| Editor : Abbé Georges de Nantes | N° 85 – October 2009 |
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HOLY SHROUD
PILGRIMAGE OF REPARATION AND CONSOLATION
From Ascension Thursday, 13 May, to Sunday 16 May 2010.
THE RESTORED HOLY SHROUD
It is certain that if we had not denounced the crime of the false “medieval dating” that Cardinal Ballestrero proclaimed on 13 October 1988, no one would speak any more about this signal Relic, other than as some worthless thing that is exposed in the British Museum’s gallery of “famous fakes”.
But, since it is the “medieval dating” that is “fake”, the Holy Shroud is true. This is why it will be the object, not of a new dating, but of a new exhibition next spring, from 10 April to 23 May. It will be a “premiere”, for, since 2002, the Holy Shroud resembles less what we contemplated in 1998 than what Peter and John discovered in the empty tomb twenty centuries ago.
In 1998, for the centenary of photography’s revealing the authenticity of the Holy Shroud, we were a thousand pilgrims who filed past through the cathedral « that was plunged into darkness, as though we were proceeding to the cemetery, to the tomb of some Masonic notability, the Abbé de Nantes deplored. Nevertheless, this rapid vision was enough to stir every one of our pilgrims, who left promising to return later, like Mary Magdalene going to the tomb of her adored Master… »
Well! The moment has come to return to Turin in order to discover a Holy Shroud with a new look, as it were, a figure of the risen Jesus… In 2002, the Centro of Turin, the Centre of International Studies on the Holy Shroud, took the initiative of removing the thirty patches of cloth that the Poor Clares of Chambéry sewed onto the Holy Cloth in 1534 to repair the damage caused by the fire of 1532. The Centro also had replaced the Holland cloth that was sewn onto it at the same time as the patches to reinforce the whole piece of linen. Mrs. Mechtilde Flury-Lemberg carried out this work in strict secrecy from 20 June to 22 July 2002, in the new sacristy of the Duomo.
What was the reason for this secrecy? It was to avoid… what finally happened, but after the work was finished. When Orazio Petrosillo learned the news he raised a furious storm in the media in the Messaggero of 9 August 2002: « The Holy Shroud of Turin is no longer what it has been for over almost five centuries, from April 1534 right up to these last few weeks. They have removed the repairs to have survived from that date. »
Emmanuela Marinelli, co-author of a book on the Holy Shroud with Petrosillo, alerted her French friends against the « Turin Taliban », worse than those in Afghanistan since they act in secret!
This ridiculous and degrading polemic is the height of integrism! In lamenting that « the Shroud of Turin no longer resembles what millions and millions of people venerated and contemplated during the recent exhibitions of 1978, 1998 and the Jubilee of 2000 », Orazio Petrosillo forgets that the Holy Shroud existed before 1978, before April 1534, and, above all, before 1350, contrary to the alleged results of the carbon 14 dating, because the Holy Shroud is as old as the Risen Jesus.»
Long ago now, the Jew Alan Adler, our colourful friend, the late lamented American biochemist who proved that human blood is present on the Holy Shroud, and who became enamoured of this Christian Relic, was concerned about the damage caused to the tissue by the charred deposits dating from the fire of 1532, trapped under the patches that the Poor Clare nuns had sewn onto it.
Thus we will discover a “rejuvenated” Holy Shroud. The “Holland cloth” has been replaced by a new backing cloth sewn with invisible stitches along the edges of the Shroud and the borders of the burn holes, in order to hold firmly together the damaged parts. They were freed from the patches that the Poor Clares had added long ago. These patches proved to be pockets of carbonaceous residues and dusty detritus, as Adler had feared.
By unfolding the edges of the burn holes that the Poor Clares had hemmed under, it was seen that the process of carbonisation had travelled, as Adler had supposed, and was still in progress. In order to stop the progression without cutting away the charred parts at the risk of damaging the unburned cloth, the seamstresses used tweezers to remove material which tended to give way when pulled and to reach the brownish borders. The result, which we will have before our eyes if God so wills, is a Shroud that is no longer disfigured by the intrusion of the sewn-on patches, which were not replaced but remain marked by the thin brown borders, the scars left by the fire of 1532.
« During our work, Mrs. Mechtilde Flury-Lemberg confided, we took care not to think too much about the mysterious Object that was passing under our hands and determined to keep our minds on what we had to do. Yet each time we finished a day's work a shiver of wonderment returned. Towards the end there was an ever-growing desire to remain with the Shroud, to be able to speak to that Victim. »
A multitude have already announced that they will participate, and we must register without delay if we want to take place in the procession that will pass before the Holy Relic unfolded full-length, exhibited above the high altar of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin. There, we will contemplate and adore, with the eyes and heart of St. Veronica, the traces that Jesus’ Body left on this linen cloth stained with His Precious Blood, which He shed for us during His sorrowful Passion.
In honour of the fourth centenary of the founding of the Visitation Order (1610-2010), our pilgrimage will begin at Annecy, at the feet of SS. Jeanne de Chantal and Francis de Sales, in order to receive there the grace of the unequalled devotion of the holy bishop to the Holy Shroud: « The reproduction of this sacred effigy was his favourite image, wrote Mgr Camus, Bishop of Belley, his friend and neighbour, He had it in embroidery, in painting, in oils, in line engraving, in illumination, in half relief and engraving. He put it in his bedroom, in his chapel, in his oratory, in his study, in his living room, in his gallery, in his breviary, everywhere. »
As for our Father, the Abbé de Nantes, he had it printed on the holy card for his ordination.
« It is the country’s shield, the holy bishop would say; it is our great Relic… Certainly, I have a particular reason for being devoted to it, for my mother dedicated me to Our Lord, when I was in her womb, before this holy standard of our salvation. »
It was precisely in Annecy, in the collegiate church of Notre-Dame-de-Liesse that the Holy Shroud was exhibited from 17 to 21 July 1566.
The new backing-cloth on which the Shroud now rests is a length of raw linen that was bought in Holland… It has a deep ivory hue and a silky aspect that provides a soft relief for the holes left by the 1532 fire.
The Blood had passed through the Holy Shroud so completely that one could recognise the correspondence between where it occurs on the back and the image on the front. There is, however, no recognisable trace of the image of the Body visible on the reverse.
Above, the photographic negative reveals a man of great physical beauty. Tall, well built, muscular, of athletic virility, showing the full form of this perfectly developed being. By eliminating the defects in the linen cloth, the restoration that was effected by the expert hands of Mrs. Mechtilde Flury-Lemberg and her assistant, contributes to bringing out this slender height and magnificent bearing of the head. The Holy Face of Jesus is radiant with an immense serenity, with a gentle and humble majesty.
VISITATION OF HOLY MARY, FOURTH CENTENARY (1610-2010)
In the retreat that our Father preached to us in 1995 on “St. Francis de Sales and his Extraordinary Vocation”, he showed us how « the miracle, the grace of the sweet encounter between St. Francis de Sales and St. Jeanne de Chantal, which God willed, had marked a new birth in their life. There occurred a mysterious outpouring of the very Love of God into the heart of St. Francis de Sales in order that, by flowing from this heart, this torrent of love pass into the heart of St. Jeanne de Chantal and through her mediation, it pass on to many others: her relatives, her father, her father-in-law, her close friends and thus, in a chain, to infinity, as far as the most abandoned souls, the most humble, in order to make them friends of God and his saints. »
One day, full of joy to see the soul of St. Jeanne de Chantal overwhelmed with grace, St. Francis exclaimed: « O daughter, daughter, much water is falling. » This was an allusion to St. Theresa of Avila, who often compares grace and divine favours to rain. But Madame de Chantal, who was lost in the thought of God and unable to see that the sky was cloudless, replied: “Let it continue to rain, Father!” He smiled and in silence continued to listen to her.
In these conversations full of God, His love and detachment from everything, it was never a question of her having to leave the world one day. Yet, one day she exclaimed: « O my God, Father, will you not snatch me from the world and from myself? » He slowly answered her after a silence: « Yes, one day you will leave all things, you will come to me, and I will place you in state where you will renounce everything completely for God. »
On the eve of the founding of the Visitation Order, she received this note from Monseigneur:
« We must don the greatness of courage in order to serve God to the utmost degree and with the utmost valour that we can. Why do we think that He wanted to make one heart out of the two, if not in order that this heart be extraordinarily hardy, brave, courageous, steadfast, and loving in its Creator and Saviour, through whom and in whom I am yours. »
At the beginning of June, they were three friends, assisted by the cheerful Jacqueline Coste, who installed themselves in their little monastery: on Trinity Sunday, 6 June 1610, they had supper at the Bishop’s house with the de Sales family. Then they received, one after another, a personal blessing from Monseigneur. He presented Madame de Chantal the rule of the Congregation; and, without further ado, they left on foot for the small house in the suburb where at a five-minute walk from there, Jacqueline Coste was awaiting them.
St. Francis de Sales wanted to call them the Daughters of St. Martha. This name did not really please Madame de Chantal, who wanted to be under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin, but she said nothing. When she no longer thought about it, Monseigneur told her that obviously he would call them the Daughters of the Visitation, because in visiting the poor, they would have to imitate Mary when She brought to Elizabeth the great joy that was in Her. St. Jeanne accepted, and their monastery became the Visitation of Holy Mary.
A few days after the founding, St. Francis addressed this note to St. Jeanne: « I greet these dear daughters who surround you: they are my sweet loves in Jesus Christ, and you my dear Daughter, you are my own heart in Him who, in order to have yours, presents His own to you exposed… »
« Presently, I look upon our congregation so intently that I am there night and day. »
Another day, he wrote: « Long live God, my Daughter; either nothing or God: for everything that is not God is either nothing, or worse than nothing. Remain entirely in Him, my dear Daughter, and pray to Him that I, too, remain there, and therein let us love one another greatly, my Daughter; for we will never know how to do this too much or enough. What a pleasure to love without fearing overindulgence! Now, there never is any such thing as excessiveness when we love God. »
On 6 June 1611, they made their vows:
« The nobility of Annecy came and packed into the chapel with its simple sheet hangings on which small bouquets of flowers were pinned. Monseigneur spoke about the three grains of wheat that, when thrown into barren soil, multiply in such a manner that in a few years the country abounds in riches. “Thus, he said, we will see these three small souls that God’s Providence has sown in this little corner of the earth multiply beyond number; God’s Mercy will bless them with great prosperity.” »
On 31 December, the first annual chapter was held. Then on 1 January, as had been decided during the chapter, the first visit of the sick and the poor took place. Soon, it became necessary to move, because the house, i.e., the gallery house, proved to be too small. They moved into a larger house, which would come to be called the “first monastery”, close to St. Bruno’s church, which would be their church.
In a year’s time, six new young girls entered. They were from the nobility, and had delicate health. Little by little, they became initiated.
« Once, Sister de Châtel, who was young, rich, and pretty, and who in the past had excelled in music, dance, and song, and now helped Jacqueline Coste in the kitchen, ate a worm-eaten apple during a meal; after dinner, the sisters laughingly complemented her on her spirit of penance. Monseigneur, to whom they related everything, decided that in the refectory they would lower their eyes in order that each of them might mortify herself as she pleases.
« On another day, Sister de Bréchard, who was leading the office, believed that she would be able to do so without using her breviary and was at a loss in the middle of an Oremus, which amused the other sisters. Monseigneur ordered that the sister leading the office would never recite anything from memory, and he wrote it down for the future constitutions. »
« Françon de Chantal, whom a friendly family had taken in for a few weeks, came in summer to join her mother. One day, Madame de Thorens brought her a squirrel, and it was a joy for the novices. This house was to be open for charity, widows were to be accepted, and their young children taken in to permit them to enter. Monseigneur saw it as a waste of time, even as foolishness. He did not rush things, but he forbade bringing any useless animal into the convent. »
« The reason was that, despite his smile, he accepted no laxity. The poverty of the beginnings proves it. One day, the sisters only had one loaf of bread and a pear for dinner. They cheerfully cut it into eight parts, and they spoke about it as the best meal of their life. This was, certainly, an exceptional case. By dint of thriftiness, they managed to lack nothing. »
It must be said that God came to their assistance.
« Thus, the small barrel that M. Favre sent was enough for their meals from June 1610 to the wine harvest of 1611. At that time they believed it would be prudent to buy new wine; then the barrel suddenly went so dry that they were greatly surprised by it. Madame de Chantal thought of the flour of Bourbilly [where she had worked a miracle] and assured them that it would have lasted longer if they had had more confidence in God.
« In winter, they only lit fires in the rooms of those who were sick; these women, who had been accustomed to comfort and luxury, never complained. During an intense cold spell that had covered them with chilblains, Monseigneur found one of them with her hands wrapped in a piece of cloth: “Well, my Daughter! You are wearing a muff, and I do not have one! Yet, look at my hands…” The sister, ashamed, threw the rag away.
« They took the discipline, wore hair shirts and cilicia; their example prompted even little Françon to scourge herself with stinging nettles. The lack of austerities for which the new convent was criticised was, therefore, quite relative; but it is true that on this point, Francis feared excess much more than negligence. He mercilessly held the ardour of his daughters in check and, if compared to Poor Clares and Carmelites, despite themselves, they led a gentle life. (Maurice Henry-Coüannier, Saint François de Sales et ses amitiés, pp. 239-240) »
Thus, day after day, he trained them.
Let us admire St. Francis de Sales, let us admire St. Jeanne de Chantal, and let us pray that during the new Counter-Reformation and Renaissance of the Church that is imminent, the Visitation may faithfully maintain both this care for the poor and this mystery of brotherly love flowing upon the world like a torrent and reaching the most deprived.
THE DEVOTION OF A PREDESTINED SOUL
Whilst waiting to seeing you, my very dear Mother, my soul greets yours with a thousand greetings. May God fill your whole soul with the life and death of His Son Our Lord!
At about this time, a year ago, I was in Turin 1, and, while pointing out the Holy Shroud among such a great crowd of people, a few drops of sweat fell from my face on to this Holy Shroud itself. Whereupon, our heart made this wish: May it please You, Saviour of my life, to mingle my unworthy sweat with Yours, and let my blood, my life, my affections merge with the merits of Your sacred sweat!
My very dear Mother, the Prince Cardinal was somewhat annoyed that my sweat dripped onto the Holy Shroud of my Saviour 2; but it came to my heart to tell him that Our Lord was not so delicate, and that He only shed His sweat and His Blood for them to be mingled with ours, in order to give us the price of eternal life. And so, may our sighs be joined with His, so that they may ascend in an odour of sweetness before the Eternal Father.
But what am I going to recall? I saw that when my brothers were ill in their childhood, my mother would make them sleep in a shirt of my father’s, saying that the sweat of fathers was salutary for children. Oh, may our heart sleep, on this holy day, in the Shroud of our divine Father, wrapped in His sweat and in His Blood; and there, may it be, as if at the very death of this divine Saviour, buried in the sepulchre, with a constant resolution to remain always dead to itself until it rises again to eternal glory. We are buried, says the Apostle, with Jesus Christ in death here below, so that we may no more live according to the old life, but according to the new. Amen.
The 4 May 1614.
(2) It has to be said that the Prince Cardinal, not being a saint, had cause for being put out. The Duke of Savoy, Charles-Emmanuel I, had commissioned Saint Francis de Sales to preach in the presence of the Archbishop. Francis, out of modesty, had arrived in this church outside his diocese without his mozzetta, so the Duke had ordered the Archbishop to let Francis wear his!