppello

2011-05-01T09:59:00.000-07:00

Artists are responding to the Holy Face at the inspiration of Blessed Pope John Paul II on Divine Mercy Sunday close to this day of beatification.

"The Quality of Mercy" by Leonie Caldecott recently debuted in Oxford, England inspired by the life and spirituality of Pope John Paul II. See the article in Zenit for more information
http://www.zenit.org/article-32437?l=english

Prayer for the Beatification of Father Domenico da Cese

2011-04-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

Bishop Luca Brandolini of the Diocese of Sora-Aquino-Pontecorvo composed and published a prayer in 2006 for the beatification of Padre Domenico, the apostle of the Holy Face. What follows is my translation of Bishop Brandolini's prayer. To see the original Italian (and check me) click on the image of the prayer above to enlarge it.

O God, glorify in the Church your servant Father Domenico da Cese, humble Capuchin priest, to whom you gave the privilege of sharing also visibly the passion of Christ and of being able to read into the hearts of souls in order to relieve their burdens and to reconcile them with you through the sacrament of pardon, as well as the capacity of recognizing in the poor and the suffering the very Holy Face of your beloved Son, whose devotion he promoted with such zeal, through his intercession obtain for me the humility of heart and the simplicity of the little ones to whom you have revealed the secrets of the Kingdom, and in my hour of trial give me the strength to overcome the seductions of evil in order to put Satan to flight, and to merit, at the end of my earthly pilgrimage, to be able to contemplate the Holy Face of Jesus in the glory of Paradise.

Though unworthy as I am of your divine favors, I ask that you might grant, through the intercession of your faithful servant Father Domenico, the grace that I humbly ask of you...

This prayer was sent to me by Antonio Bini who received it from Mr. Nicola Iacobone of Rome during the recent Manoppello conference on Father Domenico by the express wish of Bishop Brandolini. Many thanks to each of them. In a future post I will share Bishop Brandolini's preface to the book on Father Domenico written by Mario Sgarbosso which I also received through the same channel.

Together We See and Seek The Human Face of God

2011-04-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

"The Holy Face of Jesus (is) that Face which 'some Greeks', of which the Gospel speaks, wished to see; that Face which we contemplate in the days of the Passion disfigured by human sins, indifference and ingratitude; that Face, radiant with light and dazzling with glory that will shine out at dawn on Easter Day. Let us keep our hearts and minds fixed on the Face of Christ."

Pope Benedict XVI, March 29, 2009

"Let us ask Mary, Mother of God, to help us to welcome her Son and, in him, true peace. Let us ask her to sharpen our perception so that we may recognize in the face of every human person, the Face of Christ, the heart of peace!"

Pope Benedict XVI, January 1, 2007

Pope Benedict Preaching and Teaching on Holy Week

2011-04-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

From Pope Benedict's homily on Palm Sunday 2011

"We are on pilgrimage with the Lord to the heights. We are striving for pure hearts and clean hands, we are seeking truth, we are seeking the face of God. Let us show the Lord that we desire to be righteous, and let us ask him: Draw us upwards! Make us pure! Grant that the words which we sang in the processional psalm may also hold true for us; grant that we may be part of the generation which seeks God, 'which seeks your face, O God of Jacob' (cf. Ps 24:6). Amen."

from Pope Benedict's book "Jesus of Nazarareth, Holy Week", published by Ignatius Press 2011

"The reality of evil and injustice that disfigures the world and at the same time distorts the image of God -- this reality exists, through our sin. It cannot simply be ignored; it must be addressed. But here it is not a case of a cruel God demanding the infinite. It is exactly the opposite: God himself becomes the locus of reconciliation, and in the person of his Son takes the suffering upon himself. God himself grants his infinite purity to the world. God himself 'drinks the cup' of every horror to the dregs and thereby restores justice though the greatness of his love, which, through suffering, transforms the darkness." p. 232

"the greatness of Christ's love is revealed precisely in the fact that he takes us up into himself in all our wretchedness, into his living and holy sacrifice, so that we truly become 'his body'". p. 237

First DVD on Holy Face of Manoppello Available for Distribution in the USA, part two

2011-04-18T16:44:00.001-07:00

The second video on the DVD distributed by Ignatius Press is entitled

"The Human Face of God"
produced in 2010 for Blagovest Media by Mark Riedemann
"Author of Idea": Paul Badde
Film Director: Nick Goryachkin

Summary

Paul Badde speaking in english in front of the Holy Face of Manoppello "This is the desire of the prophets... this is how He looked...we can't believe it's Him, you can't believe it's true, I can't believe it's true but the unbelievable is true".

Fr. Pfeiffer announces in 1999 that the image of the Veronica has been found in Manoppello. In the Eastern church there is another story of a miraculous face of Jesus which also disappeared. Paul Badde and Fr. Pfeiffer say both images are the same and that the Face on the Holy Shroud of Turin completely matches the Holy Face on the Veil of Manoppello.

Beautiful scenes of Manoppello and the surrounding mountains are shown with the image of the Holy Face there, an image of the risen Christ with open eyes. Some people think it's from the Middle Ages, though people from all over the world come to see it, even from Russia.

Archbishop Bruno Forte of the diocese of Chieti-Vasto of which Manoppello is a part states in english that the Holy Face of Manoppello is the Veronica which Dante and many other people saw in Rome. He also goes on to say that it was "saved by Gian Pietro Carafa, Bishop of Chieti then Bishop of Rome" (Pope Paul IV)"

Paul Badde speaking in front of the massive statue of Veronica at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome summarizes the history of the Veronica which is taught by Fr. Pfeiffer and other scholars. In the papacy of Pope John VII during the early 700's the Holy Face arrives in Rome but is unknown to the world until the "first downfall of the Byzantine Empire" in the 1200's when Pope Innocent displayed the Holy Face for the first time. "

"This veil drew many, many pilgrims to Rome until the new St. Peter's Basilica was built in the 16th century to be a special place to show it, but then they didn't show it from close range as they did before"

Saverio Gaeta, editor in chief of the Italian Catholic weekly magazine Famiglia Cristiana and the author of many books, including several on the Holy Face of Manoppello, states that the Veronica disappeared during the Sack of Rome in 1527 when Spanish and German troops of the Emperor overran the city and forced the pope to flee to the Castel Sant'Angelo.

Archbishop Forte says that the Veronica and the Holy Face of Manoppello are identical and the "canon of all oriental icons" is the Holy Face. Paul Badde states that the Veronica was only known in the West, and then only since the 13th century. The East has the Abgar story which is a much older legend. The East knew about the image much earlier than the West. "There is one Christianity, one image for both legends" (Veronica and Abgar)

A Russian expert, Irina Shalina, speaks of the important date of August 16, 944 AD when the Holy Image of the Face of Christ was moved to Constantinople from Edessa. "The Holy Face was much better known (in the East) after that time."

Martin Mosebach, author of "The Heresy of Formlessness" says that "the most amazing thing is that on the veil the eyes of Christ are written with disproportion". He continues that in the history of icons "it is as if there was some kind of photographic image" of the face of Christ. "This is seen in the early icons of Mt. Sinai".

Saverio Gaeta describes the thesis of Fr. Pfeiffer, renowned professor of art history at the Gregorian University in Rome, that the first prototype for all icons is the Holy Face of Manoppello.

The devotion to the Holy Face in Russia is demonstrated by a number of scenes from Russian churches. The likeness of the Holy Face in Russia is very similar to that of the Holy Face in Manoppello.

A group of pilgrims, including Paul Badde, are shown at Mass in the Basilica of the Holy Face of Manoppello. Paul Badde relates how then Cardinal Ratzinger read his first article on the Holy Face of Manoppello and told him "it's a beautiful article" when they met by chance. Badde sent the first copy of his book on the Holy Face of Manoppello which was published soon after the Cardinal had become Pope Benedict XVI. The tradition of the "true icon" is well known by Pope Benedict who has said "to know God the Father we have to look in the face of the Son."

The visit of Pope Benedict to Manoppello and the Holy Face is shown while the traditional hymn is sung "O Volto Santo di Gesu'"

Archimandrite Zenon is quoted by Paul Badde "in the past the Church defended images, now images have returned to defend the Church"

The video ends with Paul Badde praying the rosary on the bridge across the Tiber leading to Castel Sant'Angelo in front of the large statue of Veronica with the veil as the Holy Face of Manoppello is slowly superimposed. Adding to the drama of the moment is the recitation in the background of "Veronica Veil" a poem by the modern Russian poet Liudmila Kolodiazhnaia.

First DVD on Holy Face of Manoppello Available for Distribution in USA

2011-04-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

Ignatius Press has recently released the first DVD for distribution in the USA on the Holy Face of Manoppello entitled "The Holy Face, the Veil of Manoppello" which contains two videos, one produced in 2006 by a Polish production company and the other in 2010 by a Russian company. By viewing both videos anyone can learn from experts the basic story of the Holy Face of Manoppello, see the wondrous image in various lights and angles, as well as enjoy the splendid geography of the area surrounding Manoppello, and not least rejoice in the wondrous expressions on the faces of those privileged to behold the Holy Face in person. Here is a summary of the first of the two videos:

The Holy Face produced in 2006 by Mirar for Program 1 TVP S.A., Poland
a film of Maciej Bodasinki, Leszeck Dokowicz and Grzegorz Gorny

During a thunder and lightning storm a small group of pilgrims prays before the Holy Face. The Rector of the Shrine, Fr. Carmine Cucinelli, OFM, Cap., describes the story of Fr. Donato da Bomba regarding the arrival of the Holy Face in Manoppello in 1506 through a mysterious pilgrim to the Church of San Nicola. Fr. Cucinelli summarizes how the Capuchins have provided for the veneration of the Holy Face since the 16th century.

Sr. Blandina Paschalis Schloemer, Paul Badde, Redemptorist Fr. Andreas Resch,Fr. Antonio Tedesco give their expert analysis of the Holy Face. Sr. Blandina, who was the first person to widely promote the idea of the complete match between the Holy Face of Manoppello and the Shroud of Turin, noticed the "identical symmetry of the faces on the Veil and the Shroud" and that there is "geometrical analogy between the wounds on both cloths". Fr. Andreas Resch states that "there is a 100% correspondence in structure and dimensions" and that "both images present one and the same person". Fr. Carmine describes how the veil has never been examined nor touched by anyone, and has never been studied by invasive techniques. He noted how the image disappeared when the glass panes were removed several hundred years ago and only re-appeared when the panes were put back as they were before. However there have been non-invasive studies conducted using infrared and ultraviolet photography. Fr. Antonio Tedesco, curator of the Roman Pantheon, alerts us to the fact that the image is not painted, that there are no traces of color. The fabric of the veil is in fact byssus which can not absorb paint. The veil is as thin as nylon but is well over 400 years old. Paul Badde states that byssus, or sea silk, is the most ancient and most expensive material which we know of as having come down to us. It is made from the threads of the mollusk coming the Mediterranean Sea. A narrator with beautiful film of an underwater diver harvesting the mollusks, describes how byssus was mentioned 46 times in the bible and that it is as thin as spider web and not commercially available for 2000 years. Byssus today is woven in only one place in the world, the island of Sant'Antioco off the coast of Sardinia. Chiara Vigo, the world's most proficient weaver of byssus, tells some of the characteristics of byssus. It can last for 5,000 years, it can not be painted but only dyed. It is resistant to fire and to moths. The veil of Manoppello has a rainbow like transparency and the image completely disappears from view in direct light. The image of the Holy Face changes expressions depending on when it is viewed from different angles and in different light.

Paul Badde speaks about the burial of Jesus which he says "was worthy of a king although he died like a dog, a criminal". He theorizes that it was Mary Magdalen who covered the face of Jesus with the veil which came from her wardrobe. It was her "final farewell" for one whom she loved so much. Raphael's work of art shows Mary Magadalen holding a cloth of byssus, with no facial image, pressed into Jesus's cruficied hand while he is being carried in a linen cloth to the tomb. The papal ritual for burial was changed by Pope John Paul II to include the placing of a face cloth on the dead pontiff. Cardinal Dziwisz made this gesture during the funeral rites for John Paul II. Pope Benedict was informed by Cardinal Meisner about his visit to Manoppello which helped to encourage the Pope to also make this visit. Cardinal Meisner after his visit said "today I have met the risen Christ".

I am the Resurrection and the Life

2011-04-10T04:40:00.000-07:00

Psalm 130

"With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption, I trust in the Lord; my soul trusts in his word. More than sentinels wait for the dawn, let Israel wait for the Lord."

"Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee, O Lord."
St. Augustine

"Now therefore, O our God, hearken to the prayer of thy servant and to his supplications and for thy own sake, O Lord, cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary, which is desolate"

Daniel 9:17

Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth

Supporters of the Cause for Beatification of Father Domenico da Cese Meet in Manoppello

2011-04-04T09:03:00.003-07:00

For many he was Father Domenico of the Holy Face

by Antonio Bini

Around 200 people coming from various parts of Italy and also from foreign countries met in Manoppello on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the birth of Father Domenico da Cese, in order to confirm the testimonies given in the past regarding the extraordinary facts relating to the life of the Capuchin. The meeting was held in response to the desire of Father Eugenio Di Giamberardino, assigned as temporary postulator by the Father Provincial Father Carmine Ranieri.

Fr. Carmine Cucinelli, Rector of the Shrine of the Holy Face speaking with some of the participants in the meeting

Father Domenico -- whose given name was Emidio Petracca -- was born in Cese, part of the commune of Avezzano (province of Aquila') on March 27, 1905 -- and for years belonged to the community of friars of the shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello. In 1978 Father Domenico traveled as pilgrim to Turin to see the Shroud during its extraordinary exhibition. After his visit to the Cathedral he was hit by an automobile and mortally injured. According to several witnesses he had foreseen his death affirming in his last hours of life that "This sacrifice is for the Shroud of Turin and for the Holy Face of Manoppello". It seems that the concerns for the Shroud were linked at that time to the hypothesis which placed into question its authenticity, considering that precisely during that exhibit there began the STURP project (Shroud of Turin Research Project) which led to the controversy resulting from the Carbon 14 radiation studies.

After the celebration of Mass which was presided by Father Carmine Raineri, Provincial of the Capuchins of Abruzzo, the postulator asked that written testimony be turned in now or provided later. Particularly moved was Brother Vincenzo d'Elpidio, who for years has persistently kept in touch with so many devoted followers of Father Domenico in Italy and beyond.

Br. Vincenzo d'Elpidio in the foreground with Fr. Eugenio Giamberardino speaking at the podium

Mrs. Gina Orfei of Acquasanta Terme (Ascoli Piceno) devoted follower of Father Domenico with her testimony of how he healed her of a breast tumor at the end of the 1970's.

Among those present were Caterina, the niece of Father Domenico da Cese, Father Pietro di Guglielmo, who traveled to Turin to assist the dying Capuchin, and Sr. Blandina Paschalis Schloemer, who by singular coincidence lives near the Shrine on Via Cese, that is the street dedicated to the birthplace of Father Domenico. Also at Manoppello was Paul Badde, who in his book "The Face of God" dedicated a chapter to Father Domenico and to his life which paralleled that of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, relating the singular episode of the bilocation of Padre Pio in prayer before the Holy Face early in the morning on the last day of his earthly life. Badde himself expressed his intention to write a book on the extraordinary life of the friar who like Padre Pio had the stigmata during some periods of his life.

Significant also was the presence of Sr. Maria, Disciple of the Holy Face, coming from Ruvo di Puglia (province of Bari), in continuity with the human and religious events of the life of Sr. Amelia di Rella, who in the year 1970 received a miracle through Father Domenico. In front of the shrine she stood up on her feet and began to walk normally again after having since the age of 10 years old been confined to a wheelchair.

The miracle granted to the young woman - who later decided to take vows of religious life -- is publicly known and there are thousands of people who yearly come on pilgrimage to the Holy Face from Ruvo di Puglia and from surrounding cities. Father Domenico himself inaugurated and blessed (1977) the altar dedicated to the Holy Face in the ancient Cathedral in Puglia
http://www.cattedraleruvo.it/Ass.%20del%20Volto%20Santo.html
The Capuchin was an untiring promoter of the Holy Face of Manoppello. It was owing to his perseverance that the exhibit from the Shrine was displayed in Pescara in September 1977 in conjunction with the Eucharistic Congress which culminated in the arrival of Pope Paul VI.

This exhibit, which was excluded from the official programs, was visited by chance by a journalist who reported on this unique image for a german language swiss catholic periodical, creating the necessary conditions for a new phase in the knowledge of the Holy Face beyond the regional and national boundaries. In fact the periodical ended up in the hands of the iconographer Sr. Blandina Paschalis Schloemer, who noted the similarities to the face of the Shroud, sending her first findings to Professor Werner Bulst, the great german scholar of the Shroud who shared her research with Father Heinrich Pfeiffer, who dedicated years of research to the image of Manoppello, and whose conclusions led, along with other studies, to the "rediscovery" of the Holy Face.

Father Domenico da Cese at the exhibit of the Holy Face which he organized for the National Eucharistic Congress held in Pescara in 1977.

For so many devoted followers Father Domenico during his life was already a saint due to his extraordinary capacity to listen and to read the souls of the many suffering people who turned with hope to him daily. Father Domenico invited them to always pray to "the Holy Face of our Lord Jesus Christ", as he wrote to a lady in the attached letter. This letter is only one of thousands which he wrote with infinite patience to the many suffering people who turned to him from Italy and beyond in order to obtain a word of relief and of hope.

a letter sent by Father Domenico dated September 1975 in which he says "Dear Lady, I pray much to the Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ to obtain the graces that you desire, I bless you all of good heart, Father Domenico"

Precisely because his life appears inseparable from the Holy Face, a number of people have expressed the desire that the mortal remains of Father Domenico be interred in the cemetery next to the Shrine, alongside the other friars, in order to allow the devoted followers who come to Manoppello to also pray at this tomb.

The meeting closed in the widespread hope that the long awaited process of beatification of Father Domenico may finally begin, overcoming delays and postponements.

Also by means of this blog all those who wish to furnish their own testimony on the venerated Capuchin are invited to send it, along with corresponding letters or documents, to the Rector of the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello:
P. Carmine Cucinelli
Rettore Santuario del Volto Santo di Manoppello
via Cappucini, 26
Manoppello, Italy

An Uncountable Number of Images of the Risen Christ

2011-03-31T07:16:00.000-07:00

http://www.zenit.org/article-32148?l=english

Paul Badde, the author of "The Face of God: The Rediscovery of the True Face of Jesus on the Holy Face of Manoppello" (Ignatius Press) is interviewed by Genevieve Pollock and gives the best summary and commentary to date on the significance and importance of the Holy Face of Manoppello. Badde continues to announce this special witness to Christ, which he says features "an uncountable number of images of the Risen Christ". Badde weaves together all the many strands of the history of this "secret veil". He also shines the light on Pope Benedict's lifelong interest in the Face of God, and reveals the interest in the Holy Face on the part of many in the Orthodox tradition as evidenced by Sr. Columba, an Orthodox nun whom he quotes "God has left an image of his Face on earth!" Badde believes that the Holy Face will change the "face of the world" in a way similar to the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe which "changed the map and history in Mexico after she had appeared and left her image there on December 12, 1531."

Paul Badde greeting Pope Benedict in the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello on September 1, 2006 with Sr. Blandina Schloemer at his left and Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, SJ at his right, and to the right of Fr. Pfeiffer is Redemptorist Father Andreas Resch

Our Lady of Las Lajas

2011-03-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

top photo credit wikipedia commons; lower photo credit www.ipitimes.com

"The image is not painted, but mysteriously imprinted in the rock. The colors are not applied in a surface layer of paint or other material, but penetrate deep into the rock. No one knows how the work was done."
Prof. Plinio Correa de Oliveira

photo credit Martin St-Amant - Wikipedia - CC-BY-SA-3.0

Another acheropite image? At the very top of South America. An amazing basilica on the border of Colombia and Ecuador, an engineering wonder, marvelously balanced high above a river and wedged into a steep canyon and built around the miraculous image of Our Lady of Las Lajas. There is no apse or back wall of the church, for the building is built right up against the rock, and the naturally formed grotto containing the image of Our Lady of Las Lajas is the framework and structure for the main altar of the basilica. The amazing image of Mary, Jesus, St. Dominic and St. Francis has been venerated there since 1754. I love Our Lady's robe which is so similar to that of Guadalupe but displayed in such a different manner. And to see Our Lady's hair is quite striking.

The Story of Our Lady of Las Lajas from the Colombian website www.ipitimes.com as quoted in www.traditioninaction.org

Back in the 18th century, Maria Mueses de Quinones, an Indian woman from the village of Potosi, Colombia, often walked the six miles between her village and the neighboring one of Ipiales. One day in 1754 as she was making the journey, she approached the place called Las Lajas (the Rocks), where the trail passes through a deep gorge of the Guaitara River. Maria never liked this part of the trail. There were rumors that a cave in Las Lajas was haunted. Such superstitions lingered amongst the converted Christian Indians.

She was carrying her daughter Rosa, a deaf-mute, on her back in the Indian fashion. By the time she had climbed to Las Lajas, she was weary and sat on a rock to rest. The child got down from her back to play.

After a while, Rosa emerged from the cave shouting: “Mama, there is a woman in here with a boy in her arms!” Maria was beside herself with the fright since this was the first time she had heard her daughter speak. She did not see the figures the girl was talking about, nor did she want to. She grabbed the child and hastened on to Ipiales.

When she recounted what had happened, no one took her seriously at first. However, as the news spread, some asked if perhaps it were true. After all, the child was now able to speak.

A few days later, the child Rosa disappeared from her home. After looking everywhere, the anguished Maria guessed that her daughter must have gone to the cave. The child had often said that the Lady was calling her. Maria ran to Las Lajas and found her daughter in front of a noble Lady and playing affectionately with a Child who had come down from His mother’s arms to let the girl enjoy His divine tenderness. Maria fell to her knees before this beautiful spectacle; she had seen the Blessed Virgin and the Divine Infant.

Fearful of ridicule, Maria kept quiet about the episode. But she and Rosa frequently went to the cave to place wild flowers and candles in the cracks of the rocks.

Months went by, with Maria and Rosa keeping their secret. Finally, one day the girl fell gravely ill and died. A distraught Maria decided to take her daughter’s body to Las Lajas to ask the Lady to restore Rosa to life.

Moved by the sadness of Maria’s unrelenting supplications, the Blessed Virgin obtained Rosa’s resurrection from her Divine Son. Overflowing with joy, Maria returned home. It was not long before a crowd had gathered to hear what had happened. Early the next morning everyone went to Las Lajas, each one wanting to check the details for themselves.

That was when the marvelous picture of Our Lady on the wall of the grotto was discovered. Maria Muese de Quinones could not recall noticing it until then. The Child Jesus is in Our Lady’s arms. On one side of Our Lady is St. Francis; on the other is St. Dominic. Her delicate and regal features are those of a Latin American, perhaps an Indian. Her abundant black hair covers her like a mantle (The two-dimensional crown is metal and was added by devotees much later on). The Indians had no doubt: this was their Queen.

Conference on Acheropite Images to be Held at Torun, Poland May 11 to 13

2011-03-22T11:50:00.001-07:00

This gathering entitled the International Interdisciplinary Conference on the Acheiropoietos Images is a big step forward which will bring together scientists and scholars from many disciplines including theology, humanities and the natural sciences. The organizers of the conference are from the Nicholas Copernicus University in Torun, as well as from the University of Gdansk. The language of the conference will be english. It is very significant that it is being held in commemorate the 12th anniversary of the visit which Pope John Paul II made to Torun, and also that it falls on the twentieth anniversary of the date on which Our Lady saved the faithful and beloved son of Poland so that he might continue to carry on his mission of "Throwing Open Wide the Doors to Christ".

from the website of the Conference http://acheiropoietos.umk.pl/

The conference aims, among others, to update knowledge on the objects not made by human hand which are referred to by a Greek term “acheiropoietos”. This ancient concept has a wide range of meaning. Within the narrow range, the term covers images which in the strict sense came into existence without the assistance of human hand. In the broad meaning – the objects which are in a more or less conventional way entitled to such a definition when Tradition sources are taken into consideration.

It is still not perfectly clear which objects are entitled to be described as acheiropoietos in the strict sense. Without fail, the images which underwent a thorough research in the previous century obviously belong to that group. These are the images on the Turin Shroud and the Tilma of Guadalupe, and additionally, in the light of recent comparison research carried out i.a. by sister Blandina Paschalis, the Veil of Manoppello has been also included in that group. The question, whether one can classify as acheiropoietos in the strict sense also the images from other objects such as e.g. the miniature cloth from Coromoto in Venezuela, is under discussion.

The organisers of Toruń Acheiropoietos Conference 2011 conference are eager to open the ground for scientific discussion among researchers of various disciplines in order to circumscribe the methodological frames of research scope which is set by the term “acheiropoietos”, to confront research achievements of all scientific disciplines which deal with acheiropoietos and to set the direction for integration of acheiropoietos studies.

The conference will be held on May 11–13, 2011 and will commemorate 12th anniversary of John Paul II's visit to Toruń. While giving a speech at Toruń’s University, he encouraged to engage in a deep dialogue between science and faith. This is also the aim of organisers of Toruń Acheiropoietos Conference 2011. It’s realisation is possible due to special subject of study wich is in the limelight of natural science as well as humanities and theology.

Suggested thematic areas

Acheropoietos images in natural science cognition
Characteristics of material structure of acheiorpoietos
Consequences (pastoral, liturgical, ecumenical) of integrating acheiropoietos studies for the icon theology
The theology of icon
The theology of sign and miracle
Fenomenology of sacred images
Significance of the acheiropoietos images in fundamental theology, missiology and new evangelisation
The issue of authenticity of Jesus Christ image in Christian iconographic canons in the context of acheiropoietos images
The issue of authenticity of Jesus Christ acheiropoietos image in comparison to images of deities of other religions (in the context of religious studies)
Forecast on scientific, sociological, cultural consequences of undertaking integrated acheiropoietos studies
Historical aspects

The True Face of Mary

2011-03-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

I was just telling my friend who is going on a pilgrim to Rome in April about the image of Mary, the oldest icon of her in Rome, Advocata Nostra, which is at the Dominican Sisters Convent on Via Trionfale on Monte Mario. Paul Badde had alerted me to it. It hit me that Advocata Nostra has everything in common with the miraculous image of Our Lady of Absam which I posted about several days ago. The same nose, eyes and mouth!

New German Website With Interesting Points Regarding Holy Face of Manoppello

2011-03-21T17:35:00.000-07:00

www.sudariumchristi.com which is easy to use, gives clear description of the Holy Face of Manoppello and shows many connections between the Holy Face of Manoppello and the Shroud of Turin. It is in the german language but if one of the internet translation services is used, it is quite helpful. It includes a list of lodgings and restaurants in the vicinity of the Shrine of the Holy Face.

The Lucca Conference on the Holy Face

2011-03-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

(from left to right) Maria Pia Bertolucci, Umberto Palagi, Fr. Carmine Cucinelli, Ofm, Cap., Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, SJ, Giuseppe Giannelli, Antonio Bini

(thanks to Antonio Bini for allowing me to publish here my translation of his article along with his photographs of this important event)

The Image of Christ from the Shroud to the Holy Face
reflections on the Lucca conference
by Antonio Bini

Immediately prior to the inauguration of the exhibit on the Holy Face at Lucca a conference was held on March 4, 2011 at the Agora’ Auditorium – formerly the Convent of the Servites. The gathering was opened by Umberto Palagi, scholar of the Holy Face of Lucca, who recalled the principal historic references to the crucifix preserved in the Cathedral of San Martin, as well as connections to the face of the man of the Shroud and that of the Veil of Manoppello. There followed a talk by Giuseppe Giannelli who gave an interesting description of the copies of the cloth of the Shroud which were done in centuries past, underscoring in particular the cloth on display in the exhibit which comes from a local church. Today on that cloth there can not be seen any trace of an image, but only the writing which declares the authenticity of the copy.

Father Carmine Cucinelli, rector of the Shrine of Manoppello thanked the Diocese and the Comune of Modena, and in particular the Assessor for Culture Moreno Bruni in attendance in the Auditorium, for the attention given to the Holy Face, which was evident by the invitation to the conference and the opportunity to display illustrative material in the exhibit held in the Oratory of Saint Joseph, next to the Museum of the Cathedral.

Father Carmine underscored how the Faces of Christ which are under discussion are very different from one another, that of Lucca is a Crucifix, while that of Manoppello is composed of an image impressed on a very fine cloth, which presents unique characteristics. My talk followed in which I described the most important stages which have marked in recent years the extraordinary diffusion of the relic in Italy and throughout the world. As I spoke just before Prof. Heinrich Pfeiffer, pioneer in the studies of the Holy Face of Manoppello, I had to point to the solitude which characterized the first phase of his research, with his hypothesis which initially found skepticism and even aversion on the part of theologians, historians and church authorities. An attitude which at first took me by surprise due to its negativity but regarding which I later came to understand their motivation.

(from left to right) Fr. Cucinelli, Fr. Pfeiffer, Antonio Bini

Father Pfeiffer, professor of history of Christian Art at the Gregorian University of Rome and recognized by the international community as a scientific authority in that field, asserted that the Veil of Manoppello should be seen as identical with the Veronica (vera-ikon) the most important relic of Christianity and fundamental reference – until the 1500’s – for so many artists who throughout history had drawn and interpreted the Face of Christ.

In 2005 the journalist and author Paul Badde described in his book meeting the German scholar and the moment when there began in him an increasing interest regarding the history of the Holy Face of Manoppello:

“The professor told me that there actually was an image that was even more important than the Shroud. Only a crazy person would hold something like that, and that was how Father Pfeiffer was described to me”.

Badde, author of books on the Face of Manoppello which today are published in German, Polish, French, Dutch, Italian and English, has the distinction of breaking through a kind of wall of silence coming from the attitude of avoiding the topic, or even hostility, assumed without even having seen the relic or having made the slightest effort to check the research which had been done. An attitude which at times has unjustly involved even the Capuchins of the Abruzzi shrine themselves.

Last year Saverio Gaeta in the preface to his book, “The Engima of the Face of the Jesus, the Adventures of the Secret Shroud” (Rizzoli, 2010) reflected on this particular situation: “it seemed a challenge of David against the Goliath of the army of the Shroud’s scholars who couldn’t bother themselves with the veil of Manoppello because it would disturb their seemingly already well-established acquisition of the burial cloths of Jesus”. Gaeta correctly writes in the past tense “It seemed”. In fact in recent years the framework for scholars and researchers unexpectedly has expanded and what Father Pfeiffer in past years was saying constitutes the basis for what a segment of these scholars are finally examining without prejudices to delve more deeply into research on the Holy Face.

Fr. Pfeiffer being interviewed by the media

The visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Manoppello on Sept. 1, 2006, the immediate elevation of the Shrine to the status of a Basilica and the prayer which the Pope himself desired to compose to recognize the first anniversary of his visit, represent the latest confirmations of the validity of Fr. Pfeiffer’s courageous hypothesis, now supported by other scholars, who are widening the field of their research also into that of the natural sciences.

This historic visit of the Pope was opposed up to the last moment for the implicit reaction that it would cause, beginning with its indirect support for the thesis that the Veronica is no longer kept at St. Peter’s, a circumstance which has never been admitted by the Vatican.

I explained how in my opinion it was only with the Grand Jubilee of the year 2000 and the beginning of the third millennium –which put an end to the silence regarding the Holy Face of Manoppello – that the Capuchins themselves were able to overcome the fears with which they for centuries had preserved with devotion and care the relic. This was also in regards to the observance of the decrees of Urban VIII, of which there was still mention in 1966, on the occasion of the book published by Padre Antonio da Serramonacesca, then provincial of the Capuchins.

The conference, moderated by Anna Maria Bertolucci, concluded with the talk by Father Pfeiffer, who presented, with a critical eye, some attitudes held by a part of Church, who show themselves to have little faith and a limited attention to the artistic and cultural patrimony of the Christian history.

He emphasized that relics come before works of art. Then he came to the Holy Face of Lucca. Although in general in the middle ages relics were the model for works of art, the relation between the luccan crucifix and the style of Antelami must be seen in the exact opposite way. Antelami imitated the style of his master Nicodemus, in as much as Nicodeumus is thought to have been the sculptor of the Holy Face.

According to Pfeiffer the crucifix, which according to tradition came from Beirut, “is the only Syrian sculpture come down to us, and can be traced back to the date of the sixth century after Christ. My suspicion is that the legend of the artist Nicodemus was invented to save it from destruction by the muslim or byzantine iconclasts”.

In any case, the mantle of hair with the curls in the middle has its parallel in the two medallions of the cross of Justin II from the year 574 AD which are in the Treasury of St. Peter’s at the Vatican. Father Pfeiffer has cited this in his own study which he wrote together with Werner Bulst, Das Turiner Grabtuch und das Christusbild Il Das echte Christusbild, published in Germany in 1991. These medallions derive from the two relic images, the Mandylion (now known as the Shroud of Turin) and the image of Camulia (now known as the Holy Face of Manoppello). The long face with the long beard divided in two points and the eyes of the crucifix derived from the Mandylion. They are an interpretive reading of the marks visible on the Shroud and “readable” by the human eye from a distance at least of 1.50 meters as a majestic human face. The twist of hair on the forehead reveals that their model is that of the Holy Face of Manoppello.

Both models were visible and able to be studied together only until the second half of the sixth century, one prior to its transfer from Constantinople to the small town of Camulia or Camuliana in Cappadocia, and the other until 544 at Edessa, about 80 kilometers distant from the forementioned place in Cappadocia.

The art historian’s hypothesis, which backdates the crucifix of Lucca to the sixth century, raised particular interest among the knowledgeable and attentive public who were present.

The conference concluded with the opening of the exhibit in the nearby former Oratory of San Giuseppe, in which are displayed large panels which illustrate the history and the features of the Holy Face of Manoppello, along with a huge photograph of the image in plexiglass, visible from both sides.

A structure was made for this exhibit – designed by Sr. Blandina Paschalis Schlomer - with movable images of the Shroud and the Holy Face - imprinted on glass panes, which permit the visitor to be able to personally experience the superimposition of the two faces.

Also part of the exhibit are some tokens coming from burial chambers between Lucca and Valdera, including ancient medallions found during the excavations.

Our Lady of Absam

2011-03-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

From the village of Absam, near Innsbruck, Austria. A special image of Our Lady which suddenly appeared on a pane of glass in the home of the Bucher family in 1797. The image is in the glass, it is not etched or painted. If the pane of glass is immersed in water the image disappears but then re-appears when the glass dries. This miraculous image of Our Lady of Absam, not made by human hands (acheropite) is now enshrined in the local church with the blessing of the parish priest and the local bishop for over 200 years. Thanks to Paul Badde for telling me about this acheropite image and for providing me with these photos..

Doesn't it remind you of the Holy Face of Manoppello in so many ways? The transparency of the material, the features of the two faces,the inexplicability, the dimensions...the supernatural breaking into the natural world.

The Holy Face of Manoppello on Exhibit in Lucca

2011-03-02T13:29:00.000-08:00

by Antonio Bini

Upon the invitation of the Diocese and also the Comune of Lucca, the Basilica of the Holy Face of Manoppello will participate in the exhibition “The body transfigured. The image of Christ from the Shroud to the Holy Face”, to be held at the Oratory of St. Joseph in the tuscan city from March 4 to May 3, 2011.

Maria Pia Bertolucci, coordinator of the Museum and Archeological Complex of the Cathedral of Lucca, explains that the exhibit seeks to place in comparison the Holy Face of Lucca -- ancient wooden statue preserved and venerated in the cathedral of Saint Martin -- with reproductions of the Holy Shroud and the Veil of Manoppello.

The event is part of the activities which together make up the second edition of the program “Lucca and the avenues of the Saints” in which there will take place many cultural and religious initiatives, including sacred music concerts, guided tours, conferences and the screening of documentaries.

The Holy Face of Manoppello will be represented by 8 large panels, made especially for this event, which tells the story of the relic by means of a kind of journey which begins with the facade of the Sanctuary, then passes through the various expressions of the sacred image, to the documentation of the visit of Benedict XVI and then to the illustration of the superimposition of the Holy Face with the Shroud and with the Sudarium of Oviedo. At Lucca there will be displayed for the first time a very large photo (130 x 210cm. or 4ft. by 7ft.) which reproduces the image of the Holy Face – visible from both sides, as in real life.

Immediately prior to the inauguration of the exhibit – at 5:30pm – there will be a conference held in the Agora’ Auditorium (formerly the Convent of the Servites) in which will participate various speakers including Umberto Palagi, Giuseppe Giannelli, Antonio Bini and Padre Carmine Cucinelli, rector of the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello. Also expected is a talk by Padre Heinrich Pfeiffer, Professor at the Gregorian University of Rome, one of the most respected scholars of the history of Christian art, who supports the hypothesis that the Face of Manoppello is identical with the Veronica.

This meeting – which will be moderated by Don Piero Ciardella – constitutes an interesting occassion for comparison and discussion around the theme of the Face of Christ, occuring just a few days before the awaited release of the second volume of Benedict XVI’s “Jesus of Nazareth”, which will be dedicated to the themes of the passion and resurrection.

Facade of the cathedral of Lucca where the wooden crucifix of the Holy Face is preserved.

The two photos are taken from the website of the city of Lucca
www.comune.lucca.it

Pope Benedict Setting the Pace, Seeking the Face of Jesus in Rome Manoppello and Everywhere

2011-02-16T17:48:00.000-08:00

History is moving quickly, all are unconsciously seeking the face of faces, Pope Benedict shows us where to look.

"Your Face, O Lord, I seek": seeking the Face of Jesus must be the longing of all of us Christians; indeed, we are "the generation" which seeks his Face in our day, the Face of the "God of Jacob". If we persevere in our quest for the Face of the Lord, at the end of our earthly pilgrimage, he, Jesus, will be our eternal joy, our reward and glory for ever: "Sis Jesu nostrum gaudium, qui es futurus praemium: sit nostra in te gloria, per cuncta semper saecula".

Manoppello, 1 September 2006

"St Augustine, whom we are commemorating today, has some marvellous thoughts about the invitation found in Psalm 105[104]: "Quaerite faciem eius semper - constantly seek his face" (v. 3). He points out that this invitation is not only valid for this life but also for eternity. The discovery of "God's Face" is never ending. The further we penetrate into the splendour of divine love, the more beautiful it is to pursue our search, so that "amore crescente inquisitio crescat inventi - the greater love grows, the further we will seek the One who has been found" (Enarr. in Ps 105[104]: 3; CCL 40, 1537). This is the experience to which, deep down, we too aspire."

Vatican, Saint Peter’s Square, August 28,2005

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer to the Holy Face

2011-01-30T20:25:00.000-08:00

Three years ago I began this blog with the first post being the prayer of Pope Benedict XVI. Thanks be to God! May our eyes see what he sees and what his beloved predecessor John Paul II now sees in full: the blessed fruit of Mary's womb.

Lord Jesus,
As the first apostles,
Whom you asked: “What do you seek?”,
Accepted your invitation to: “Come and See”
Recognising you as the Son of God,
The Promised Messiah for the world’s redemption,
We too, your disciples in this difficult time
Want to follow you and be your friends,
Drawn by the brilliance of your face much desired yet hidden.

Show us, we pray you, your face ever new,
That mirror, mystery laden, of God’s infinite mercy.
Grant that we may contemplate it
With the eyes of our mind and our hearts:
The Son’s face, radiance of the Father’s glory
And the imprint of his Nature (cf. Hb 1,3),
The human face of God that has burst into history
To reveal the horizons of eternity.
The silent face of Jesus suffering and risen,
When loved and accepted changes the heart and life.
“Your face, Lord, do I seek,
Do not hide your face from me” (Ps.27,8ff).

How many times through the centuries and millenia has not resounded
The ardent invocation of the Psalmist among the faithful!
Lord, with faith, we too repeat the same invocation:
“Man of suffering, as one from whom others hide their faces” (Is.53,3),
Do not hide your face from us!
We want to draw from your eyes,
That look on us with tenderness and compassion.
The force of love and peace which shows us the way of life,
And the courage to follow you without fear or compromise,
So as to be witnesses of your Gospel,
With concrete signs of acceptance, love and forgiveness.

O Holy Face of Christ,
Light that enlightens the darkness of doubt and sadness,
Life that has defeated forever the force of evil and death,
O inscrutable gaze
That never ceases to watch over men and people,
Face concealed in the Eucharistic signs
And in the faces of those that live with us,
Make us God’s pilgrims in this world,
Longing for the Infinite and ready for the final encounter,
When we shall see you, Lord, “face to face”(1Cor.13,12),
And be able to contemplate you forever in heavenly Glory.

Mary, Mother of the Holy Face,
Help us have “hands innocent and a heart pure”,
Hands illumined by the truth of love
And hearts enraptured by divine beauty,
That transformed by the encounter with Christ,
We may gift ourselves to the poor and the suffering,
Whose faces reflect the hidden presence
Of your Son Jesus,
Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen!

Benedict XVI., pp,
Rome, September 1st 2007, written and sent to the Guardian of the Basilica of the Holy Face in Manoppello (Italy) in memory of his pilgrimage to the Sanctuary a year before, on September 1st, 2006

The Light that Shines in the Darkness

2011-01-20T07:07:00.000-08:00

Psalm 80

Restore us, O God, let your face shine, that we may be saved...

Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved...

Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted...

Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

Psalm 27

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! Thou hast said, "Seek ye my face". My heart says to thee, "Thy face, Lord, do I seek!" Hide not thy face from me.

"Throw open wide the doors to Christ!" Pope John Paul II

Latin Text for Votive Mass of the Holy Face

2011-01-09T18:29:00.000-08:00

In answer to a request which I received from one of the readers of this blog, Father Carmine Cucinelli, O.F.M., Cap., the Rector of the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello, has generously supplied me with the Latin text for the Votive Mass of the Holy Face as it was celebrated at the Shrine in Manoppello prior to Vatican II. You will note that it is different from the Votive Mass which ordinarily is celebrated today at the Shrine of the Holy Face: there are different scripture readings, and of course this Latin text has the corresponding parts of the Mass proper that are different compared to the ordinary form of the Roman Rite. However, it seems that the Latin Oratio and Postcommunio prayer are fundamentally the same prayers as the Opening Prayer and Post-Communion Prayer of the Ordinary form of the rite. The text below contains the same text as the images posted above.
SANCTUARIUM “SACRI VULTUS” APUD MANUPPELLUM
MISSA VOTIVA
IN HONOREM “SACRI VULTUS”
(COLOR RUBEUS)

Antiphona ad lntroitum
Philipp. 2, 8-9
Humiliavit semetipsum Dominus Jesus Christus usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis: propter quod et Deus exaltavit illum, ed donavit illi nomen, quod est super omne nomen.
(T. P. Alleluia, Alleluia). Ps. 88, 2
Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo: in generationem et generationem. Y Gloria Patri...

Oratio

Domine Jesu Christe, cuius sacratissimus Vultus in passione absconditus sicut sol in sua virtute relucet; concede propitius; ut tuis passionibus communicantes in terris, in revelatione gloriae tuae gaudere valeamus in coelis. Qui vivis et regnas...

Lectio Zachariae Prophetae
Zach. 12, 10-11; 13, 6-7

Haec dicit Dominus: Effundam super domum David et super habitatores Jerusalem spiritum gratiae et precum: et aspicient ad me, quem confixerunt: et plangent eum planctu quasi super unigenitum, et dolebunt super eum, ut doleri solet in morte unigeniti. In die illa magnus erit planctus in Jerusalem, et dicetur:
Quid sunt plagae istae in medio manuum tuarum? Et dicit: His plagatus sum in domo eorum, qui diligebant me. Framea, suscitare super pastorem meum, et super virum cohaerentem mihi, dicit Dominus exercituum: percutite pastorem et dispergentur oves: ait Dominus omnipotens.

Graduale Ps. 68, 21-22.

Improperium expectavit cor meum et miseriam : et sustinui, qui simul mecum contristaretur, et non fuit: consolantem me quaesivi et non inveni.
Y ‘Dederunt in escam meam fel, et in siti mea potaverunt me aceto.

Tractus. Is. 53, 4-5.

Vere languores nostros ipse tulit et dolores nostros ipse portavit. Et nos putavimus eum quasi leprosum et percussum a Deo et humiliatum. Y Ipse autem vulneratus est propter iniquitates nostras, attritus est propter scelera nostra. V Disciplina pacis nostrae super eum: et livore eius sanati sumus.

In Missis votivis ante Septuagesimam vel post Pentecostes, omisso Tractus post Graduale dicitur:

Alleluia, Alleluia. Y Ave, Rex noster: tu solus nostros es miseratus errores: Patri obediens, ductus es ad crucifìgendum, ut agnus mansuetus ad occisionem. Alleluia.

Tempore autem paschali omittitur Graduale, et eius loco dicitur:

Alleluia, Alleluia. Y Ave, Rex noster: tu solus nostros es miseratus errores: Patri obediens, ductus es ad crucifigendum, ut agnus mansuetus ad occisionem. Alleluia. Y Tibi gloria, hosanna: tibi triumphus et victoria: tibi summae laudis et honoris corona. Alleluia.
† Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Joannem.
Joann. 19, 28-35
In illo tempore: Sciens Jesus, quia omnia consummata sunt, ut consummaretur scriptura, dixit: Sitio. Vas ergo erat positum aceto plenum. Illi autem spongiam plenam aceto, hyssopo circumponentes, obtulerunt ori eius. Cum ergo accepisset Jesus acetum, dixit: Consummatum est. Et inclinato capite tradidit spiritum. Judaei ergo (quoniam parasceve erat), ut non remanerent in cruce corpora sabbato (erat enim magnus dies ille sabbati), rogaverunt Pilatum ut frangerentur eorum crura et tollerentur. Venerunt ergo milites: et primi quidem fregerunt crura et alterius, qui crucifixus est cum eo. Ad Jesum autem cum venissent, ut viderunt eum jam mortuum, non fregerunt eius crura, sed unus militum lancea latus eius aperuit, et continuo exivit sanguis et aqua. Et qui vidit, testimonium perhibuit: et verum est testimonium eius.

Offertorium.

Insurrexerunt in me viri iniqui: absque misericordia quaesierunt me interficere: et non pepercerunt in faciem meam spuere: lanceis suis vulneraverunt me, et concussa sunt omnia ossa mea. (T. P. Alleluia).

Secreta

Protector noster, aspice, Deus, et respice in Faciem Christi tui; qui tibi semetipsum pro nobis hostiam obtulit, et praesta: ut eamdem immaculatam hostiam offerentes, ipsi quoque in holocaustum tibi acceptum transeamus. Per eumdem Dominum...

Praefatio de Cruce.

Antiphona ad Communionem
Ps. 21, 17-18.

Foderunt manus meas et pedes meos: dinumeraverunt omnia ossa mea. (T. P. Alleluia).

Postcommunio

F aciem tuam, quaesumus, Domine, super nos benignus illumina, ut tuas justificationes edocti, per haec sacrosancta mysteria blandientem mundum eludere et persequentem superare possimus. Qui vivis et regnas...

Petitioni hodierni Moderatoris Provinciae Aprutinae Ordinis Fratruum Minorum Capuccinorum circa facultatem celebrandi, in Sanctuario Sacri Vultus D. N. Jesu Christi apud «Manoppello», Missa votiva ad normam nn. 374-375 Codicis rubricarum, adhibito textu Missae propriae «Humiliavit... » concessae, die 15 Martii 1957, Congregationi Silvestrinae O. S.B.
Sacra Rituum Congregatio, utendo facultatibus sibi a Sanctissimo Domino nostro IOANNE PAPA XXIII tnbutis, benigne annuit pro gratia iuxta preces, idest celebrandi praedictam Missam, eodem in Sanctuario, uti votiva II classis singulis per annum diebus, sed solummodo a sacerdotibus peregrinis, aut quoties Missa ipsa dicitur in favorem peregrinantium:
dummodo non occurrat dies liturgicus I classis, vel festum Domini II classis: servatis rubricis.

† HENRICUS DANTE,
Archiep. Carpasien.
S.R.C. a secretis
Ex aedihus S.R.C. die 23 Februarii 1963.
Concordat cum originali approbato

On My List of Essential Reading for the Next Five Centuries At Least

2011-01-04T05:48:00.001-08:00

The Face of God, the Rediscovery of the True Face of Jesus on the Holy Face of Manoppello, by Paul Badde, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 2010

Paul Badde, an extremely accomplished journalist, came upon a source which revealed Christ in a new way to this generation, although this source had been well known to generations past -- an image on both sides of a veil which reveals (and conceals) Christ marvelously yet paradoxically, enigmatically yet convincingly. This source is the "mother of all icons". It became Paul Badde's task to investigate and report on this source -- but he went further. He took on the difficult task of explaining and interpreting this source -- while remaining a working journalist for a secular newspaper with the exceptional responsibility of covering for a German audience Rome and the Vatican where resides a Pope from their homeland.

This source, known in times past as the image of the Veronica represented in the sixth station of the cross, portrays the image of Jesus for all time, was publicly displayed to huge crowds in Rome at least from the 11th to the 16th centuries, was the focus of Roman pilgrimages, the finale of Dante's Divine Comedy, portraying a foretaste of beatific vision.

Badde recounts his own discovery, paralleling the rediscovery by Christendom of its most important relic, building on the work of those before him and around him, including apostles, evangelists, saints, popes, rogues, Martin Luther, Franciscan friars, Jesuits, Trappistines as well as the wise and loving counsel of his "Beatrice and Virgil" - his wife Ellen. See if you can discount his astonishing conclusion that this source is the "face cloth" (sudarium) found by Peter and John in the not so empty tomb on Easter morning. Read his book in its first english language edition which is beautifully published by Ignatius Press with many fine color photos of the Holy Face of Jesus.

May the Holy Name of Jesus Pronounced by the Holy Mother of God Protect and Defend Us

2011-01-01T06:47:00.001-08:00

May the peace of Christ announced by angels to shepherds in the fields and by a holy star to three wise kings enlighten peoples and nations in 2011. thanks be to God for the revelation of His face in a new way to english speaking peoples in 2010.

The Miracle of the Holy Face Told by Padre Antonio from Poschiavo (1714)

2010-12-29T15:14:00.001-08:00

How the image disappeared and then reappeared

by Antonio Bini - unosemper@libero.it

The testimony given to us by Padre Antonio from Poschiavo - written on August 12, 1714 - deserves to be remembered, not least of all in relation to the question of doing research by opening the reliquary which holds the Holy Face.

Padre Antonio, the father guardian of the shrine at that time, wanted to render the reliquary more sumptuous by providing a new silver frame and so took up a collection of donations of money and objects of gold and silver which were given to the shrine by the faithful who had received graces.

During the changing of the frame, Padre Antonio, who had been given permission for this work by his Ordinary (religious superior) and by the Bishop of Chieti, opened the little internal wooden frame which enclosed the Holy Face between two panes of glass, the one which had been made by fra Remigio from Rapino, who must have been an expert artisan. Fra Remigio had been called to Manoppello by Padre Clemente from Castelvecchio, the first father guardian from the time when the convent of the Capuchins was still under construction.

According to what is told in the Relatione Historica (Historical Report) of Padre Donato from Bomba, the Holy Face at that time (1618) was still in the possession of Antonio De Fabritiis, who had given his consent that Padre Clement should put in order the Holy Face which "was in the middle of a veil...maltreated and badly cared for, (which) was all wrinkled, lined and eaten by moths and worms", eliminating the ruined surfaces around the face and placing it in between two panes of glass. Such a solution took into account not only some of the exceptional characteristics of the image - the transparency of the extremely fine fabric and the fact that the face could be seen present on both sides of the cloth -- but also served to permit the veil to be laid out and secured after having been damaged by the rough folding which even today is able to be seen in part by the naked eye.

Upon opening the internal frame Padre Antonio was thrown into a panic, according to what he writes in his report, as the image vanished and there remained only the silken fabric. In his confusion he tried to look a number of times at the veil which he held in his hands and not understanding what had happened he then decided to put everything back the way it was before. The image then reappeared, to the great relief of the father guardian who added that probably the Lord wanted to put him to the test, demonstrating for him "the divine nature" of the Veil, which he had previously thought "might have been a print". It is also interesting the evaluation regarding the type of fabric - silk - which the religious perceived while holding the Veil and turning it in his hands, which reveals on the tactile plane, beyond that of the visible plane, the texture of the threads.

Padre Antonio realized the urgency of documenting the episode for times to come -- drawing up the "relatione" (report), which is described on the front cover of the document as "Relatione del Volto Santo - del miracolo fatto dal Volto S. in tempo della guardiana del P. Antonio da Poschiavo", (The Report on the Holy Face -- on the miracle performed by the Holy Face during the time of the guardianship of Padre Antonio from Poschiavo), in which the names appear of some of the persons who had reason to be present, among whom was Nicola Valignani, belonging to the noble Teatine family. Certainly there was also present the goldsmith De Laurentiis of Chieti, who was dedicated to the production of the new frame.

Padre Filippo from Tussio in his history of the Holy Face (1875) reports at length on the episode and also reports briefly on an event quite similar which happened in 1703, whose protagonist was Padre Bonifacio from Ascoli, of whom there is lacking at this time any trace among the documents of the archives of the Convent.

It is a fact that since 1714 the Capuchins have not opened the internal frame of the reliquary; there is no reason to do so today for the irreparable damage that the extremely fine fabric might suffer. After three centuries of adhering to the panes of glass, the fabric may have become one with the glass. At the same time, the presence of the panes of glass does not impose any barrier to scientific research through recourse to modern technologies, which it should be noted have been in recent years applied including the use of digital microscopes, laser machines, infrared photography, etc.

There is little known about the life of Padre Antonio, the Capuchin who came down to Abruzzo from the valley of Grigioni in Switzerland, leaving the splendid alpine scenery of the Bernina for the spirituality of the Majella. We know that his family name originally was Costa, and that after Manoppello he was the the father guardian of the Convent in Chieti, the city where he died on July 16, 1742 at the age of 71, after 48 years in religious life. In the necrology of the Order of Friars Minor of Abruzzo, published in 1948, the Capuchin, whose swiss origin is there confirmed, is remembered as having been "charitable and prudent".

Thanks to some research which was done in the parish registers by the present day Pastor of the parish of Poschiavo, Don Cleto Lanfranchi, we learn that the family name Costa is common in the area and that the parish registers show that among the children baptized in 1671 there were four males with the last name Costa: Jacobus, Laurentius, Franciscus and Antonius. Unfortunately we don't know the baptismal name that Padre Antonio left behind after having taken his religious vows. For, ever since the earthquake of April 6, 2009 it has become extremely difficult to access the archives of the Province of the Capuchins following the transfer of their records from L'Aquila to Giulianova.

In the long line of humble capuchin friars who have accompanied the extraordinary history of the Holy Face of Manoppello, Padre Antonio, the friar come from afar, should be remembered for his witness of profound human emotion -- which one finds in his "Relatione" -- and which we believe ought to be transcribed in its entirety in order to facilitate its reading -- in coming face to face with an event which still today should give us pause to reflect.

Transcription

Report on the silver frame of the Holy Face and how it was made

I, Fra Antonio from Poschiavo, being guardian of this place of Manoppello in the year 1714, with the permission of my superiors and of his Excellency Monsignor Archbishop of Chieti, a collection for the Sacred Reliquary of the Holy Face was taken up among the faithful who donated some rings of gold and silver because of the many and varied graces which they had received.

Through the efforts of the goldsmith Signore De Laurentiis from Chieti, they were turned into a silver frame which the goldsmith had arranged come from Naples, a frame which presently adorns the Sacred Reliquary of the Holy Face.

While the frame was being worked on, the Signore Camerlengo with some others of the governing council of Manoppello, said to me that the council would like to donate 60 ducats and as much as needed for the completion of the frame, also the members of the Preti family indicated that they would also each like to give a donation; while I was considering whether to accept these offerings, Signore Nicola Valignani also said that it would be for the greater propriety of the Holy Reliquary for the council also to provide and keep a special key for the door of the tabernacle where the Holy Face is kept. Having understood this, I refused all of their offerings, and thanked them for their good spirit and devotion.

The frame in question was made with the simple donations taken from the rings of gold and silver, with the addition of twenty ducats from the offerings of the convent and thus was spent the sum of sixty three ducats for the frame and for the working in silver by the honorable goldsmith.

After I had removed the Holy Face from the wooden frame where it previously had been between its two crystal glass panes, in order to put it in the silver frame, the figure disappeared, and there only remained the simple silken veil and after looking and looking again many times I was not ever able to see the figure, then I remained confused and beside myself, not knowing whatever I might do nor with whom I could consult.

But God then made me realize that this Sacred Image was not a human work but that it was truly divine, and to more strongly confirm me in the devotion to this Image as previously I had supposed that it might have been a print.

As soon as I put the said panes of crystal glass back together upon it(the Image)appeared as beautiful as it can be seen at the present time.

May all this be for His greater glory, and to confound me first of all I have set this down in the current year 1714.

Manoppello, 12 August 1714

Fra Antonio from Poschiavo
Guardian of the Capuchins

Frascati Conference Papers Now Available On-Line

2010-12-28T11:53:00.001-08:00

http://www.acheiropoietos.info/proceedings/proceedings.php. Thanks to Dr. Di Lazzaro the complete text of the Frascati Conference papers are available on-line. What a treasure trove of material! Papers from this scientific conference include ones on the Holy Face of Manoppello by Heinrich Pfeiffer, J.S. Jaworski, Roberto Falcinelli and Andreas Resch. Hopefully at the next such conference a scientist from the United States will be able to contribute a paper on the Holy Face of Manoppello, as a number have done at this conference in historic Frascati for the Shroud of Turin and the Tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Frascati Conference Papers Published

2010-12-16T20:13:00.002-08:00

The papers from the International Workshop on the Scientific Approach to the Acheiropoietos Images held in Frascati Italy in May of this year is now available from the ENEA italian national research institute which sponsored the conference

http://www.enea.it/produzione_scientifica/edizioni_tipo/EdizioniPagamento.html

Below are the details on the publication taken from the Shroud of Turin blog of Dan Porter who says of the publication:

"A quick glance at the contents (topics and the presenters) should convince every serious Shroud of Turin scholar that this is a must"

see www.shroudofturin.wordpress.com

Proceedings of the IWSAI 2010 International Workshop on the Scientific approach to the Acheiropoietos Images

Paolo Di Lazzaro
Chair / Editor

4 – 6 May 2010 Frascati, Italy

Organized by ENEA Italian National Agency for New Technologies,Energy and Sustainable Economic Development

Contents
vi Conference Committee
vii Foreword
ix Letter by B. Schwortz
x Verse

TURIN SHROUD IMAGE FORMATION

3 Sub-micrometer coloration depth of linens by vacuum ultraviolet radiation. (Invited paper)
— P. Di Lazzaro, D. Murra, A. Santoni, G. Baldacchini

11 Shroud-like experimental image formation during natural electrostatic discharges.
— G. de Liso

19 A scientific comparison between the Turin Shroud and the first handmade whole copy.
— T. Heimburger, G. Fanti

IMAGE PROCESSING

31 Sight and brain: an introduction to the visually misleading images.
— D. Murra, P. Di Lazzaro

35 Construction of a quantitative image of the Turin Shroud for details recognition.
— G. Fanti, C. Privitera

47 New image processing of the Turin Shroud scourge marks.
— B. Faccini, G. Fanti

55 ShroudScope, a web tool to analyze high-resolution photographs of the Shroud of Turin.
— M. Latendresse

THE TURIN SHROUD TEXTILE

63 Dislocations in plant fibers and in Turin Shroud fibers.
— L.G. Thygesen

67 List of evidences of the Turin Shroud.
— G. Fanti, J.A. Botella, F. Crosilla, F. Lattarulo, N. Svensson, R. Schneider, A. Whanger

ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY

79 Akeldama repudiation of Turin Shroud omits evidence from the Judean Desert.
— (Invited paper) D. Fulbright

87 Documenting the Shroud missing years. (Invited paper)
— D. Scavone

95 The “missing years” of the holy Shroud.
— A. Piana

103 Were sixth-century natural disasters factors in the transfer of relics from Palestine?
— D. Fulbright

111 Edessan sources for the legend of the holy Grail.
— D. Scavone

117 An unknown hideaway of the holy Shroud?
— A. Piana

123 Two unpublished letters of Secondo Pia about the 1898 Shroud photography.
— R. Falcinelli

129 Did Jesus give his Shroud to the servant of Peter?
— D. Fulbright

133 Why Jesus did not bring the patibulum but the whole cross.
— C.M. Glori

PHILOSOPHY

139 The promise (and threat) of the Shroud. (Invited paper)
— P.H. Wiebe

147 The brightest light of all.
— A. Silverman, N. Kerner

ICONOGRAPHY

155 The copies of the Shroud.
— E. Marinelli, M. Marinelli

161 Crux mensuralis of Grottaferrata and Shroud of Turin.
— G. Baldacchini, F. Baldacchini, L. Casarosa, G. Falcone

THE SUDARIUM OF OVIEDO

171 The Sudarium of Oviedo and the Shroud of Turin. A question of authenticity. (Invited paper)
— J.L. Fernandez Sanchez

FORENSIC MEDICINE

181 Medical and forensic aspects of the man depicted on the Shroud of Turin. (Invited paper)
— N. Svensson

187 A medical study of the surface anatomy of the image and a medical forensic evaluation of the
blood marks of the Shroud of Turin in relation to image formation.
— G. Lavoie

THE TILMA AND THE VEIL

197 The Tilma of Guadalupe. (Invited paper)
— J.C. Espriella Godinez

203 The concept of acheiropoietos, the icons of the likeness of Christ and the Veil of Manoppello.
— H. Pfeiffer

209 Properties of byssal threads and the chemical nature of colors of the Veil of Manoppello.
— J.S. Jaworski

217 The face on the Shroud and on the Veil of Manoppello.
— A. Resch

227 The face of Manoppello and the veil of Veronica: new studies.
— R. Falcinelli

TURIN SHROUD DATING

239 Can contamination be detected on the Shroud to explain its 1988 dating? (Keynote lecture)
— M. Antonacci

249 A robust statistical analysis of the 1988 Turin Shroud radiocarbon dating results.
— (Invited paper) G. Fanti, F. Crosilla, M. Riani, A.C. Atkinson

255 Production of radiocarbon by neutron radiation on linen.
— A.C. Lind, M. Antonacci, G. Fanti, D. Elmore, J.M. Guthrie

263 Two archaeometric methods for cellulosic textile finds using enzymatic test.
— L. Campanella

267 A critical review of the radiocarbon dating of the Shroud of Turin. ANOVA – a useful
method to evaluate sets of high precision AMS radiocarbon measurements.
— R. Van Haelst

Dr. Di Lazzaro, Organizer of Frascati Scientific Conference, Visits Shrine of the Holy Face

2010-12-15T06:51:00.000-08:00

by Antonio Bini

Dr. Paolo Di Lazzaro chief researcher at the Excimer Laser laboratory of the Italian national institute ENEA recently visited the Shrine of the Holy Face.

Di Lazzaro is well known for having conducted research by means of an impulse of ultraviolet light of just a few billionths of a second within a very restricted interval of the values of energy and density of power that has been able to color the surface of a linen cloth, with the same chromaticity as that of the image on the Shroud of Turin.

The results of the research, to which Professor Giulio Fanti, instructor at the University of Padua and expert on the shroud and the Holy Face also contributed, were presented in 2008 in the United States.

Dr. Di Lazzaro also organized last May, at the research center of ENEA in Frascati, an authoritative international scientific workshop on the images known as "acheropite": the Shroud of Turin, Tilma of Guadalupe, Holy Face of Manoppello. See www.acheiropoietos.info.

The scientist, who is shown in the photo above at the Shrine while in discussion with Sr. Blandina and with Dr. Francesca Esposito Bini of the Radiology Department of the General Hospital in Pescara, has affirmed that according to the research that has been conducted, the Holy Face presents characteristics which in themselves are unexplainable.

American Hearts in Manoppello part two

2010-12-10T14:34:00.000-08:00

Sr. Blandina kneeling in adoration, in all simplicity, before the Holy Face

Diane joyfully experiencing the Holy Face

David and Diane Fincher's Story of Their Pilgrimage to Manoppello continued

At first I thought, "the mouth looks funny". Then I applied my medical knowledge
to the image and realized that there is evidence of gross trauma and swelling
around the mouth. Those "wrinkles" are from the swelling around the mouth.
Oh, what he endured for us!

There is a wonderful exhibit comparing the early icons of Christ done by Sr. Blandina. Don't miss it. It is to the left of the main altar out in another building. Also, don't fail to go upstairs to see the Volto Santo items, including a painting of blessed Padre Domenico.

St. Padre Pio came to the sanctuary (by bilocation, as he was known to do) and asked the prayers of Padre Domenico, caretaker of VS at the time, on the last day of his life. Pio also is reported to have told one of his Capuchin brothers that the Holy Face/Volto Santo was the greatest miracle they possessed.

The image of Christ we were allowed to freely see (that the Emperor himself could only glimpse once a year, for a short time, on his knees, IF he had confessed his sins and received Holy Communion). (The byssus is see-through and cannot be painted on.)

We noted the marks of the crucifixion, now mostly healed. Some bruising, swelling (especially around the mouth and cheeks) and scars remains. The ears were not visible. This surprised me. But I should have known, that as a Torah observant Jew, He did not cut the edges of his beard, and so, of course his ears cannot be seen!
It's a perfect match to the Shroud of Turin (which captured his image in death), and is believed to be one of the linens from around his head at the time of the Resurrection. But this one captured his image after being made alive!

From Manoppello we went about an hour away to Lanciano, site of the Eucharistic miracle in about 700 A.D., and on to Loreto and a number of other holy sites. We have received wonderful graces in our lives throughout the entire trip.

Along the way, in the middle of no-where, we stopped at a little building with a bus stop sign and discovered it to be a wonderful little place of prayer. It's like nothing we know here in America! May our story inspire someone to do the same.

Zenit Has Article on Holy Face of Manoppello Inspired by the Publication of The Face of God

2010-12-10T10:51:00.000-08:00

Edward Pentin has published an article on the Holy Face which is a good summary of Paul Badde's book with a number of interesting quotes from the author, see the article at www.catholic.net/index.php?option=zenit&id=31200

Pentin's article originally appeared on the December 9 daily feed of Zenit, a Catholic news service, which I highly recommend Catholics should subscribe to. The subscription is free. www.zenit.org

American Hearts in Manoppello

2010-12-01T13:52:00.000-08:00

In October of this year David and Diane Fincher of Tennessee made a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello. I am so happy to be able to share with you the story of their journey, in installments, with their hope that others will also be inspired to make the pilgrimage to the Holy Face.

David and Diane's
Pilgrimage to Italy - October 23-31 2010

This was our 3rd attempt to embark to Europe. We were stopped once by an earthquake in nearby Aquila and the 2nd time by a distant volcanic eruption that sent clouds of ash into our flight path. The 3rd time there was a terrorism related travel warning, but that only assisted us in obtaining better "space-available" up-grade seats. Sleeping was priority in our minds since we would arrive at 7:45 AM Rome time (which would have been 3:45 AM east coast time). We were advised to skip dinner and take 2 Tylenol PMs as soon as the flight started and to sleep as long as possible. We slept quite nicely and this kept us going (until 4 PM when we took a short nap). We didn't have much "jet lag" this way. Diane had wanted to travel to the Abruzzi for several years after hearing about Mary's home in Loreto, in which she is believed to have grown up, and in which the angel announced Christ's arrival. Christ was believed to have lived there for some time himself. It had been transported from Nazareth, and now resided in Loreto, Italy near Ancona.
But even more, she wanted to see the image of Christ preserved in a small Capuchin church in Manoppello, near Chieti. For certainly more than 400 years, and possibly 500, this image of Christ on Byssus (fine linen derived from the extremely rare silk of sea mollusks) had rested in this church. There is good reason to believe that this is the ancient "sudarium" or "Veronica" , an image of Christ that had at one time been considered the greatest treasure of the ancient church, along with the Shroud of Turin. St. Peter's in Rome (Vatican) was literally designed around a main pillar that, with great security, would house this sacred image. It is believed to be an authentic picture of Christ. It matches the image of the Shroud of Turin perfectly when the 2 images are overlaid.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1UZ5BzSddA shows the match well.

Well, we saw all that, and so much more.
Our international experience started in Newark, NJ the day before our international flight. We were driven to church by a Haitian man named Marcel, to an area of Newark,NJ that surely must be named "little Portugal". The neighborhood had signs in Portuguese. The beautiful church, Our Lady of Fatima, was absolutely packed--- standing room only, with maybe 40+ standing in the rear.

The service was in English, but we could tell that for many this was, at best, a second language.
The young priest was a warm and wonderful teacher. The church had a beautiful light fixture that was a crown for our Lord, who ruled the universe, even while nailed to the cross.

After a good nights sleep, we headed for the airport… and that evening to Rome's Leonardo Da Vinci Airport! We arrived at 7:45 A.M.Rome time and picked up a little Fiat Punto (Diesel, 5-speed) and headed out into Rome's Monday morning rush hour traffic.

All I can say is WHOA! Our walk with God was strengthened by praying constantly as we drove. It was magnitudes crazier than anything I'd ever driven in. Well, they probably are all relatives of Mario Andretti, one way or another.  I had been warned and was mentally prepared and we were equipped with a wonderful GPS that told us where to turn and even pronounced the names of streets and towns for us. It also told us speed limits and our current speed, though I think the drivers around us interpret the speed signs in MPH and not KPH. They were flying!

We headed out following A25 toward Pescara, the larger city near medium sized Chieti and tiny Manoppello.
Note: Don't confuse Mannoppello with nearby LettoManoppello and Manoppello Scalo. (To be continued)

Jay Fadden interviews Paul Badde on Catholictv.com's This is the Day

2010-12-01T13:33:00.000-08:00

Face of God interview on CatholicTV

Great interview with Jay Fadden the co-host of "This is the Day" program on CatholicTV.com. Paul speaks about the Shroud of Turin and the Holy Face of Manoppello as sources we can rely on for our faith in Jesus. Jay and Fr. Robert Reed were obviously greatly moved by what Paul told them. The entire program is well worth watching. Right after Paul's interview there is a meditative report by a young student in Boston on the martyrdom of the Iraqi Catholics several weeks ago in the Cathedral in Baghdad.

Thanksgiving Day in America

2010-11-25T05:41:00.000-08:00

We thank you O Lord for the vision of your glory, a glimpse that we have even in this life of the eternal glory which is to come. We thank you Father for sending Jesus in the flesh, that he might become our very life. We thank you Holy Spirit for revealing the face of Jesus anew to the people of our time, the face of many faces, the face for every face. We thank you Jesus for humbly waiting, quicken our minds to know you! We thank you Mary, Mother of the Holy Face, whom you knew always and now as Son and God.

in memory and gratitude for the life of my father, William Francis Frost, born at home in San Francisco February 15, 1923, died at home in San Francisco November 12, 2010

Interview with Paul Badde on New York Catholic Television

2010-11-10T18:06:00.000-08:00

Paul Badde meeting Pope Benedict XVI in Manoppello on Sept. 1, 2006

An interview with Paul Badde regarding the Holy Face of Manoppello conducted on November 9 by Francesca Maxime the co-host of the Currents Catholic newsmagazine is available on the internet. This is part of Badde's booktour in the USA to promote his book which has just become available The Face of God, the Rediscovery of the True Face of Jesus on the Holy Face of Manoppello.

click on the link below to see the interview

The Face of God – 11/9/10 : Currents

A Review of Paul Badde's Book - The first book on the Holy Face of Manoppello for the english speaking world

2010-11-07T06:14:00.000-08:00

In 1978 the Servant of God Father Domenico da Cese, Capuchin Friar and friend of Padre Pio, Guardian of the Shrine of the Holy Face in a small town named Manoppello about 150 miles east of Rome, made a decision. A Eucharistic Congress for all of Italy was scheduled to be held in the city of Pescara, about 30 miles from Manoppello, and Fr. da Cese wanted those attending to know about a mysterious holy image of Jesus. So he had posterboards made to hold large photographs of the amazing image on both sides of a gossamer thin transparent cloth which had been venerated for more than four centuries in his secluded hill top town between the famous glacier Gran Sasso and the Adriatic Sea.

His decision set in motion a process which brought people from around the world, and ultimately even Pope Benedict XVI himself, to Manoppello to contemplate the Holy Face of Jesus. But the first person from outside Italy to take the image to heart was a Trappistine Nun, Sr. Blandina Paschalis Schloemer, belonging to a cloistered convent in Dahlem, Germany. She found by patient study that this image of Jesus was a perfect match for the face on the Holy Shroud and sent the results of her research to professors at the Jesuit Gregorian University in Rome. One of these professors, Father Heinrich Pfeiffer, specialist in the history of Christian art, after making a visit to Manoppello, immediately had the intuition that the image was nothing less than the Veil of Veronica (true image) which for centuries had been venerated at St. Peter’s Basilica drawing great numbers of pilgrims to Rome from all over Europe.

Twenty five years after the Eucharistic Congress in Pescara, Paul Badde, the Rome and Vatican correspondent for Die Welt, one of Germany’s leading newspapers, was on his way to San Giovanni Rotondo to report on the new Basilica being built in memory of St. Padre Pio. Having spoken briefly several years before with Fr. Pfeiffer who had told him of the Holy Face of Manoppello, Badde decided to make a brief visit to the shrine in Manoppello to see it for himself. His book, The Face of God, the rediscovery of the true face of Jesus on the Holy Face of Manoppello, was conceived at that moment. The story of his growing fascination and love for this image as well as for the Capuchin friars and for the people of Manoppello who have for centuries been the guardians of this holy image has driven him to make it known throughout Europe and now in America and the English speaking world.

Part mystery, part history, part theology, part psychology, following in the tradition of Catholic pilgrimage authors such as Dante and Chaucer, and utilizing all the means available to a respected and competent journalist, Badde draws us along on his journey to meet the people who lead him to deeper knowledge of this image which had been nearly forgotten for centuries.

Badde’s wife Ellen plays a crucial role as helper and advisor, at critical moments, as to where he should go or with whom he should speak. The dialogues between Badde and Sr. Blandina, with whom Paul and Ellen share a meal of shellfish, lead to the discovery that the fabric of the Holy Face is marine byssus, the most precious material of the ancient world, a “silk from the sea” made from the hairs of a Mediterranean sea mollusk. His discussions with Fr. Pfeiffer shed light on how the image was taken from the Vatican during the construction of the “new” St. Peter’s Basilica in the 16th and 17th centuries and why the Pope and Vatican officials at that time contrived to cover up this loss by substituting a poor copy. This sad copy continues to be displayed once a year from the high balcony of the massive pillar at St. Peter’s above the huge statue of St. Veronica holding the veil. Badde was the first journalist allowed to enter the chamber in which the copy is stored and verified for the world that nothing at all of an image can be seen on the cloth. What is more Fr. Pfeiffer convincingly leads Badde to the earthshaking conclusion that the Holy Face in Manoppello is the very cloth that is spoken of in John 20:8 – the face cloth that was set apart from the other burial cloths in the tomb of Jesus on that Easter morning when Peter and John “saw and believed”. From the burial cloths, witnesses to the life, death and resurrection, the early church drew faith, hope and charity. These wrappings, with their miraculous images now in Turin and Manoppello, became in the first centuries of the Church the original models for all the icons of Jesus.

What can be seen all day, every day, in a glass enclosed case just above the tabernacle in the elegantly simple little Church in Manoppello, is an image of Jesus which appears and disappears depending on the light. During Mass or at other times of the day one can contemplate an image of Jesus unlike any other. His expressions change before one’s eyes. His gaze seems to be that of living person, almost one who is speaking. A person who has suffered and still bears the marks of that suffering but who loves and seeks to be loved. One can climb the stairs behind the altar and see Jesus face to face, eye to eye, and because of the unique nature of the fabric, see yourself in the image. As Dante was able to write in the finale of his Divine Comedy “deep within, painted in a shade of the same color, Appeared to me our likeness – And through this I discovered my own face.”

On September 1, 2006 Pope Benedict XVI made a visit to the Shrine in Manoppello and stayed for a long time in contemplation before the Holy Face. He urged us all to seek the face of Christ. One year later he composed a special prayer to the Holy Face and just a few days ago he accepted the keys to the town of Manoppello, which Badde also received earlier this year. There will be more to this story.

Ignatius Press has produced a well made and beautifully printed edition of Badde’s book with a number of fine color photos of the Holy Face. This is fitting for Badde’s book is no less than a treasure for the ages, a landmark and compass of Catholic culture for the twenty first century.

Pope Benedict Receives Key to Manoppello Today

2010-11-03T16:03:00.000-07:00

During the Wednesday audience today at the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican Pope Benedict received the key to the commune of Manoppello from the Mayor and the President of the City Council of Manoppello. The Pope said that he was "honored to receive the key to Manoppello" and added that "now I can enter the city of the Holy Face without any obstacles". In reply to the Mayor who asked him when this might be possible, the Pope replied "we'll see". Thanks to Paul Badde for the photo of the happy day which shows Pope Benedict, along with the Mayor and Archbishop Forte, the ordinary of the Archdiocese of Chieti-Vasto of which Manoppello is a part.

Antonio Bini Reviews Paul Badde's Book

2010-10-28T12:57:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to Antonio Bini for allowing me to post my translation of his review of Paul Badde's book, The Face of God, which has already appeared in a number of newspapers and websites, not only in Italy but also around the world. Antonio is an editor of the official journal Il Volto Santo published by the Capuchin Friars of the Shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello

Veronica Rediscovered

The fascinating story of the authentic Face of Jesus told in the book “The Face of God” by Paul Badde is hitting the shelves of American bookstores.

by Antonio Bini

After five centuries of silence, during which the most important relic of the Christian world – the Veronica (true icon) – remained shrouded in mystery and almost forgotten, there emerges today the seemingly well founded hypothesis that this relic is to be identified as the Face kept in a small Italian shrine, in Manoppello, a locality set at the foot of the mountainous chain of the Maiella.
“The Face of God: the rediscovery of the true face of Jesus” by the German journalist and author Paul Badde, which is about to appear in the USA in an edition published by Ignatius Press, San Francisco, recounts the tortured and complex story of this extraordinary image.
Badde’s research is so totally convincing as to have influenced the decision of Benedict XVI to personally visit the shrine of Manoppello on September 1, 2006. The images from that visit – which was opposed right up to the last minute by high Vatican officials and then simply classified as a “personal pilgrimage” – show the Pope profoundly moved, even to the point of tears, before the Holy Face.
As Badde explains – the Vatican has never admitted the disappearance of the Veronica from St. Peter’s, an event which probably happened during the time of the construction of the new Basilica (1506 to early 1600’s) or during the Sack of Rome (1527). Badde himself was the one to discover that the present day image kept in Rome (of which little or nothing can be seen) can not be the Veronica. He accomplished this by comparing the Vatican image’s measurements to the measurements of the ancient reliquary of the Veronica, with its shattered glass panes, now on public display in the Treasury of St. Peter’s.
Even prior to the institution of the first Jubilee year proclaimed by Boniface VIII in 1300, large numbers of pilgrims poured into Rome to venerate the Veronica which came to be put on display on many occasions, even in ordinary years.
Let’s take a look at some of the characteristics of the Face of Manoppello: the image is present on an extremely fine material, with threads of the thickness of little more than a tenth of a millimeter and a space between one thread and another of two tenths of a millimeter. The image, which is transparent and visible from both sides, disappears in backlight and presents a masculine face with long hair and beard divided into two bands. On the forehead is seen a tuft of hair. The expression is sweet and suffering at the same time. The gaze, which is intense and profound, appears to be that of a living person.
His encounter with this gaze made a great impression on the Pope, as can be deduced by the granting of the title of Basilica to the humble church just a few days after his visit and by the special prayer which he himself composed on the first anniversary of his pilgrimage to Manoppello.
It is to Badde’s intuition that we owe the hypothesis of the nature of the material, marine byssus. He is supported in this intuition by the last weaver of this very ancient “sea silk” coming from the hairs of the mollusk called “Pinna nobilis”. The Gospels speak of this byssus a number of times to underscore the precious workmanship of this fabric.
Badde describes the incredulity of the weaver Chiara Vigo, who lives on the island of Sant’Antioco in Sardinia, when she saw the Holy Face and recognized thereupon the ancient fabric of marine byssus which can be dyed but upon which one can not paint.
The circumstances are uncertain regarding the arrival of the Holy Face in Manoppello where tradition holds that it arrived “by the hand of an angel” in the year 1506, although the first written document – the Historical Report of Father Donato da Bomba attests that the presence of the image in Abruzzo dates from 1640.
Until just a few years ago the knowledge and the cult of the Holy Face had been for centuries limited only to the devotion of the local population which certainly didn’t wait for the result of historical studies and scientific research to believe in the authenticity of this extraordinary image, cared for with humilty by the Capuchin friars – www.voltosanto.it.
The studies of Professor Heinrich Pfeiffer, one of the greatest experts on Christian art, had attracted the interest of Paul Badde, as well as the research of the German iconographer Sr. Blandina Paschalis Schlomer, who demonstrated the affinity of the Holy Face with the man of the Shroud.
It must be kept in mind that the case which holds the image has not been opened ever since the time that Father Antonio da Poschiavo (1713), then guardian of the Shrine, saw the image of the Holy Face disappear when it was opened and then suddenly reappear only after he closed the glass panes of the reliquary which he had intended to replace. However thanks to the latest types of technology this does not constitute any limitation on scientific research which in fact has been carried out using various techniques (laser, infrared, etc.) and confirms the inexplicable nature of the image.
Some of these studies were set forth this last May in an international scientific workshop – promoted by the Italian energy reserach institute ENEA -- which discussed the most important acheropite images (Shroud, Tilma of Guadalupe, Holy Face of Manoppello) and was attended by over 40 scientists and researchers coming from 13 countries, including a large American delegation. cfr. www.acheiropoietos.info –
Badde, historian and journalist in Rome (and previously in Jerusalem) for the important German newspaper Die Welt, remembers that while on his way to San Giovanni Rotondo for the inauguration of the new church by Renzo Piano, he had been drawn by curiosity to make a brief stop at Manoppello, of which he had heard some vague talk.
That visit would have profound conseguences for his life.
I remember having met him at the friary when he asked the then father guardian – Fr. Germano – to be able to stay for ten days as a guest in one of the monastic cells desiring to immerse himself for a brief period in the silent spirituality and simplicity of the Shrine, meditating on that image and beginning to gather documents and testimonies useful for his book. A period of extreme concentration, during which he limited himself to drink only water with a little bit of honey.
The result of a complex and passionate effort, this book, often called “a historical whodunit” originally published in Germany and then becoming a bestseller in Poland, and later still in Italy, France and Holland, is attracting the interest of so many readers because of its fast paced narrative as well as for its intricate plot, between history and spirituality, following the tracks of a bimillenial quest for the true image of Christ.
For more information consult the interesting blog of Raymond Frost which is entirely dedicated to the Holy Face www.holyfaceofmanoppello.blogspot.com.

Holy Facebook: www.faceofGodbook.com

2010-10-27T14:55:00.001-07:00

See this great website dedicated to the Ignatius Press edition of Paul Badde's book on the Holy Face of Manoppello which has a number of great videos, the schedule for Paul's upcoming book tour of the USA starting on November 9 in New York City, as well as the first postings of the Facebook page dedicated to the Holy Face. www.faceofgodbook.com

A Door to Christ Opens

2010-10-26T16:29:00.000-07:00

The Face of God, the Rediscovery of the True Face of Jesus, the english translation published by Ignatius Press, San Francisco, of Paul Badde's groundbreaking work on the Holy Face of Manoppello is about to hit the shelves of bookstores, scheduled for release on October 30. In the plan of God this date falls midway between the ceremony in Manoppello of October 24 in which the civic authorities there conferred the key to the city upon Pope Benedict XVI and the actual reception of the key by the pontiff during the Wednesday audience on November 3. The book can be ordered at www.faceofGodbook.com. A new era of knowledge of the true face of Jesus Christ is beginning.

October 24 Civic Ceremony to confer on Pope Benedict XVI the Key to the Commune of Manoppello

2010-10-23T12:53:00.001-07:00

Another key is ready to be handed over to the apostolic keeper of the keys. This time it is to be granted by the civic officials of the Commune of Manoppello where the Holy Face of Christ is always on display. The inspiration for the design of the key is taken from the great work of art by Perugino in the Sistine Chapel which shows Christ handing over the keys to Peter. The ceremony is to take place Sunday October 24 at the Church of San Nicola in Manoppello where tradition holds that the Holy Face was given to a citizen of Manoppello in 1506 by an angelic personage. The Vatican Band will be part of the ceremonies which will continue at the Basilica of the Holy Face with the unveiling of a monument in stone to commemorate the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the Shrine of the Holy Face on September 1, 2006. Also during the ceremonies the piazza adjoining the Basilica will be named Piazza Papa Benedetto XVI in his honor. The key will be received by Pope Benedict himself on November 3 at the Wednesday audience.

Pope Benedict XVI to Receive Keys to the Commune of Manoppello

2010-08-31T17:44:00.000-07:00

Pope Benedict XVI Arriving in Manoppello on September 1, 2006

Pope Benedict XVI speaking in the shrine of the Holy Face on Sept. 1, 2006 with the Holy Face just behind him and the local Archbishop Bruno Forte of the Archdiocese of Chieti-Vasto at his side

Pope Benedict XVI will receive the keys to the Commune of Manoppello in a ceremony to be conducted during a Wednesday audience at St. Peter's Square. This special honor which will link the Pope more closely to the city of the Holy Face was proposed by Paul Badde during the ceremony in May at which he himself received the keys to the Commune of Manoppello. As well, the space next to the shrine of the Holy Face where Pope Benedict's helicopter touched down on the day of his visit to Manoppello on Sept. 1, 2006 will be renamed Pope Benedict XVI Plaza. The civic officials of Manoppello led by Mayor Gennaro Matarazzo and the President of the Communal Council Gaetano Villani are organizing a celebration to take place on a Sunday in September or October to mark these happy events in the history of Manoppello.

Photos from Feast of Transfiguration

2010-08-20T16:11:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Paul Badde for the two photos of the Holy Face posted above which he took during the feast of the Transfiguration several weeks ago in Manoppello.

May the Face of Jesus Shine in the Church Throughout the World

2010-08-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

From the preface of the Feast of the Transfiguration

"He revealed his glory to the disciples to strengthen them for the scandal of the cross. His glory shone from a body like our own, to show that the Church, which is the body of Christ, would one day share his glory".

The feast of the Transfiguration each year is a special day of celebration and prayer in Manoppello and at the Shrine of the Holy Face.

We Thank You O Lord For the Vision of Your Mercy and for the Blessings of Your Bounty

2010-07-17T11:26:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Dorothea Link who took this photo of the Holy Face of Manoppello for allowing me to post it on my blog, and to Paul Badde for pointing it to me. It is the most wonderful I have seen and shows the great generosity of Jesus in His loving plan, the wonders he has performed now and in time to come, for each and every one. I can only think of the marvelous psalm of David's thanksgiving as I sit "at the ends of the earth" where the farthest east and west seem to meet.

Psalm 65

"To you we owe our hymn of praise, O God, in Zion; To you must vows be fulfilled, you who hear prayers. To you all flesh must come because of wicked deeds. We are overcome by our sins; it is you who pardon them. Happy is the man you choose, and bring to dwell in your courts. May we be filled with the good things of your house, the holy things of your temple!

With awe-inspiring deeds of justice you answer us, O God our savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the distant seas. You set the mountains in place by your power, you who are girt with might; You still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves and the tumult of the peoples. And the dwellers at the earth's ends are in fear at your marvels; the farthest east and west you make resound with joy.

You have visited the land and watered it; greatly have you enriched it. God's watercourses are filled; you have prepared the grain. Thus have you prepared the land, drenching its furrows, breaking up its clods. Softening it with showers, blessing its yield. You have crowned the year with your bounty, and your paths overflow with a rich harvest; The untilled meadows overflow with it, and rejoicing clothes the hills. The fields are garmented with flocks and the valleys blanketed with grain. They shout and sing for joy."

A Window of the Holy Face from Stiepel Cistercian Monastery in Germany

2010-07-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Kerstin for allowing me to show this photograph of a stained glass window featuring the Holy Face of Manoppello in the Cistercian Monastery in Stiepel, Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Videos of Holy Face of Manoppello

2010-07-12T21:27:00.000-07:00

I have always thought of this blog as a resource of english language sources for the Holy Face of Manoppello. However from time to time I have included other language sources. At this time I feel the need to include several videos produced in Italian which are quite helpful for their visualization of the pilgrimage experience to the Shrine of the Holy Face. The first is a video produced by a pilgrim last year which gives a kind of "you are there" footage of the shrine. It includes some popular music which can be muted if desired. The second is a program produced in May of this year by the Italian national television network RAI2 on the occasion of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the Holy Shroud of Turin. It is a segment of the weekly program Sulla Via di Damasco (On the Road to Damascus) hosted by Monsignor Giovanni D'Ercole which has beautiful footage of the interior of the Shrine and of the Holy Face itself as well as of the Holy Shroud of Turin. Monsignor D'Ercole interviews Fr. Carmine Cucinelli, O.F.M., Cap, rector of the shrine of the Holy Face and also Saverio Gaeta, editor of the Italian national Catholic weekly magazine Famiglia Cristiana and author of several books on the Holy Face. I have set up a list of videos which are now included on the home page of this blog which includes these videos as well as those of Fr. Josef Laufer and also a video of the annual festival of the Holy Face from 2003.

YouTube - Volto Santo Manoppello

http://www.rai.tv/dl/RaiTV/programmi/media/ContentItem-c9cf8317-57ff-40c5-959d-81a5c0e842a4.html?p=0

He is the Head of the Body, the Church

2010-07-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

"In my justice I shall see your face, O Lord" psalm 16:15

"Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God" Colossians 1:15

Fr. Josef Laufer of Germany, in collaboration with Michael Sauer, has produced another beautiful video on the Holy Face of Manoppello, entitled The Original Gospel: the Holy Face and the Shroud of Turin. It is now available in English on Youtube. I highly recommend it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl6KbIAD2WE

America: Lift up Your Head and See the Shining Face of God

2010-07-04T11:33:00.000-07:00

To commemorate and celebrate:

July 4, 2010, the 234th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America with the publication of the Declaration of Independence Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

June 29, 2010 the 234th anniversary of the founding of Mission San Francisco de Asis, the first settlement of the city of San Francisco

"O beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years
thine alabaster cities gleam undimmed by human tears
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee.
And crown thy good with brotherhood
from sea to shining sea!"

"Today, therefore, my final prayer is this : that God will bless America, so that she may increasingly become—and truly be—and long remain—'One Nation, under God, indivisible. With liberty and justice for all'.

God bless America! God bless America!"

Pope John Paul II, Washington, D.C. October 7, 1979

The Conclusions of Prof. Jaworski Regarding Marine Byssus (Sea Silk) and the Veil of Manoppello

2010-07-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

The Veil of Manoppello showing both the image and transparency

Prof. Jan S. Jaworski delivering the Paper

One of the more important papers, in my opinion, given at the Frascati Conference on the Scientific Approach to the images of Turin, Manoppello and Guadalupe held in May 2010 was the paper given by Prof. Jan S. Jaworski of the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Warsaw in Poland. Here are the final points stated by Prof. Jaworski in his paper entitled "Properties of byssal thread and the chemical nature of colors of the Veil of Manoppello".

The brown color of byssus threads originates from the pheomelanin pigments; its marker (BTCA) was detected by HPLC after degradation.

Degradation of byssus threads (chemically by some oxidants in proper media) results in changes of the brown color: bleaching to pale straw-color, to colorless and to reddish.

It looks highly probable that the image on the Veil of Manoppello (at least in most parts) was formed by modifications of pheomelanin, natural pigment of byssus.

Thus, there is an additional similarity with the image on the Shroud of Turin, which was "created" by oxidation dehydration processes of cellulose of the linen.

Byssus properties are responsible for some unique properties of the Veil of Manoppello, like the transparency after strong illumination.

Future detailed investigations on byssus properties (including color changes) are desirable and they are possible even if the examination of the original Veil of Manoppello will not be available.

An Interview with Sr. Blandina Paschalis Schloemer

2010-07-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

Sr. Blandina speaking to German pilgrims in November 2007 at the exhibit "Penuel" in the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello

this interview is from the official magazine of the Shrine of the Holy Face
Il Volto Santo di Manoppello December 2009 (my translation)

by Wlodzimierz Redzioch

When did you begin to become interested in the Veil of Manoppello?

In 1979 I was shown a magazine article on the image of the Holy Face of Manoppello, but I did not even want to look at it, because the only authentic and true image of Jesus for me was the Holy Shroud (I had read all the German language books about it). But the look on the Face of Manoppello moved me and finally, out of obedience to Jesus, I decided to study this image which had something to do with the Lord. I read this article which was accompanied by photographs. The article stated that the image of the Face of Manoppello had the same dimensions as the face on the Shroud. This seemed to me to be untrue and, out of stubbornness, I wanted to demonstrate the opposite. So I began to study the topic which entered rather easily into my new activity of painting icons. Strangely, everything which I discovered was in favor of the Veil. I continued to compare the two images and little by little I came to find that they had to have come from the same Person: they both showed the same symmetry, the Shroud as well as the Veil of Manoppello. Then I began to believe that the Veil of Manoppello represented the authentic and living Face of Jesus. In all these years I didn't do anything other than compare the two images by means of new photographs or fotocopies. In 1991 however I was able to make the first slides of natural size and, after placing one on top of the other there appeared a perfect match of the wounds and other particulars: to sum up, the images were derived from the very same source.

My difficulty and that of so many other people consists in the fact that in the image of the Shroud one cannot recognize the image of Manoppello. Instead, in the image of Manoppello, every once in a while, in the dark for example, it is possible to make out the face of the Shroud. I think that this difference depends on the fact that on the Shroud we have the image of Jesus who has died, instead on the Veil of Manoppello there is shown the living face of the risen Lord.

Isn't it a risky thing to say to a man of our times that there exists a true image of God?

Yes! But it is necessary to say it. Above all one must say that the Holy Face is the proof, or rather the document of the resurrection of Jesus (as the Shroud is the documentation of His passion and death on the cross). The Holy Face of Manoppello, for me, cannot be the Face of Jesus before His death, because, being without a doubt the face of a living person, it shows with precision the signs of the death he underwent.

Did you share your research with other experts?

I sought out contacts with the specialists: in 1984 I sent the results of my research to professor Werner Bulst and to Father Heinrich Pfeiffer, with whom I was in close contact for many years (for entire days we spoke of the Holy Face). Professor Andreas Resch, after having read Fr. Pfeiffer's first book on the Veil of Manoppello, invited him to speak at a congress on paranormalogy. Afterwards he published articles by Father Pfeiffer and also my work. To sum up a group was formed of persons who studied the Holy Face, made up also of persons who I did not know personally.

What is your role here at Manoppello?

I am a Trappistine nun, I have asked to be able to live as a hermit in Manoppello in order to continue my studies on the Holy Face. I decided to live here because Jesus present on the Veil seemed to me to be abandoned, that there was not a community who loved Him and adored Him. It's true that in Manoppello there was and there is a community of Capuchin friars and that many of the inhabitants feel connected to this Image and love it, but there is not a community dedicated to the continuous contemplation.

What does it mean for you to stay in Manoppello and contemplate the Holy Face?

I would like to clarify something: in the beginning it was not my intention to seek out the Holy Face and to remain in Manoppello. I think that Jesus has made use of my life and that of my person to realize a divine plan, something which was completely obscure for me and of which I was a very modest instrument. I think that God Himself had wanted to reveal His Son in a new way to us His poor children of the twenty first century, and had sought out and found men and women who, knowingly or unknowingly, would collaborate in this work. For my part I can only thank those who have helped me along this path with their higher spiritual vision and their support, and also those who have sustained me with their prayer.

Turning to your question: the Holy Face is something unique. The Eucharist can be celebrated in every part of the world - for this I did not have to leave my monastery in Germany: Jesus is present in the Eucharist everywhere. However in the Veil of Manoppello He does something more: He shows Himself.

The first commandment of the believer is to love God. Love contemplates and adores. And here I am able to do it. It's true, one can always contemplate and adore in the Spirit. But God incarnate has an individual and unique Face and this Face I can only contemplate at Manoppello.

I would like for there to be formed a circle of persons to adore the human Face of God, to experience here the presence of Jesus Christ and to sing His praise.

I am so happy that now there are very many pilgrims coming here from all over the world. Recently there was also one of the faithful from Russia who came here to Manoppello and who purchased three images of the Holy Face, made in glass: one of these images, I have heard, will be given to the patriarch of Moscow. For me this is one of so many signs.

Sister Blandina Paschalis Schloemer was born on March 6 1943 in Karisbad-Aich (Germany). She entered the Missionary Sisters of the Most Precious Blood in 1962. In February of 1965 she made her first study of the Shroud. She specialized in the painting of mosaics. In 1966 she studied pharmacy in the Universities of Wurzburg and Bonn and in 1973 transferred to the order of the Trappistines. In 1976 she began the study of icons also in France. At the beginning of the 1980's she came to know about the Holy Face of Manoppello. In 1984 she contacted professor Werner Bulst and Father Heinrich Pfeiffer, experts on the Holy Shroud. In this period she began her study of comparing the Shroud and the Face, obtaining in 1991 the first "superimposition" of the two images of Jesus: the image of the Shroud and the image of the veil of Manoppello. In 1998 at the conference on the "Face of Faces" held at Rome she exhibited the 27 panels which demonstrated the full convergence of the two images. These panels now form the Exhibit "Penuel" at the shrine of Manoppello.

Listing of Articles Connected to the Frascati Workshop on Images "Not Made by Human Hands"

2010-06-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

The website dedicated to the ENEA Workshop on the Scientific Approach to the Acheiropoitos images, those "not made by human hands" has quite a listing of articles on the workshop including a number of the actual presentations. See http://www.acheiropoietos.info/media.html there is a summary in Italian of the conference and links to several of the papers in english, including the one given by Prof. Jaworski on the properties of byssal fibers.

Mary's Weaving

2010-06-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

"Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary" Psalm 63

"They shall look upon him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only son, and they shall grieve over him as one grieves over a firstborn...
On that day there shall be open to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a fountain to purify from sin and uncleanness." Zechariah 12

They accompanied her also to the cross,
the poor who made their living not easily.

Once they learned that generations had been
Starved to pay the upkeep it was to her they turned,
And they were not found wanting.

For the weaving of her heart
Was also shown in her hands.

Rector of Capuchin Shrine of Holy Face of Manoppello interviewed by Polish Catholic Weekly

2010-06-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

Father Carmine Cucinelli, OFMCap.

What follows is an interesting discussion with Fr. Carmine about the present situation of the growing interest in the Holy Face of Manoppello. It is taken from the Polish Catholic Weekly from Czetochowa. I discovered it on the english edition of their website http://sunday.niedziela.pl/artykul.php?dz=swiat&id_art=00145

The Shrine in Manoppello

Wlodzimierz Redzioch talks to Fr Carmine Cucinelli, OFMCap, Rector of the Shrine in Manoppello.

For centuries it has been known and visited mainly by local believers. The world learnt about the relic of the Holy Countenance of Christ in 2006 thanks to the unexpected visit of Benedict XVI in this tiny Italian place, located between the mountains of Abruzzi and the Adriatic coast. On the occasion of the papal visit I also arrived in Manopello for the first time. Then I met people who contributed most to ‘promote’ this unique relic to the public opinion: Paul Badde, Sr. Blandina Paschalis Schlömer and Fr Carmine Cucinelli, Rector of the local shrine – I wrote about it in ‘Niedziela’ (no 36, 2006). I returned to Manoppello after several years to see the changes after the papal visit to the shrine and to meet Fr Carmine and Sr. Blandina again.

Wlodzimierz Redzioch: – In what way has the life of your Capuchin community and the activities of the shrine changed after the visit of the Holy Father?

Fr. Carmine Cucinelli, OFMCap: – The visit of Benedict XVI caused our shrine to become famous in Italy and all over the world. The Italians themselves were astonished not to have known the relic of the Holy Countenance before. The papal visit made pilgrims from Italy and also from distant countries, even from America and the Philippines, come to Manopello. Within one year ca. 600,000 believers came to our shrine. Besides, we began receiving many letters with requests for postcards and pictures. That’s why we decided to translate the information about the shrine and the relic of the Holy Countenance into 10 languages. The next step was to organise a web page in four languages (www.voltosanto.it) where we put the news about our activities and initiatives as well as results of the latest research of the Veil. We also publish the periodical ‘Holy Countenance from Manopello.’
The publication of three books about the Veil from Manopello in Germany (their authors being the journalist Paul Badde, Sr. Blandina and Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, a Jesuit), made the Germans be interested in our shrine. One of the most meaningful phenomena was Polish pilgrims – almost every day a coach with Polish believers comes here (sometimes even several coaches). In Poland seven books concerning Manopello have already been published, which testifies about the great interest of the Polish people in our shrine.

– Has any modern research concerning the Veil, which has been under your custody for over 300 years, been conducted? –

Yes, it has. We decided to conduct various research but without ‘touching’ the Veil itself. The scientists from the University of L’Aquila prepared a photographic documentation, using infra-red radiation. We are waiting for the results of the research. The Veil was analysed with a laser. It is the Ramana spectroscopy, which enables to define through a diagram the composition of the examined material. Two such examinations have been made and the results were the same – in all analysed points the protein of byssus-fibre, i.e. ‘marine silk’ was discovered. Our shrine was also visited by the Polish photographer Zbigniew Treppa, the director of the Department of the Semiotics of Picture and Audiovisual Techniques from the University of Gdansk, who wants to prove through photography that the Veil from Manopello is not a painting.

– Has the research you spoke about confirmed that the Veil is not a painting?

– Yes, it has because no traces of minerals or other substance except the single protein have been found. And we are almost 100 % sure that it was the protein of the byssus-fibre. I would like to mention another examination. A scientist from the Italian National Research Centre took tri-dimensional photos to determine the thickness of the cloth and its layers. We are waiting for the results of these experiments and they can be interesting.

– Do you consider opening the reliquary in which the Veil is kept so that the cloth can be directly examined? –

So far we have not decided to do that since there is a risk to damage the Veil.

– Who takes decisions concerning the Veil from Manoppello: the Capuchins, i.e. the custodians of the relic, or the local bishop (of Chieti) or perhaps the Holy See?

– We are the custodians of the shrine and that’s why the main responsibility falls on our provincial. But when an important decision must be taken it is taken collegially. It is the result of collaboration with the local bishop, the provincial and the rector of the shrine.

– How has the wave of pilgrims who come to Manoppello from all over the world changed the pastoral activities of this shrine that used to be a local one?

– During his pilgrimage Benedict XVI elevated our shrine to the status of basilica. This title brings the privilege of plenary indulgence, which can be granted on certain days: feasts connected with the Holy Countenance (third Sunday of May and 6 August), papal feasts (22 February – St Peter’s Cathedral and 29 June – St Peter’s and Paul’s), 19 April (the electoral day of the present Pope), 29 September (consecration of the church) and 22 September (elevation of the shrine to a basilica); one day a year is appointed by the bishop and every pilgrim can also choose one day of indulgence (it means that every pilgrim receives plenary indulgence once a year outside of the above-mentioned dates). Our pastoral work focuses on the spiritual meaning of the Holy Countenance in our lives. That means that two fathers out of 6 priests that form our community are present in the church all the time to receive pilgrims. Our confessors have more work because of the increased number of pilgrims. The problem is that all our fathers are Italians. Some know Spanish and English a little but we need someone that would know other languages, especially Polish.

– I hope that the Capuchin superiors will respond to your appeal and send you a Polish priest so that he could serve Polish pilgrims in the place where we can contemplate the real Holy Face of Christ. "Niedziela" 10/2010

Ignatius Press Announces October 2010 Release Date for Book by Paul Badde on the Holy Face of Manoppello

2010-05-24T19:15:00.000-07:00

The important Catholic publishing house Ignatius Press has announced an October 2010 release date for Paul Badde's book entitled The Face of God, the Rediscovery of the True Face of God. Here is Ignatius Press' description of the book.

Best-selling journalist, historian and author Paul Badde
embarks on an exciting quest to discover the truth behind
the Holy Face of Manoppello, a relic recently rediscovered
and rumored to be the "veil of Veronica".
Vatican correspondent for German newspaper Die Welt,
journalist Paul Badde was intrigued when he heard of a
mysterious image in a remote Italian village—an image of a
man's face on byssus cloth. Byssus, or sea silk, is a rare and
delicate fabric woven from a silky filament produced by mollusks.
It is claimed that the fabric is so thin and delicate that
it is impossible to paint on—yet the image in Manoppello is
clearly visible and, moreover, when laid over the image of the
face on the Shroud of Turin forms a perfect match.
Experts determined that the cloth of Manoppello is not
Veronica's veil, but rather the face cloth layed over the face
of Jesus in the tomb. Unlike the Shroud of Turin, which is a
"negative" of the image, the image on the face cloth is a "positive"
of the face of Christ.
Paul Badde takes the reader along on a thrilling journey
of discovery as he travels to research this remarkable relic,
tracing the turbulent history of the Holy Face from ancient
times up to the historic 2006 visit to Manoppello by Pope
Benedict XVI.
THE AUTHOR
Paul Badde, born in 1948, is a best-selling author and
renowned journalist and historian. Since 2000 he has
been an editor of the German newspaper Die Welt, first
as the Jerusalem correspondent and now as the Vatican
correspondent in Rome. He is also the author of Maria of
Guadalupe: Shaper of History, Shaper of Hearts; Jerusalem,
Jerusalem and The Heavenly City.
“The results are almost beyond our imagination.”
— Bild
“Paul Badde had written a gripping cultural thriller.”
— Der Spiegel

First News from Frascati Workshop Continued

2010-05-10T14:09:00.000-07:00

American scholars Gilbert Lavoie of Boston, Arthur C. Lind of Chesterfield, Missouri, David Elmore of Dept. of Physics, Purdue University and Mark Antonacci of Eureka, Missouri

Prof. Jan Jaworski of University of Warsaw and Prof. Paolo Di Lazzaro of ENEA, Chairman of Workshop

Gilbert Lavoie of Boston and Sr. Blandina Paschalis Schloemer

Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, S.J. Professor at Gregorian University, Rome

group photo of participants at the conclusion of workshop, Prof. Di Lazzaro seated at the table

Niels Svensson of Denmark gives a tv interview in front of display comparing Shroud and Holy Face

INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP OF THE SCIENTIFIC APPROACH TO THE ACHEIROPOIETOS IMAGES ENEA Research Center of Frascati -- May 4 to 6, 2010

Brief Reflections regarding the International Discussion on the Most Famous Acheropite Images: Shroud-Tilma-Holy Face

by Antonio Bini - unosemper@libero.it

To promote a wideranging scientific discussion on the recent studies relating to the chemical, physical, mechanical, historical and forensic medical aspects of the most famous acheropite images (that is, not made by human hands): the Shroud of Turin, the Tilma of Guadalupe and the Veil of Manoppello, this was the objective of the International Conference organized by ENEA at its Center for Reseach in Frascati from May 4 to 6. Around 40 scientists and scholars hailing from the United States, France, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Mexico, Israel, France, Poland, Spain and Italy shared and compared their different approaches to these scholarly disciplines.

ENEA, the Italian national agency for Energy and the New Technologies, provided this initiative with its own dedicated website - only in English- to underline the international status of the event: www.acheiropoietos.info. The conference was planned to coincide with the exhibition of the Shroud in Turin in order to take advantage of the presence in Italy of many foreign scholars.

It could seem very unique that a national public agency which occupies itself at the scientific level of energy and new technologies should dedicated a conference to these topics, on a field very complex and apparently very far from its institutional activity. Actually, this interest is to be linked to the capactiy of ENEA to reproduce in their laboratory, thanks to special excimer lasers, a coloration similar to that of the Shroud, with the same characteristics of the superficial nature of the image in relation to the cloth. The result was obtained by focusing very powerful lamps of ultraviolet light upon linen fabrics. It was a casual circumstance in that the scholars were dedicated to research relating to industrial applications. The research was published in 2008 in the American journal Applied Optics.

And it was Professor Paolo Di Lazzaro, leader of the excimer laboratory of the center of Frascati to serve as chairman of the international discussion that was developed along the following topics: characteristics of the images; hypothoses on the formation of the images; dating of the images; elaboration of the images; new instruments of analysis; restoration and conservation; comparison of the different acheropite images, historical aspects; forensic medical aspects.

Most of the papers given at the conference had to do with the Shroud, with a healthy number of scholars, especially American, among whom was Diana Fulbright the director of the Center for Research on the Shroud of Richmond, Virginia. Much interest was generated by talks regarding forensic medical aspects, but the general impression given is that the discussion still revolved either directly or indirectly around the controversy surrounding the dating of the cloth by the Carbon 14 method, carried out in 1988 with the examination of three different samples at three different laboratories in Zurich, Oxford, and Arizona, and thus on the influence of environmental factors on the contamination of the cloth of Turin.

In his paper Jose Carlos Esprella Godinez, member of the Mexican Center for the Study of the Shroud, described the acheropite characteristics of the Tilma of Guadalupe, furnishing elements to insert the miracle in the context of the history of Christianity in Mexico.

There was much interest shown in the Holy Face especially because of the images, some of very high quality and very moving, which were projected a number of times on the large screen.

The extraordinary spread of the Holy Face in the last few years and the ever more frequent comparison with the more famous Shroud, found in the initiative organized by ENEA an implicit recognition of the scientific validity of the studies which have been carried out so far by a small number of reseachers, who had the chance to describe their theories before an international audience of recognized scholars.

Professor Heinrich Pfeiffer, pioneer of studies on the Holy Face, went deeply into the history of art regarding the theme of the acheropite, emphasizing the most noted sacred images of antiquity, the Mandylion of Edessa and the image from Kamulia (or Camulliana). These images would correspond to the Shroud and the Veronica (Holy Face).

Some inexplicable peculiarities of the veil were illustrated by Professor Giulio Fanti from the University of Padua. Professor Fanti is a well known expert on the Shroud who for some years has become more acquainted with the Veil of Manoppello.

But the most interesting talks, also because of their novelty, were probably those by the three Polish university instructors, recently coming to know the Holy Face. Zbigniew Treppa and Karolyna Aszyk, instructors of semeiotics of images at the University of Danzig, illustrated their studies on the suprising mutability of the image by emphasizing in particular the mouth which demonstrates with greater evidence their reflections on the mutability of the image, relating in particular to the teeth. Their thesis was more amply detailed in a book which came out last year in Poland with the title "Fotografia z Manoppello".

Prof. Treppa, Prof. Aszyk, and Prof. Jaworski from Poland
A significant contribution came from Jan S. Jaworski professor of chemistry at the University of Warsaw who has supported and documented the thesis that the fabric on which the Holy Face appears is that of marine byssus and that it is to the peculiar properties of byssus that the extraordinary transparency of the Veil can be attributed.

I recall that the hypothesis of marine byssus was supported on September 1, 2004 by Chiara Vigo, a native of the island of Sant'Antioco in Sardinia, who is held to be the last expert of this ancient textile art still living in the Mediterranean area. As is known, the extraordinary uniqueness of this most unique fabric, which derives from a large mollusk (pinna nobilis), is that it can be dyed but that it is not possible to paint upon it. The idea that it might be marine byssus came from Sister Blandina, after having held by chance between her fingers some fibers from shells coming from the Adriatic Sea. The research which followed and the involvement of Chiara Vigo is owed to the German journalist and writer Paul Badde.

Roberto Falcinelli, roman photographer, detailed the results of his own research on the dating of the Opusculum of Jacopo Grimaldi, preserved in the Vatican, which documents how the Veronica appeared before its disappearance. As is known, the images (of the Opusculum) show the face of Christ with eyes open, contrary to the changed iconographic model imposed in the 1600's.

In the "Poster Session" Sr. Blandina Paschalis Schloemer and Professor Andreas Resch presented a thorough documentation to demonstrate that the Holy Face and the Face of the Shroud can be superimposed one upon the other. Their documentation was shared during the three days with the various scholars present who were able to ask for clarifications and to acquaint themselves with the techniques used by Sr. Blandina and Professor Resch. On the last day of the workshop a russian icon of the Mandylion of Edessa was also displayed. This icon, dating from the 1700's, calls to mind the Holy Face of Manoppello.

In closing the workshop, Professor Di Lazzaro, after referring to the lengthy course of scientific data, graphics, formulae and statistical tables, could not hide his own "emotion for the fantastic experience of coordinating an international workshop on these extraordinary images" which favors a greater dialog in the international scientific community involved in these studies.

Certainly the discussion on these topics will continue for a long time, but Frascati will remain an event probably without precedent, as the tendency has been to concentrate moments of study and of discussion to that of a single holy image. An event organized in a serious way, not open to the public, in order to avoid the simplifications and the easy sensationalism of the mass media, which neither the faith nor science need.

First News from Frascati Workshop

2010-05-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

The knowledge of the Holy Face of Manoppello is deepening and expanding at the highest levels of the Church, and within the international scientific community.

See the following excerpt from the editorial released on May 1, 2010, coming significantly during Pope Benedict's pilgrimage to the Shroud of Turin, from the Vatican Television Center's weekly news program "Octava Dies" by Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., the press spokesman for Pope Benedict XVI; and the just concluded Workshop on the Scientific Approach to studying Acheropite images (not made by human hands) such as those at Turin, Manoppello and Mexico City.

Fr. Lombardi relates:

"And at the centre the solemn face of the crucifix, a face that corresponds to the oldest dictates of Christian iconography and which in turn confirms and inspires it. Benedict XVI constantly reminds us; We want to know God and we can know Him through the face of Christ. This is why we love the images that tradition hold to be precious paths to glimpse this face, both in Manoppello and in Turin. We know that we must look beyond the image, we must desire to behold the Risen One face to face. But we are humbly grateful for this aid to our earthly eyes which helps us to contemplate unconditional love for us, right up to death on the cross."

Now news is coming of the very successful workshop held in Frascati on the Scientific Approach to studying miraculous images such as those at Turin, Manoppello and Mexico City.

What follows is Antonio Bini's preliminary reflections which demonstrate the wideranging studies, presentations and discussions which were accomplished this past week at the ENEA Research Center for Energy and New technologies. What follows is the Italian text which will have to suffice until I can produce the english translation. The reporting on this conference will take me the better part of a week as Antonio has provided me with much material (including photos) which is important and interesting.

INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON THE SCIENTIFIC APPROACH TO THE ACHEIROPOIETOS IMAGES - Enea Research Centre of Frascati – 4 to 6 may 2010

BREVI RIFLESSIONI SUL CONFRONTO INTERNAZIONALE SULLE PIU’ FAMOSE IMMAGINI ACHEROPITE: SINDONE-TILMA-VOLTO SANTO
by Antonio Bini – unosemper@libero.it

Promuovere un'ampia discussione scientifica sui recenti studi relativi agli aspetti chimici, fisici, meccanici, storici e di medicina legale delle più famose immagini acheropite (ossia, non fatte da mani d’uomo): la Sindone di Torino, la Tilma di Guadalupe e il Velo di Manoppello questo l'obiettivo della Conferenza internazionale organizzata dall'Enea, presso il suo Centro Ricerche di Frascati dal 4 al 6 maggio, attraverso il confronto tra i differenti approcci di queste disciplina di una quarantina di scienziati e studiosi provenienti da Stati Uniti, Francia, Austria, Canada, Danimarca, Germania, Messico, Israele, Francia, Polonia, Spagna, Italia.
L'ENEA – ente nazionale italiano per le nuove tecnologie e l’energia - ha dedicato all'iniziativa un apposito sito - solo in lingua inglese - per sottolineare il rilievo internazionale dell'evento -http://www.acheiropoietos.info/ - la cui realizzazione è stata prevista durante il periodo di ostensione della Sindone a Torino, cogliendo l’opportunità della presenza in Italia di molti studiosi stranieri.
Può apparire molto singolare che un ente pubblico nazionale che si occupa a livello scientifico di energia e nuove tecnologie si impegni su questi temi, su un terreno complesso e apparentemente lontanissimo dalla sua attività istituzionale. In effetti, questo interesse è da mettere in relazione con la capacità dell’ENEA di riprodurre in laboratorio una colorazione simile a quella della Sindone, con le stesse caratteristiche di superficialità dell’immagine, grazie a speciali laser ad eccimeri. Il risultato è stato raggiunto irradiando con potenti lampi di luce ultravioletta tessuti di lino. Una circostanza casuale, in quanto gli studiosi erano impegnati in ricerche relative ad applicazioni industriali. La ricerca è stata pubblicata nel 2008 sulla rivista americana Applied Optics.
Ed è stato proprio il prof. Paolo Di Lazzaro, leader del laboratorio Eccimeri del centro di Frascati a svolgere il ruolo di coordinatore (chairman) del confronto internazionale che si è sviluppato sui seguenti temi: caratteristiche delle immagini; ipotesi di formazione delle immagini; datazione delle immagini; elaborazione delle immagini; nuovi strumenti di analisi; restauro e conservazione; confronto tra le diverse immagini acheiropoietos; aspetti storici; aspetti medico-legali.
Il Workshop è stato preceduto da lavori preparatori da parte di un comitato scientifico internazionale e da un comitato organizzatore locale.
Gran parte delle relazioni ha riguardato la Sindone, con un nutrito numero di studiosi, soprattutto americani, tra cui la direttrice del Centro di Ricerche sulla Sindone di Richmond, Diana Fulbright. Elementi di interesse sono emersi da relazioni riguardanti gli aspetti medico-legali, ma l’impressione generale è stata che gli interventi ruotassero direttamente o indirettamente ancora sulle controverse questioni legate alla datazione del telo con la tecnica radiometrica del Carbonio 14, eseguita nel 1988 con esami di tre distinti campioni presso altrettanti laboratori di Zurigo, Oxford e dell’Arizona e quindi sull’incidenza dei fattori ambientali sulla contaminazione del telo di Torino.
In un intervento di José Carlos Espriella Godinez, membro del Centro Messicano di Sindonologia, sono state illustrate le caratteristiche acheropite della Tilma di Guadalupe, fornendo elementi per inquadrare il miracolo nel contesto della storia del cristianesimo nel paese sudamericano.
Evidente interesse ha suscitato il Volto Santo di Manoppello, le cui immagini – talvolta di grande qualità ed efficacia – sono state proiettate più volte sul grande schermo .
La straordinaria divulgazione del Volto Santo di questi ultimi anni e il sempre più frequente accostamento con la più famosa Sindone trova nell’iniziativa organizzata dall’ENEA – un implicito riconoscimento della validità scientifica degli studi sin qui portati avanti da un ristretto numero di ricercatori, che ha avuto la possibilità di illustrare le proprie tesi di fronte ad una qualificata platea internazionale.
Il prof. Heinrich Pfeiffer, pioniere degli studi sul Volto Santo, ha approfondito sotto il profilo storico-artistico il tema delle acheropite, soffermandosi sulle più note immagini sacre dell’antichità, costituite dal Mandylion di Edessa e da Kamulia (o Camulliana). A queste immagini corrisponderebbero peraltro la Veronica (Volto Santo) e la Sindone.
Alcune inspiegabili peculiarità del velo sono state illustrate dal prof. Giulio Fanti, dell’Università di Padova, autorevole sindonologo, che da alcuni anni si è avvicinato con rispetto al Velo di Manoppello.
Ma gli interventi più interessanti, anche per il loro carattere di novità, sono stati probabilmente quelli di tre docenti universitari polacchi, avvicinatisi di recente al Volto Santo. Zbigniew Treppa e Karolyna Aszyk, docenti di semeiotica delle immagini dell’Università di Danzica, che hanno illustrato i loro studi sulla sorprendente mutevolezza dell’immagine, soffermandosi in particolare sulla bocca, che mostra con maggiore evidenza i riflessi dei mutamenti dell’immagine, rispetto in particolare alla dentatura. Le tesi esposte sono state più ampiamente dettagliate in un libro uscito in Polonia lo scorso anno dal titolo “Fotografia z Manoppello”.
Un significativo contributo è venuto da Jan S. Jaworski professore di chimica dell’Università di Varsavia, che ha sostenuto e documentato la tesi che il tessuto sul quale è impresso il Volto Santo è di bisso marino e che alle peculiari proprietà del bisso sia da attribuire la straordinaria trasparenza del Velo.
Ricordo che l’ipotesi del bisso marino fu sostenuta il 1° settembre 2004 da Chiara Vigo, che vive nell’isola di Sant’Antioco in Sardegna, la quale è ritenuta l’ultima maestra di questa arte tessile dell’antichità ancora esistente nel Mediterraneo. Come è noto, la straordinarietà di questo particolarissimo tessuto, che deriva da un grande mollusco (pinna nobilis) è che si può tingere, ma su di esso non è possibile dipingere. L’idea che potesse trattarsi di bisso venne a suor Blandina, avendo casualmente tra le dita filamenti di cozze di mare dell’Adriatico, mentre le successive ricerche e il coinvolgimento della Vigo si deve al giornalista e scrittore tedesco Paul Badde.
Roberto Falcinelli, fotografo romano, ha esposto i risultati di una propria ricerca sulla datazione dell’Opusculum di Jacopo Grimaldi, conservato in Vaticano, che documenta com’era la Veronica prima della sua scomparsa. Come è noto, le immagini rappresentavano il volto di Cristo con gli occhi aperti, contrariamente al mutato modello iconografico imposto nel Seicento.

Conference on Acheropite Completed at Frascati

2010-05-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the poster for the Conference on the scientific approach to Acheropite including the Holy Face of Manoppello held at the ENEA research center in Frascati near Rome on May 4,5,6. Thanks to Antonio Bini for this photo and others which I will post after I receive his report on this ground breaking conference which brought together scientists and other scholars from many countries.

Testaments of Faith

2010-05-04T07:33:00.000-07:00

A well-worn mantle from the mountain,
A silken veil from the sea,
A flaxen shroud from the fields:
Woven by human hands, signed also by Divine.
Made irregular in their uniqueness, especially for Bishops.
Enigmatic challenges for nearsighted scholars.
Keys to a new world with the vision of true Glory forever.

O Jesus Living in Mary

2010-04-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

O Jesus living in Mary, come and dwell in your servants in the spirit of your holiness, in the fulness of your power, in the perfection of your ways, in the truth of your virtues, in the communion of your mysteries. Subdue our enemies, the world and the flesh, in the strength of your Spirit, for the glory of your Father. Amen.

"So closely are they (Jesus and Mary) united that one is wholly in the other. Jesus is all in Mary and Mary is all in Jesus. Or rather it is no longer she who lives, but Jesus alone who lives in her. It would be easier to separate light from the sun than Mary from Jesus. So united are they, that our Lord may be called 'Jesus of Mary', and his Mother 'Mary of Jesus'...The Incarnation is the first mystery of Jesus Christ; it is the most hidden; and it is the most exalted and the least known.

It was in this mystery that Jesus, in the womb of Mary and with her co-operation, chose all the elect. For this reason the saints called her womb the throne-room of God's mysteries.

It was in this mystery that Jesus anticipated all subsequent mysteries of his life by his willing acceptance of them. Consequently, this mystery is a summary of all his mysteries, since it contains the intention and the grace of them all.

Lastly, this mystery is the seat of the mercy, the liberality, and the glory of God. It is the seat of his mercy for us, since we can approach and speak to Jesus through Mary. We need her intervention to see or speak to him. Here, ever responsive to the prayer of his Mother, Jesus unfailingly grants grace and mercy to all poor sinners. 'Let us come boldly then before the throne of grace.'"
from True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary paragraphs 247-248 by St. Louis Marie de Montfort

The Bishop of Lourdes Visits Manoppello

2010-04-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

The Bishop of Lourdes Pilgrim to the Holy Face

by Antonio Bini

The bishop of the diocese of Tarbes-Lourdes, Monsignor Philippe Perrier, has visited the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello, accompanied by a delegation which included Francois Vayne, editor of the Lourdes Magazine and Doctor Alessandro De Franciscis, director of the organism which documents and investigates miracles which take place in the french city. The french bishop was welcomed by the Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto Bruno Forte and by the rector of the Shrine, Fr. Carmine Cucinelli. At 10AM Bishop Perrier celebrated the Mass in French, remaining in prayer before the Holy Face. Among those present, unaware, were a small group of German pilgrims.
In his message he stated that he had "seen in the suffering Face of Manoppello the sufferings of the Madonna of Lourdes", inviting those present to "be worthy of this extraordinary treasure of grace". The visit has a strong symbolic value for the Shrine of Manoppello in fostering that ideal connection with the most visited Marian shrine of Europe which Bishop Perrier himself has recalled in his homily and in his inscription left in the guestbook of the shrine.

in the original Italian:

"IL VESCOVO DI LOURDES PELLEGRINO AL VOLTO SANTO

Il vescovo della diocesi di Tarbes-Lourdes, mons. Philippe Perrier, ha visitato il Santuario del Volto Santo di Manoppello,
accompagnato da una delegazione di cui faceva parte Francois Vayne, direttore di Lourdes Magazine e il dott. Alessandro De Franciscis,
medico responsabile dell'organismo di documentazione e constatazione dei miracoli che avvengono nella città francese.
Il vescovo francese è stato accolto dal arcivescovo di Chieti-Vasto Bruno Forte e dal rettore del Santuario p. Carmine Cucinelli.
Alle 10 mons. Perrier ha celebrato la messa in francese, sostando in preghiera innanzi al Volto Santo. Tra gli ignari presenti anche un piccolo gruppo
di pellegrini tedeschi.
Nel suo messaggio ha sostenuto di "aver visto nel sofferto Volto di Manoppello le sofferenze della Madonna di Lourdes", invitando i presenti ad "
essere degni di questo straordinario tesoro di grazia".
La visita ha un valore fortemente simbolico per il Santuario di Manoppello per quell'ideale collegamento con il più frequentato
santuario mariano d'europa che lo stesso mons. Perrier ha richiamato nella sua omelia e nella dichiarazione lasciata sul registro
degli ospiti."

Votive Mass in Honor of the Holy Face

2010-04-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

Recently the prayers and readings for the Votive Mass of the Holy Face were posted on the official website of the Shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello. Here is the link: http://www.voltosanto.it/Inglese/dettagliopreghiera.php?x1=69

It is also now possible to download the latest edition of
Il Volto Santo di Manoppello by going to http://www.voltosanto.it/Italiano/dati/BOLLETTINI/ and clicking on the photo of the publication's cover.

The Mother of All Relics

2010-04-19T13:05:00.000-07:00

A fresco depicting the link between the Shroud of Turin and the Holy Face of Manoppello. This fresco is found on a building close by to the Church of the Sacred Heart in Pinerolo the city where the Shroud was first publicly displayed in Italy prior to its establishment in Turin

Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, S.J., professor of art history and iconography at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome has written an article in the most recent issue of Il Volto Santo di Manoppello the official publication of the shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello in which he gives a commentary on the place of the Shroud of Turin in relation to the Veil of Manoppello, and in the life of the Church. In not too many words this most qualified scholar is able to enlighten much that has remained hidden to even the most informed among us. But this commentary seems to me to be just a introduction to the volumes of history and science which he and other dedicated scholars are preparing to deepen our knowledge of both the Shroud of Turin and the Veil of Manoppello. May this knowledge lead to greater faith, hope and charity in all the members of the Church, and lead others to enter in. The translation, and any errors, are all mine.

"This spring, on the occasion of the pastoral visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the Diocese of Turin, there will be an extraordinary exhibition of the Shroud. This cloth, so many times shown to the public and to the mass media, has as no other object in history been declared to be a forgery and every once in a while pointedly recognized as authentic. It is an object that acts almost like a living personality which questions and challenges all authorities, whether in the scientific community or those in the Church. In comparison with the relic of Turin which contains its mysterious markings, there does not exist any other object so meticulously studied by so many representatives of diverse disciplines with innumerable hours of direct experiments, utilizing minute pieces of the linen, or parallel experiments undertaken with similar substances in analogous conditions to those existing in the tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem.

It is true that the ecclesiastical and scientific authorities show themselves to be rather hesitant to call it a relic. It is true that it is precisely the theologians of the Catholic Church who have shown and continue to show great difficulty in recognizing the authenticity of this relic. They do not want to admit that this linen was the burial cloth of the tomb of Jesus. The many hours of research and the not infrequent national and international scientific congresses concentrating on the object of the Shroud, instead, have forced the italian lexicon to admit a new term, a new concept to indicate a particular discipline, not recongized until now, a science which is concerned with a single object, or rather, with a small family of objects, which is called sindonology. The scholars of this discipline by now call themselves sindonologists. Sindonology joins together representatives of very diverse disciplines, from archaeology to theology, from mathematical statistics to biology, from history to iconography, from forensics to topographical anatomy, etc. The discipline's small family of objects is made up of the relics, supposed or authentic, which were found during the morning of Easter in the tomb of Jesus or preserved from that moment by pious men and women through the centuries down to our own times.

Let's call them to mind: the nails (one of which is in the church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem in Rome along with the tablet containing the inscription which was fixed at the top of the cross), a great number of pieces of wood from the cross (the largest pieces being in the church of St. Peter in the Vatican and in the church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem) the crown of thorns (in the treasury of the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris), clots of dried blood, (for example in the abbey of Weingarten in Germany), clothing steeped with bloody stains, the most famous, the veil which covered the face of Jesus to dry it and to clean it from blood (in Oviedo), the extremely fine veil which covered his face in the tomb (in Manoppello), the band which held the jaw in place (in Cahors in France), pieces of the bloody tunic (in Argenteuil in France), and, as the crown of all these objects venerated by the faithful, the Shroud of Turin.

More than a few saints have venerated the Shroud: St. Charles Borromeo, Don Bosco and the other Turinese founders, and then there are the Popes: Pius XI, Pius XII, Paul VI, John Paul II who have expressed themselves in favor of the authenticity of the cloth, but the veneration of a relic is the expression of a subjective attitude, of a private conviction in the Church which does not prejudge the autenticity, the historic truth, of the venerated object.

If the ecclesiatical authority and the Turinese scholars revel in the primacy of their relic, as we have said, they don't want to declare it as such with its own proper name. And they also don't want to admit the existence of some other possible "competitor", as in the case of the veil of Manoppello. The nails, the band, even the sudarium of Oviedo are allowed for. These specimens are clearly subordinate to the Turinese relic. They don't show the image, the individual face of our Lord. The veil of Manoppello is seen with scepticism by them and the majority of Sindologists. Instead, both relics together constitute the true divine challenge to humanity that tends toward non-faith and that needs the theological virtue which is called hope. Both objects, the veil and the Shroud, can inspire both faith and hope, and in particular the latter virtue.

The Shroud became famous and a continuing object of argument from the moment that the lawyer Secondo Pia took the first official photo in the long ago 1898. If people were able to describe with precision the character of this photo, much of the discussion would be impossible, and the lack of foundation for objections would have been demonstrated right from the start. If the true nature of this photo is described, we find ourselves facing a great mystery that is illuminated only by the reality of the transfiguration and the bodily resurrection of Jesus.

As the photographic negative taken of the Shroud showed itself and continues to show a positive photgraph, the marks on the Turinese specimen that the human eye reads as the image of a man with the wounds that depict the passion of Christ must constitute a negative and be produced by a process at least analogous to that of a photgraph. Physically, mechanically and optically such a process is described as a projection of a three dimensional object onto a two dimensional surface. For such an action there are always three necessary elements: 1. a source of some kind of energy which gives forth rays, 2. an object to project, 3. an element that directs the rays to make them converge in one direction. Only in this way can a perfect image of a body be created, projected onto a flat surface.

At least these three elements described above must be admitted for that body which appears as dead on the cloth and that must have been wrapped in the same Shroud. For pure logic we could also think that the image on the Turinese cloth could be a copy, the most perfect that could be conceived, of an object that corresponds to all the requirements sofar described and also to many others able to be found with precise observations on the relic of Turin. If we do not admit the transfiguration of the body which was placed in the Shroud, that is the change of the matter into energy that maintains all its bodily properties, we are not able to explain and describe in a satisfactory manner the nature of the shroud's image. A new mystery is born from the fact that the face of the veil of Manoppello corresponds perfectly to the face of the Turinese relic. There do not exist two images in all the world which can be made to correspond like this if not copies of the same photographic negative or images made with the same stamp. The causing source of the images of Manoppello and of Turin must be the same person. Thus we have a fact which more than guarantees the authenticity for both relics. For there exist three images of a person that seem to be different but which perfectly correspond: the face on the Shroud, the face of Manoppello, and the superimposition of the two.

One can say that the second proceeds from the first and the third from both of them. Only in the trinitarian formula do we find the same reality: the Son proceeds from the Father and the Holy Spirit from both. Does there exist anything genuine which is more divine and more true? Thus, in my opinion, do the two relics together demonstrate their divine origin.

Regarding the Shroud and on the discussions around this extraordinary specimen there remains much more to be said. Here we do not have the space. One thing still needs to be said regarding the shroud's image for all those who think that one day there will come a more advanced scientific study which would be able to prove that it is a forgery, and that this cloth cannot testify to the bodily resurrection of Jesus.

So we add only one more observation. As the bodily impressions are found only on one side of the cloth and the energy of the rays must have come forth from within the body of the shroud, they must have come from a type of radiography, but this is not so. The image of the body is presented as if only the surface would have been the source of the rays without these also having illuminated also the internal part of the corpse. Here we are facing the greatest mystery, the greatest miracle. The only ones greater, according to the catholic faith, are the bodily resurrection of Jesus and the Assumption of the Virgin into heaven.

Not only does this touch on the principle of causality as in the case of miraculous healings, but even the principle of non-contradiction. The same energy must have the same effect in all directions on equal materials. But if the same energy has a positive effect only on one part of the same material and not on the rest, we are facing a contradiction, facing an extremely profound mystery that the human mind will never be able to illuminate, because every human thought and every contruction of any instrument whatsoever cannot be brought about without the principle of non-contradiction, and this will remain so for all future times.

The reaction to the Turinese relic and to that of Manoppello will be the same: to not occupy oneself too much so as to not be forced to confront the mysteries of life, but the reaction of the members of the Church ought to be an attempt to enter into the mystery of the Christian faith by means of these two archeological specimens. This is what we wish for with all our heart."

Once I was Dead, But Now I am Alive Forever and Ever

2010-04-11T13:22:00.000-07:00

"Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld." Revelation chapter one

"Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book". Gospel of John chapter 20

New Book by Saverio Gaeta on the Holy Face of Manoppello in Relation to the Shroud of Turin

2010-04-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Antonio Bini for alerting me to the publication of Saverio Gaeta's new book.

I had the joy of reading Gaeta's first book L'Altra Sindone (the other Shroud) published by Mondadori in 2005 soon after it was published. I hope to read this latest book as soon as DHL can get make it arrive. Needless to say, I pray each day that the books of Gaeta, and Paul Badde as well, will be available in English as soon as possible. And that soon a competent American author will add his own contribution to the understanding of the Holy Face among english speaking peoples. (God speed the work!)

Thanks to Antonio also for providing me with his short review of Gaeta's book which appears below in my translation.

L’ENIGMA DEL VOLTO DI GESU’

L’avventurosa storia della Sindone segreta

Ed. Rizzoli, marzo 2010

The Enigma of the Face of Jesus

The adventurous history of the secret Shroud

published by Rizzoli, March 2010

An important book by Saverio Gaeta on the theme of the increasing interest regarding the Face of Jesus, brought about by the upcoming display of the Shroud of Turin. Gaeta, editor in chief of the most widely distributed Italian catholic weekly magazine Famiglia Cristiana and recent author of the best seller "Why He is a Saint" (on the life of John Paul II), builds upon and brings up to date the historical research on the legendary image of Veronica which is identified with the Holy Face of Manoppello. Also brought to deeper clarity is his thesis on the disappearance from St. Peter's of the Veronica on the occasion of the so-called "sack of Rome" of 1527, with interesting connections to the local history of Abruzzo which have never been brought out before.

His reading of the centuries old historical vicissitudes of the image seems to be linked also to the interpretation of the pilgrimage of Benedict XVI to Manoppello on Sep. 1, 2006. Interesting also is his explanation of the relationship between the Veronica and the Shroud, images which have often been confused for each other in the past.

The book's cover itself introduces immediately the visual relationship between the two images seemingly very different from each other, with a jacket cover in transparent plastic that shows the Holy Face visible from each of the two sides, while on the book's cover, serving as the base, is imprinted the face of the Shroud of Turin.

"Beyond all the historical, artistic and theological questions raised by every single detail... what remains" - affirms Saverio Gaeta in conclusion - "is the baffling and magnificent reality of the Holy Face displayed at Manoppello".

We have here a book that speaks for itself.

The author has also added his contribution to the numerous contributions of study and explication which have appeared in the official publication of the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello, and which in these last few years has played an increasing role of documentation for Italian and foreign scholars involved in gathering and sharing testimonies and research on the relic. One can expect to see reviews and articles on this book in the most important publications.

Today the great Italian and foreign publishing houses have arrived, while it must be recalled that up until just several years ago the only publications on the relic were printed at the expense of the Shrine and had a distribution entirely local.

review by Antonio Bini

Seeing the Historical Face of Jesus Today

2010-03-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

The psalmist cried out : Lord that I may see your face! And the prayer was answered at that time up to the present. Are we ready to be surprised that we might see his face? Paul Badde once again in his latest book, the Shroud of Turin or the Secret of the Holy Image, has turned over the hour glass of history and brought us back, back, back and then again to the present so that we might not only be surprised but enchanted at the presence of the face of Christ in history and today.

Despite the fact that I know so little German I will try to give you a listing in English of the German titles of the chapters of his book:

The pilgrimage of the burial cloths (shrouds)
The Map of Sorrows
Earthquake in Jerusalem
From East to West
Sunken Gold
Vulture of Golgotha
The Missing Link of Easter Night
Light for the Way in the Desert
The Gospel of the Early Church
The Revolution of the Pictures
The rolled away stone
The Divine Kaleidoscope

The unique relationship between the two image bearing cloths from the tomb of Christ will cause many to say once again: Lord, show us your face and we shall be saved.

Why Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, S.J. Holds that the Veil of Veronica is in Manoppello and No Longer in Rome

2010-03-22T16:25:00.000-07:00

from the foreward to Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer's book, Il Volto Santo di Manoppello published in 2000 by Carsa Edizioni. Fr. Pfeiffer is a Professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rom

"Is the Veil of Veronica to be found in Rome or in Manoppello? Many are asking this question after having come to know about the Holy Face in the shrine on the outskirts of the little city in Abruzzo. It is by now widely known that no trace of an image can be found on the piece of material which is still venerated today in the basilica of St. Peter's in Rome. On the other hand there have already been attempts to remove the sixth station from the Via Crucis in as much as modern theologians don't believe any more in the existence of a woman by the name of Veronica who would have given her Veil to Christ in order to wipe his bloody face along the way to Calvary.

In Rome this saint had never been depicted prior to the painting by Ugo da Carpi in 1525, a painting which was intended for the place where the relic of the Holy Face was displayed to the crowds of pilgrims and which was called simply the Veronica. Here it was the relic and not the saint which was called Veronica, a name which means 'true icon'. Only one hundred years after the painting of Ugo da Carpi was there created a second representation of the saint Veronica, the colossal statue by Mochi for the massive pillar in which is preserved the so-called relic on which no one can recognize any more the features of Christ.

But in Manoppello there is found an extremely fine Veil with the most vivid and expressive image of Jesus in all the world. No one can explain the process by which the image has been formed on the Veil...

Why is the Veil of Manoppello to be considered the true relic, the authentic Veronica, and the piece of cloth in the reliquary of Rome a false substitute?

Prior to the second decade of the 1600's all the depictions of the face of Christ in the images which are considered to be the authentic drawing and which are in reference to the Roman relic show the Lord with his eyes open. All the so-called copies of the Veronica, since 1616, instead show him with his eyes closed. The simplest explanation for this change is the loss of the original to imitate.

The reliquary made for the showing of the Veronica during the jubilee of 1350 contains two panes of rock crystal, one for each side. This means that the object to be shown in such an ostensory was transparent. The piece of cloth that has been presented in a new reliquary in the basilica of St. Peter's is instead of an opaque nature, so that it is always shown only from one side.

I think that these arguments - the change of the iconography from eyes open to eye closed and the non transparency of the material - are sufficient to say with certainty that the relic presented in the basilica of St. Peter's is false."

In the Heart of the Church Let Jesus Christ Be Praised!

2010-03-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

Psalm 148
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his host!
Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created.
He established them forever and ever; he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command!

Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars!
Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!

Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth!
Young men and women alike, old and young together!

Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven.

He has raised up a horn for his people,

praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him.

Praise the Lord!

Secondo Pia as Simon Peter, part Seven the Conclusion

2010-03-15T14:32:00.000-07:00

by Paul Badde, from Il Volto Santo di Manoppello the official publication of the Shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello

"Perhaps it truly was John, the first who 'saw and believed', who previously had left to Peter the privilege of entering before him. John alone had been present at the burial to know that the 'sudarium had been placed on the face of Jesus'. Only an eyewitness of the burial would have been able to know such a detail. Perhaps he had observed how the Magdalen had placed the delicate veil of sea silk (marine byssus) on the Face of Jesus as a last tribute. Peter wasn't there. He wouldn't have known any of this. In any event, John would have immediately shown the veil to Peter in the opposite case. Because 'they hadn't in fact yet understood the Scriptures, that he would rise from the dead', continues John, using the plural. In any case, it had been a questions of mere seconds. But as for the rest of the account? Couldn't it be that all this could have happened differently? No, according to good sense, for whoever takes seriously the cloths and the texts of the Gospel and who has become familiar with the space of the sepulcher; and who still has enough fingers to add one plus one plus one plus one plus one equals five. Putting together all the components -- the eyewitness testimony of John, the space, the hour, the light and the cloths -- taking all these things together, adding as the first or the sixth component the Jewish reserve regarding the ritual impurity of tombs! --then the facts could not reasonably have gone any differently.

The conclusion is that Peter in the sepulcher must have lived an experience similar to that of Secondo Pia at Turin in 1898 when he withdrew the first photographic plates of the Shroud under the red light of the darkroom. Except that Peter's was an experience much more dramatic.

It is indispensable that there should have been a visible sign in the Sepulcher of the incedible event of the night of Easter, and this sign could not be the missing body of Jesus. That which Peter - or John - picked up from its 'special' position in the tomb, and held against the light, was the first testimony of that great event which was happening there. The little sudarium completes and explains the large sudarium. Together they are inserted in the Gospel as a puzzle is completed down to its every last piece.

As has been noted, on the Shroud, that is the large sudarium, one couldn't see anything at first in the narrow and dark chamber, where it was impossible for it to be unfolded. This brings us to the next step. Because not only can we but we must see how Peter and John hurriedly gathered up all these linens to bring them into the light. They had to bring them to a safe place. From that dark tomb nothing must be lost. Nothing should remain. Who knows what things the other cloths might be hiding? But all these are considerations which came forth later. Immediately they understood this: in that chamber death had lost its power. The deceased was no longer dead; those cloths were no longer impure.

The breaching of the presence of Christ into history began with a complete metamorphosis. If the Christ, already beginning with the dawn, had not shown his Face on the Sudarium, they would have left everything there. They were devout Jews. Burial cloths are not to be removed from empty tombs. According to the tradition of the Misnah, judaism is full of rigorous norms that declare the extreme impurity of all that is linked to the dead and their tombs, even after some time has passed. The Shroud, which just a little while later would have shown to the Church of Jerusalem the Passion of Christ in the Scriptures of an image, would not have been saved without the little sudarium on which the risen Christ had already shown his face. Mary Magdalen had left everything and had run to tell the Apostles. So would Peter and John also have done. They would have let everything stay there if the little fabric of light had not struck them. Then they would have simply gone outside in a hurry. But as I've said, the little Veil was there. The photo-image of the Sudarium forms the 'missing link' of the Paschal Vigil, in which is inserted the compelling logic which explains the unfolding of all the actions and the re-actions of those few moments.

Now they have taken the two sudaria with them together with the other cloths. This could have happened only in secret, in the early hours of the morning. And they didn't take them to the authorities but to Mary and the Apostles. 'Then the disciples returned home' writes John. Perhaps this refers to the cenacle on Mt. Sion where four days earlier they had celebrated the Passover with Jesus. Perhaps it was to a grotto-refuge in the garden of Gethsemane where they had found pilgrim lodging for the feast. But 'house' ,it clearly appears, in those days represented not only a habitation but the communion of the Apostles with Mary. It was to them, above all others, that they had brought the cloths that Easter morning. These cloths became, in the heart of the early church, the most precious treasure. Were they not perhaps the first pages of the joyful announcement of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Of course! Because of this it would be necessary to hide them right away and to keep secret not only their origin but even their very existence. Since these first documents of the Gospel of the early church were written on burial cloths, the most impure material of which the Jews were able to conceive. Their preservation would require a very intimate and secret place. Under no circumstances could the news get out. If the knowledge of these cloths amidst the Apostles had gotten out to Jerusalem -- and thus linked to the serious violations of the rules of purity -- the first Christians and also their first 'house' would not have survived the scandal. But John has not completely hidden the mystery. Eight verses following the recounting of the burial cloths he writes in his Gospel that already the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples had locked the doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus entered with a greeting of peace in their midst,breathed on them and said: 'Receive the Holy Spirit' and showed them the wounds which -- in that hour-- had already been 'written' impressed, on the document of the Shroud. The 'fear of the Jews' would have easily induced the disciples to flee to Bethlehem, or to Gaza, or to Jordan, to Jericho or to the hills of Galilee, because they themselves were all jews. In all those distant places they would have all been safe. But their 'fear of the jews', which induced them, surprisingly, to lock the doors on that first Sunday evening, did not have any other reason than that of hiding and protecting the marvelous treasure which they were caring for. This was the so-called 'mystery' of early Christianity, by which, all of a sudden, that which up until then had been considered ritually impure would now be considered the purest relic. So that in this mystery was enclosed the images of light of these cloths, so closed that centuries would be required before the message that they contained would be able to go out from that secret place, and the splendid message of an image 'not made by human hands' would begin to spread everywhere in the Christian house, little by little, like a perfume of incense."

Videos by Father Laufer Which Explain the Story of the Holy Face of Manoppello Now Available in English

2010-03-12T13:07:00.000-08:00

Father Josef Laufer of Germany has produced the following two videos on the Holy Face of Manoppello with the technical assistance of Michael Sauer. They have just become available in an English language translation. It is my voice reading the English narration that you will hear. Father Laufer's videos are a good summary of the current knowledge of the Holy Face. Plus you will see how Father Laufer has arranged that the Holy Face should be venerated in several beautiful Churches in the German countryside for which he is responsible. I encourage all to watch these well done videos and to share them with others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeMySBuxBkM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ib_Ic_lOPw

Scholars and Scientists to Discuss Images on Shroud of Turin, Veil of Manoppello, and Tilma of Guadalupe

2010-03-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

A scholarly scientific conference entitled the International Workshop on the Scientific Approach to the Acheiropoietos Images will be held May 4,5, and 6th 2010 at the E.N.E.A scientific research center in Frascati, a beautiful and historic town in the hills above Rome. The website for the conference is http://www.acheiropoietos.info/ Among those giving papers or displaying poster exhibits are Heinrich Pfeiffer and Blandina Paschalis Schlomer of Germany; Andreas Resch of Austria, Giulio Fanti and Roberto Falcinelli of Italy; Z. Treppa, J.S. Jaworski, and K. Aszyk of Poland; and D. Scavone, D. Fulbright and J. Markwardt of the U.S.A. The conference will be conducted in English. According to the organizing committee the topics to be discussed are:

Images characteristics
Images formation hypotheses
Images dating
Images processing
Novel tools of analysis
Restoration and conservation issue
Comparison of different acheiropoietos images
Historical aspects
Forensic views

To see the abstracts of talks relating to the Veil of Manoppello see:

Frascati Acheiropoietos Workshop 2010 - ABSTRACTS - TALKS - MANOPPELLO VEIL

Of course the papers by Fr. Pfeiffer and the exhibits by Sr. Blandina will be very important and enlightening.

I was especially struck by the following article to be given at the conference which has to do with the phenonemon of the multiplicity of images which are seen on the Veil of Manoppello through photography:

The Appearance of the Changing Images on the Veil of Manoppello.
An examination of its implications for future scientific research through the discipline of photography by Zbigniew Treppa, Karolina Aszyk

Uniwersytet Gdanski, ul Bazynskiego 1a, 80-952 Gdansk

Summary

One aim of this research is to establish reasons why this Veil is so unique. I want to examine the message that it has for us. I have decided to concentrate on the semantic image. Semantics requires that we see the relationship between the language of words and the language of images. It would be impossible to read the message contained in the Shroud without the words contained in the Gospels. In the same way, it is impossible to find the meaning of the Veil without reference to the Gospels. In the case of the Veil, for a deeper understanding, it is necessary to analyse the structure of the material. All the more so, as the Veil allows us to enter into a field of exploration in a very unusual way and to start to find the secrets which have yet to be fully revealed.
I have been convinced that this is the way to gain knowledge of the Veil from the time when I was photographing it and had little expectation of being surprised. In a similar way to the Shroud, its meaning, which is hidden from the human eye, can be revealed with the aid of photography. I am a professional photographer and, when taking pictures of the Veil, I imagined I was producing a documentary file and nothing more. In the meantime, I analysed the pictures I had taken on a computer and reproduced them on a monitoring screen; there were marked differences in the photographs. The differences can be fully appreciated as the images were laid exactly in line with each other (the precision being outlined on the photos) and then the changes became apparent. The observations simply go unnoticed on casual inspection. These details are exposed when the Veil is examined under differing light conditions. The appearance of the changing images on the Veil impelled me to try to discover their true meaning.
The question has to be asked if these differences are not the capture of split-second moments in time that have been recorded on the Veil. Can we also put these recorded moments in a chronological order for a complete detailed version? I believe that it would be possible, with the aid of photography, to take a maximum number of photos and, after putting them into chronological order, to make an animated version of the whole scene.
From what I have observed, any critical mind can only want to seek an interpretation.

Secondo Pia as Simon Peter, Part Six

2010-03-06T14:13:00.001-08:00

by Paul Badde from Il Volto Santo the official publication of the Shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello. This article is part of Paul Badde's new book Das Grabtuch Von Turin oder Das Geheimnis der heiligen Bilder which is soon to be published in Germany. I am looking forward to seeing it also published in English. I have heard that Prof. Badde's book on the Holy Face of Manoppello Das Gottliche Gesicht will soon be published in an English translation.

"Only three days prior Peter had said 'I don't know this man'. Some hours later he was forced to look and listen from far away. When Jesus was on the cross, covered with blood, he emitted a great cry and died. Certainly Peter remained even more disturbed when, suddenly, he saw the same Christ on the Veil which he held in his hands. Only now he recognized him, that Man. He recognized him right away. 'In your Light, O Lord, we see light' it had been recited in Israel for centuries in the Book of the Psalms. Did this verse now perhaps spring to his mind?

Or did he recall in that moment the words that Jesus had prophetically announced 'the Son of man will be put to death but after three days he will rise'. We don't know. But one thing we do know. Alongside the frightening emptiness of the burial cloths, in the tomb there was written this message contained in images: 'I am alive'. Jesus was no longer dead. The only thing corresponding to this image is not another image, no other icon nor any other painting. The only reality equivalent to that which Peter saw was the living man.

Everything was clear. Why didn't he now call out to John? It wasn't necessary. There were only two meters of distance between the two, one inside and the other outside the tomb. John became aware that Peter had remained shaken at his discovery. Then he also entered, he writes in his gospel and he said of himself 'he saw and believed'.

But he was also 'the disciple whom Jesus loved' as he willingly points out of himself. He was the disciple who later would take Mary, the Mother of Jesus into his house (and also Mary Magdalen as was written in many of the ancient sources) and who drank from the springs of the Mother as the source for his extraordinarily Marian gospel. The love of Christ for him and his love for Christ made him the first to understand the significance of the true image. Could it be that John, and not Peter was the first to raise the veil from the earth and to hold it against the light? Perhaps. 'The risen one is not seen as a piece of wood or stone is seen' wrote Joseph Ratzinger in 1985. 'he alone who sees is the one to whom He has revealed Himself. And He reveals Himself only to those who can be sent. He doesn't reveal Himself to curiosity, but to love."

Secondo Pia as Simon Peter, Part Five

2010-02-20T14:10:00.000-08:00

by Paul Badde, from the official publication of the Shrine of the Holy Face, Il Volto Santo di Manoppello, December 2009.

"At his feet the flickering light was concentrated on something of an indefinable quality, as the wind is able to capture the quavering of a burning bramble thicket in the bush. It had the appearance of golden bronze. If it had remained together with the other cloths on the stone slab, Peter would not have even seen nor felt it with his fingers, because it was very soft and delicate. Only with the light on the pavement was he able to become aware of it. It would not have been possible to notice it on the slab where no light had yet arrived. Because of the low entrance the tenuous rays of light were able to shine only on the pavement. On top of the stone slab the burial cloths remained in the darkness.

Only on the pavement had Peter been able to recognize something, and that which he saw was a fabric as delicate as a breath and so fine that Peter would not have even been aware of it had it remained lying flat on the ground. But it was rolled up, wound around itself. The greek word entetyligmenos which John used must have this meaning. An expression which thus clarifies at least one thing -- it wasn't flat. It was like a breath, but in some way was recognizable as an 'object', a 'material thing' which was captured in the dawn's early light. This is clear. Peter bowed down and picked it up. It was the precious fabric which had been placed on the face of Jesus, made from the finest silk from the sea. It was as light as the feather of an angel. When Peter picked it up he unrolled it and held it against the light coming from the entrance. How else could it be? He didn't direct it towards the darkness of the chamber, inside, but outside against the light. For it was a fabric of light. That reacted to the light.

That which Peter witnessed on that veil held in the direction of the morning light at that moment in the tomb suddenly made it as clear as the sun, no one had taken the Lord away from the tomb. Jesus was not stolen, taken away. Something totally new had happened in the world. That which Peter, in those hours of tenuous light on the first morning of Easter, had recognized on that transparent fabric, in the transparence against the light of the entrance, was an event that had never happened before. It was a veil 'not made by human hands' it would be said later. It was the True Image"

Secondo Pia as Simon Peter, Part Four

2010-02-19T14:52:00.000-08:00

"Why then didn't Peter hurry outside to go with John to the Roman Governor? why then didn't he cry out 'they have taken away the Lord'. When didn't he immediately look for the other apostles to decide with them what to do, or to go to the Sanhedrin to complain with all the force he could muster, 'it's not possible! You first put to death our Teacher and afterwards take away in secret his body. He is a Jew like us. Doesn't he at least have the right to the peace of the dead? What other sacrilege do you still want to commit?' Was he too afraid to do this? Why didn't he run with John to Joseph of Arimathea and to Nicodemus who had placed Jesus in the tomb and had arranged for the great stone to be placed before the entrance. Why not? Because the thread of the story continues very differently from what the Madalen had said regarding her experience and observation. 'They have taken away the Lord from the tomb and we don't know where they have laid him'. Peter himself didn't show himself to be wiser or more prophetic than the Magadalen. There was no other possibility other than the fact that Jesus had been taken away. In what way? Perhaps by the Romans, perhaps by thieves or by who knows what other persons. But one thing was certain -- he was no longer there! He had simply vanished.

This is how the women interpreted what had happened and also Peter as well, but with one difference. He 'saw the wrappings unfolded and the sudarium that was placed around the head of Jesus', we read in the Gospel, 'but (the sudarium) was not with the wrappings, rather folded in a separate place'. Let's not forget that it was still very dark when Mary Magdalen arrived. The entrance to the tomb opened towards the east, towards the walls of the city. There the dawn rises very slowly. A weak morning light succeeds in penetrating through the opening of the rock in that hollow of small dimensions. This was the difference. Peter unexpectedly recognized something else in the dark on the pavement."

by Paul Badde
from the official publication of the Shrine of the Holy Face Il Volto Santo di Manoppello, Dec. 2009

Secondo Pia as Simon Peter part three

2010-02-12T13:08:00.001-08:00

continuing my translation of Paul Badde's article from the official publication of the shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello Il Volto Santo Santo di Manoppello, December 2009

"It would be helpful to take a look at the road leading to the tomb of Christ, in company with Peter and John. Mary Magdalen had run in a hurry to them "early in the morning when it was still dark" and had alarmed them "they have taken away the Lord from the tomb and we don't know where they have laid him". Was this meeting perhaps at a refuge at the feet of the Mount of Olives or on Mount Sion? We don't know. To travel the road to and from Mt. Sion would have taken around a quarter of an hour, while to go to the Mount of Olives and then return would have required double that. And then the effort would have been tiring, uphill, towards the city and around the walls of the city. All this remains unspoken. Could the Magdalen have been able to see inside the tomb without any light? We don't know. In the darkness she had seen that the massive rock which served to close the entrance had been removed, rolled away, writes John who in the pre-dawn hours had hurried to the tomb together with Peter. Had it already begun to grow lighter? It's possible but at Jerusalem the dawning corrresponds to a rather brief period of time. "Then Peter and the other disciple left and headed for the tomb" it is nevertheless written in the Gospel. "They ran together but since the other disciple was younger, he arrived first. He bent down and saw the cloths laid out but did not enter into the tomb". John had to bend down. Still today we note how low the entrance was. The things which could been able to have been distinguished in this room, from the outside, could not have been many. But why then didn't he enter. Certainly partly due to the religious respect towards tombs which is held by every devout Jew. John had been under the cross. He knew that Jesus was truly dead. Respectful also was Simon Peter, and also no less devout. But he was certainly in a state of total confusion. Peter was beside himself from the moment two evenings before when he had betrayed three times the dearest person in his life, and this in the hour of his greatest suffering. Now he ran behind, but wanted to enter immediately into the burial chamber. No one could have been able to stop him. After the disturbing news from the Magadalen he had to enter, he had to verify what had happened. It wasn't much. He saw the cloths lying there, writes John, but without candles, without light, in the weak light of the fleeing night which would be able to penetrate through the narrow opening, we can think of this "seeing" without a doubt more as a touching and feeling. How could it be any different? The cloths were liturgically impure, as the rest of the tomb was. There it was fully dark, above all to the right, alongside the entrance above the stone slab where Jesus had been laid. Then Peter touched and "saw" the cloths and immediately understood, he is not here! There was no one there anymore. Again another time he felt the various cloths on the bed of stone. Jesus was not there any more. There was no doubt!"

Secondo Pia as Simon Peter part two

2010-01-29T13:03:00.000-08:00

the slab of stone where Christ was laid as it is today in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem

continuing my translation of Paul Badde's article from Il Volto Santo di Manoppello, Dec. 2009.

In his recounting of those moments John speaks above all of cloths, in greek "othonia", that is, a plural form of the noun. So there was more than one cloth that he had seen lying in that place as is customary for the traditional jewish burial rites. It is clear that among these cloths there was found the large "Shroud". Certainly there was also the "Sudarium" which is preserved in Oviedo in Northern Spain. This had been spread over the face of the crucified one immediately after his death in order to collect the blood which gushed from his mouth after his last breath; and was certainly buried together with Jesus. This cloth however does not contain any image. On it is found only stains from blood and other bodily fluid. The same goes for another "Sudarium", preserved at Cahors in France, which held the chin of Jesus in place. This also was buried together with the body of Jesus, and in the same way, does not show any image. The "image" appearing on the Shroud of Turin, however, Peter could not already have been able to see in the tomb. It was not possible to unfold the cloth there. For the place was too narrow, the room too small to be able to spread it out. The Shroud, as is well known, measures four meters in length (more than twelve feet). But it is not however the marks of blood that make the Shroud mysteriously symbolic but the image of Christ itself.

John, after having twice mentioned the "cloths", speaks again in a specific way of the "Sudarium" that was wrapped around the head of Jesus, but that had not been found "placed" together with the other wrappings, but instead folded in a "special" place and the designation of place remains an enigma. This sudarium had been apparently placed by itself, separated from the other cloths. John lends particular attention to this singularity in a passage which is extremely brief. But if it was like this, then the sudarium must have been laid out on the ground. The possibility of another separate place alongside the slab of stone at the right side of the narrow corridor does not exist. Immediately behind the rocky bed there rises up solid rock. The slab was not a bed in which something could disappear in one of its folds. Another place, outside or alongside, does not correspond to the actual space of the tomb, whose simple structure points to the position of the small veil in only one way. The text by itself could not have any other meaning, in respect to the other cloths in that specific place, than "on the floor of the chamber" at the feet of Peter.

That Light in the Darkroom and in the Sepulcher in Jerusalem

2010-01-28T12:51:00.000-08:00

by Paul Badde

from the official publication of the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello

Il Volto Santo di Manoppello, Dec. 2009 edition (Anno XCV #2) my translation of part one

"My heart almost stopped" is how Secondo Pia described the moment on a night in May 1898 when he withdrew the 50 x 60 centimeters photographic plate with the image of the Holy Shroud from the developing dish and held for the first time the face illuminated by the red light of the darkroom. Suddenly that image of a dead man appeared before him with all his wounds and the majesty of a king, appearing clearly to the observer, only in the image of a negative. "I almost let the plate fall to the floor. I feared breaking it in the sudden emotion of seeing before me the face of Jesus, as for 1900 years no one had ever seen. Two weeks later, in Genoa a newspaper had already spoken of the sensational discovery.

The history of the Shroud however had not begun with this discovery, because many before then were aware of what this cloth might have hidden within it. Before 1898 just in Western Europe alone there existed at least four churches purposefully dedicated to the cloth: Lirey, Saint Hipolyte, Chambery and Turin. In addition at Rome there was also a church where a copy of the image of Turin was preserved, the Church of the Holy Shroud on the Via del Sudario, close to the Basilica of San Andrea. Yet the first photo of the Shroud offered an incredible impulse to research. In effect on that night between the 28th and the 29th of May 1898 at Turin an incredible circle was closed, one that had begun to take shape in Jerusalem. And for this reason the beginning of the history of the Shroud is to be assigned to an environment without light.

There still exists the place of the origin of the cloth, even if Caliph Al Hakim had it destroyed and burned in 1009. But following that it was completely rebuilt according to its ancient structure. In it is the burial chamber of Christ in Jerusalem where every morning is read the Gospel of John, eyewitness of the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

For all of Christianity this represents the decisive point of the Gospel. It is absolutely unthinkable that John could have written in this part of the Gospel about affairs of little importance. In any case I had never heard any other passage proclaimed so many times as the first 8 verses of chapter 20 which I found translated in so many languages, the majority of which I didn't know. But it was not even a problem because I quickly learned the text by memory in those two years during which, as much as possible, I went there every morning. This happened during the years of the most recent intifada, when in that place there was solitude and tranquility as in a total paradise. This chamber drew me like a magnet. I could still draw it blindfolded: the low entrance, to the right the stone slab, beyond on the left side the passage way so tight that it is possible to cover only on one's knees or bent over. The Sepulcher of Christ was a narrow passage way on the left that led into the chamber where the deceased, wrapped in the cloth, was placed within the recess excavated along the right side. I still can hear in my ears the soft crackling of the candles placed in that room from which sprang for the whole world the first spark of the faith which announced Easter. Just by drawing ourselves closer to this moment, with the light of the dawn, the Gospel of John and the cloths, we can still distinctly hear today the crackling sound of that spark.

thanks to the author Paul Badde and to the Rector of the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello, Fr. Carmine Cucinelli, O.F.M., Cap. for allowing and encouraging me to post this translation. In the days ahead I will be posting the rest of this article, along with other articles from the same edition of Il Volto Santo di Manoppello.