INTRODUCTION

For those who believe
no proof is necessary.
For those who do not believe
no scientific evidence will suffice.

PRAYER

Father, you wanted your only Son to become man, showing us in his human nature a perfect image of your divinity. We pray, that uniting ourselves with him in the humiliation of the crucifixion, we may come to contemplate forever his glorious FACE in the joy of the Resurrection. (Mass of the Holy Face of Jesus)

INTRODUCTION

This short explanation of the Holy Shroud of Turin is the fruit of 40 years of apostolate by Fr. Theophilus Gregori, osb, and Fr. Hilary Conti, osb. They have preached Christ, and Him crucified, and have helped hundreds of people to visualize the Passion of our Lord with the help of a series of slides taken from the Holy Shroud of Turin and by presenting to the people a life size replica of the same. This exact replica of the burial cloth of Jesus, along with many particulars taken from it, is exhibited at Holy Face Monastery (Clifton, New Jersey). They have spoken to Catholics as well as non-Catholics; to college, high school, 6 grade school students, as well as to church societies. They have been invited to tell the story of the Holy Shroud on radio and television. Both are Benedictine monks, not scientists. Their main purpose in presenting the Holy Shroud is the edification of the audience, and not so much to satisfy their intellectual curiosity, even though they are aware of the extensive studies made by scientists in the last hundred years.
They make use of the Bible to bring to the attention of the audience the continuity and harmony between the prophesies of the Old Testament, especially Isaiah, the Gospels, and the Shroud. They point out the visible details of the crucifixion on the Holy Shroud as they reflect on the story of the Passion and Death of Our Lord as told by the Evangelists. They believe in the authenticity of the relic as truly the linen cloth used by Joseph of Arimathaea in the burial of Jesus. Like Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, as well as many other Popes, they consider it a relic and use it to help the people to come to know Jesus a little better, and Him crucified. By reading these pages may Jesus become a real person to you for whom He suffered the pain of His Passion and Death as revealed in the Holy Shroud.

Jesus' body was laid on half of the shroud, then the other half was placed on the front of His body.
(Painting at Holy Face Monastery, Clifton, N.J)