New museum in Manila exhibits a copy of the Shroud
A life-size replica of the shroud of Turin is on display in the newly inaugurated Museum of the Holy Face of Jesus. Created in 1978 by photographer Barrie Schwortz, the item is housed in a convent in Quiapo district, the heart of devotion to the image of the Black Nazarene.
Manila (AsiaNews) – A life-size copy of the Shroud of Turin will be exhibited in a new museum in Manila’s Quiapo district, also home to the Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Jesus Nazareno, which holds the statue of the Black Nazarene.
Shrouded in mystery, the original sheet which according to tradition wrapped the body of Jesus after the crucifixion, has been venerated for centuries in Turin.
The work of American photographer Barrie Schwortz in 1978, the life-size replica of the Shroud is kept in the new Museum of the Holy Face of Jesus, which is located inside the convent of the homonymous congregation.
Schwortz, who died last June at the age of 77, worked for the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STuRP). As the official photographer, he was part of the team that carried out the first in-depth scientific examination of the item, whose existence is first documented in 1353.
The photographer’s life was deeply marked by the encounter with the Shroud.
The image exhibited in Manila is 4.4 metres long, like the original, and consists of a print on cotton with laser technology, which faithfully reproduces the linen cloth held in Italy.
“The photographer provided us certification that it’s an authentic replica and we are permitted to display it publicly,” said Mother Annunciata Mendoza, superior of the Sisters of the Holy Face of Jesus (HFJ).
Card Jose Advincula, metropolitan archbishop of Manila, blessed the museum, which is located on F.R. Hidalgo Street. The facility was inaugurated on Tuesday.
The Philippine congregation received the copy in 2019, but exhibited it only on the feast of the Holy Face of Jesus, which falls on the Tuesday before the start of Lent.
In addition to the copy of the Holy Shroud, the new museum also contains relics that belonged to the late founder of the order of religious sisters, Mother Mary Therese Vicente, a Philippine nun who passed away in 1995 whose remains lie in Quiapo, where she lived.
The devotion to the Black Nazarene has lasted for centuries in this neighbourhood. The wooden statue made by a Mexican artist in 1606 depicts a life-size Christ dying on the way to Calvary, while carrying a massive cross.
Its peculiarity is its black skin, unusual in this kind of representation, and attributed to the smoke of votive candles.
It is carried in procession three times a year: on 9 January, the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus; on Good Friday; and on the last day of the year, 31 December.
With this final arrangement, the replica of the Shroud has found a final home in an area of strong devotion. Starting next week, it is expected to draw legions of faithful and the curious, attracted by its mystery, but above all by its testimony.
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04/05/2018 14:43
