![]() This conclusion does not prove that the blood is Christ’s Blood, of course, but it sets the foundation for other conclusions that I’ll describe below. In each case, scientists came to the same conclusion that the blood on these ancient cloths is actual human blood, not blood from an animal or stains created by any other substance. Serafini carefully analyzed all the data about the blood contained on them. Various teams of scientists from many different specialties and nations examined the Passion Cloths throughout the 20 th century, and in his book, Dr. Most fascinating of all is that a number of the blood stains on the Tunic and the Sudarium correspond exactly to several of the prominent blood stains on the Shroud. Serafini’s study includes the Holy Tunic of Argenteuil (housed in the abbey of Saint-Denis near Paris) that has been venerated since antiquity as Christ’s “seamless garment” (John 19:23), as well as the Sudarium of Oviedo (in the Cathedral of Oviedo in Northern Spain) that is considered to be the neatly-folded face cloth found in the tomb on the morning of the Resurrection (John 20:7).Īssuming all three Passion Cloths are what we believe them to be, they would have absorbed some amount of the Precious Blood either after the scourging (Tunic) or at the burial following the Crucifixion (Shroud and Sudarium). Yet, science can certainly help us understand them.ĭr. Carlo Serafini calls the Passion Cloths in his fascinating book, A Cardiologist Examines Jesus ( Sophia, 2021).Īs relics, these cloths are witnesses to Christ’s life and death, but they are not scientific proofs that take away our need for actual faith in the Person of Christ Himself. ![]() I’m speaking here not only of the famed Shroud of Turin but of other related historical artifacts, which Dr. So it’s no surprise that Catholics have always had an interest in certain religious artifacts that have shown evidence of or even actual stains of the Blood that was poured out for us on Calvary. Thomas Aquinas wrote that even “one drop” of His Blood has the spiritual power to save the entire human race. In his famous Eucharistic hymn, Adoro Te Devote, St. We call the Blood of Christ the Precious Blood because it is more valuable (precious) than all the accumulated riches of the world. In the Creed we confess that Christ was “true God and true man,” which means that He had a truly human body with truly human blood coursing through His veins. We believe, after all, that our salvation was won for us by blood-and not just the blood that flowed through a human body in Palestine two thousand years ago, but the blood that was torn from that body and spilled upon the ground. But as Catholics we have to think about it and speak about it from time to time because it is so central to our faith. Blood is seldom considered a pleasant topic, especially by the squeamish.
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