The Shroud of Turin is Absolutely Authentic.

The Shroud of Turin is a genuine relic, as well as the Holy House of Nazareth in Loreto.

Studies purporting to demonstrate that the Shroud is not genuine continue to appear in the media and in journals. As recently as 2018 the Journal of Forensic Sciences published the results of a study conducted on the pattern of blood flow on the Shroud. They concluded the stains were the result of multiple poses; rivulets on the back of the left hand were made by a person whose arms were at a 45 degree angle, not a vertical position, “while the stains at the back—of a supposed postmortem bleeding from the same wound for a supine corpse—are totally unrealistic.” The scientists presented this paper at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. [Link.] 

 

The NBC News website publicized the findings with this spectacular headline: “Forensic research (once again) suggests the Shroud of Turin is fake.” [Link.]

Fortunately the Lord Himself has revealed the truth through the private revelations contained in Maria Valtorta’s Notebooks.

Speaking of Italy, Jesus said to Maria: “Can you say that I have not loved this land, where I have brought the relics of my life and my death; the house in Nazareth where I was conceived in an embrace of luminous ardor between the Divine Spirit and the Virgin, and the Shroud where the sweat of my Death imprinted the sign of my pain, suffered for humanity?” [July 22 1943.]

“O Italy, Italy, to which I have given so much and which has forgotten Me and forgotten my benefits! And from that Piedmont, where there is a witness to God not inferior to that of the Mosaic Tabernacle – for, if there were two tablets in it written by God’s prophet, here there is the story of my Passion written with the ink of divine Blood on the linen which mercy offered to cloak my nakedness as the Immolated One. . . ” [October 23, 1943; Turin is the capital of the Piedmont region in Italy; Turin’s Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist is the resting place of the Holy Shroud.]

The agonies of Christ on the cross were numerous, and one of the cruelest was the agony of His hands. Were they pierced at the wrist or at the palm? Actually it was both. The right hand was nailed through the wrist, while on the left hand the nail went through the palm. On the Holy Shroud only the wound on the right hand is visible, since the right hand overlays the left hand.

 

 

On December 29, 1943 the Lord explained the reason for this difference to Maria Valtorta, as explained in her Notebooks. First, holes were made into the wood of the transverse beam where the hands were to be nailed. The executioners intended to pierce the Lord “. . . by the wrist joints, immediately above the carpus, to make the attachment more secure.” This is where they pierced his right hand. But when they extended his left arm, it would not reach the hole on that side. Therefore the executioners forcibly stretched his left arm to try make it reach the pre-made hole, but it would still not reach it. The Lord told Maria, “. . . after having stretched my arm to the point of producing the tearing of my tendons, they decided to hammer the nail into the center of my palm, between the bones of the metacarpus.” 

 

Once the cross was raised, and the weight of His body was shifted downward and forward, the nail on the left palm cut greatly towards the thumb, expanding the wound on that hand more than the one on his right wrist. “And it was also the most tormenting, both because it was on the side of the heart and because the nail, on entering, broke the nerves and tendons in the hand, causing an atrocious agony which spread to my head.” 

 

A few artists and sculptors have, “out of a sense of art,” depicted Jesus with his right hand open and the left hand partially closed. They have, “. . . without so desiring, borne witness to a physical truth of my martyred Body, for the left hand really closed into a fist, both in agony and because of the breaking of the cut nerves. . .” “My agonies on the cross were numerous . . . but this agony of the hands was one of the cruelest.”

 

Maria Valtorta’s description is remarkably consistent with those of other mystics. Venerable Mary of Agreda, Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, and St. Bridget of Sweden all report that the Lord’s left arm was violently extended to make it reach the hole in the wood of the Cross. Yet, Valtorta had never read books concerning “revelations” as she stated in her Autobiography.

 

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The Risen Jesus consoles the mother of Judas Iscariot.

An overview based on private revelations to Maria Valtorta (from The Gospel as Revealed to Me formerly known as the The Poem the Man-God.)

Old Ananias, a relative of Mary of Simon – the mother of Judas Iscariot – bursts into her home in Kerioth the night of Good Friday, having run away from Jerusalem. He enters the home while shouting that her son has betrayed the Master and handed Him over to His enemies! Ananias relates in a frenzy that Judas has betrayed Him with a kiss, and that the Lord has been beaten, crowned with thorns, and crucified through the action of her son. The Master’s enemies with obscene triumph are boasting of the betrayal of the Lord for a few coins, while broadcasting the misdeeds of Judas.

Mary of Simon collapses on the floor, suddenly turning a dark color – according to the doctors her liver had burst, and the bile flowing out corrupted her blood. Neighbors were shouting that her son Judas had betrayed God; she is the mother of the betrayer of God. Old Ananias, with the help of Anne, a follower of the Lord, and assisted by only one other person willing to be near Mary, evacuated her that evening to the safety of the country home of Anne, in order to escape the constant vituperation.

She was lying in bed at Anne’s home, under her loving care. Mary’s features are altered beyond recognition, her eyes red with tears and fever. Her hair in a short time has become more white than black. Weeping, she sobs that she is the mother of the Cain . . . of God. Even the wind says it, ‘Mary of Simon you are the mother of the betrayer of the Master, who handed Him over to His executioners.’ The whole earth shouts it. She does not want to live any longer, moaning that she is the mother of Judas! “What did I give birth to?”

Anne tries her best to calm her, insisting that she is innocent and that it is certain that the Lord loves her. Anne then leaves the room to wash some of the soiled cloths that have been used to wipe the sweat and tears of Mary. After she is gone, the room is lit up by the appearance of the Risen Jesus, who calls out to Mary. But the delirious mother pays no attention to the voice. The Lord calls her gently, “Mary, Mary of Simon.” But she can only repeat, “The mother of Judas! What have I given birth to?”

Two tears well up in the eyes of the compassionate Lord, as He sits down on the edge of the bed. He lays his hand on Mary’s forehead, pushing aside the damp cloths, and He answers her question by saying that Judas was a poor wretch, that and nothing else. No matter what the world shouts, He implores, God says to have peace because He loves her. He continues: “Look at Me poor mother, gather your lost spirit and put it in My hands, I am Jesus!”

 

 

                             The Risen Lord appears to Mary Magdelene, by Fra Angelico

She opens her eyes as if exiting a nightmare; she sees Jesus and feels His hand on her forehead. But she moans and covers her face in shame, begging Jesus not to curse her. In her sorrow, she adds: “If I had known what I was giving birth to, I would have torn my womb to prevent him from being born.”

Jesus, however, tells her she would have sinned by doing that. She should not depart from her justice because of the sin of someone else. She has done her duty as a mother, and: “The mothers who have fulfilled their duty must not consider themselves responsible for the sins of their sons.” Yet she struggles to avoid the hands of Jesus that wish to caress her, saying that He should not touch her because she is the mother of a demon.

As the tears of Jesus fall on her feverish face, He says to Mary that His tears of compassion have purified her. Since His own sorrowful Passion, He had not shed his tears on anyone, but he tells her that He is weeping over her with all of His loving pity. He succeeds in holding her trembling hands; and caressed by his loving eyes, she begins to calm down. She asks the Lord if He bears any grudge against her. Jesus replies that He has love for her, that He has come to give her love and peace.

But Mary says that while He forgives, the world won’t and His Mother will hate her. Jesus responds that His Mother Mary thinks of Mary of Simon as a sister; it is true that the world is cruel, but the Blessed Virgin is the Mother of Love. Even though the mother of Judas can not show herself in the world, the Blessed Virgin herself will come to visit her when everything is at peace.

But the forlorn woman says to Jesus: “Make me die, if you love me.” The Lord asks her to give Him a period of time of her suffering, for it will be a short one. Her sorrow serves to join with His wounds – and her tears and His Blood wash the world. Grief stricken, Mary cries out that since her son betrayed Him with a kiss, will He allow her to cancel it by letting her kiss His hands? There is nothing else she can do. The Lord does not want to her to become upset by seeing the wounds that are covered by the long sleeves of His tunic. So He takes her head in His hands and lightly kisses with his divine lips the forehead of this most unhappy of all women. He blesses her with the partings words: “So be at peace, because there is nothing but love between you and Me.”

Her friend Anne has re-entered the room, dumbfounded at seeing the resurrected Lord. Jesus walks out with her into the corridor, and thanks her for taking care of Mary. His face is sad. He tells Anne that if Judas had only cast a glance of repentance at Him, He would have obtained God’s forgiveness for him. He had been sinning for months, and nothing He said or did could arrest the will of Judas to sin. Anne asked if Judas had not thought of his mother, that she would be accused of being the mother of the betrayer? The Lord replied that it was one of the reasons He had recourse to in reaching out to Judas, to try to hold him back. But Judas went so far as to hate God, and he had never loved father or mother or anyone else with true love.

Old Ananias, who had helped to bring Mary to Anne’s home, opens the door and enters. He immediately prostrates himself, giving a stifled cry: “The Lord!” He is a relative of Mary of Simon, and he dares not move, but weeps, saying: “We are of horrible blood!” The Lord tells Ananias to take heart, God is just. “Relatives who have done their duty must not consider themselves responsible for the sin of a relative.”

After a short conversation with Ananias, Jesus prepares to leave the home. He becomes as bright and handsome as He was on Mt. Tabor. A light envelopes Him, concealing His parting smile. And the corridor is instantly left without him, as Anne and Ananias kneel in adoration.  

 

Based on Chapter 628 of The Gospel as it was Revealed to Me, by Maria Valtorta.

 

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