Permanent Exhibit on the Shroud of Turin at St Thomas the Apostle Parish:
Arrival and Inauguration
“For the grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age, as we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of the great God and of our savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good.” Tt 2:11-14
In the freezing midmorning of January 6th 2022, these words were particularly alive in the city of Ann Arbor, and especially in the Parish of St Thomas the Apostle where a copy of the Holy Shroud has been delivered on that very day. Indeed, St Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in the diocese of Lansing, Michigan, has been blessed by the possibility of hosting the Othonia’s Permanent Exhibit on the Shroud of Turin.
Two trucks were needed to unload the precious cargo and the operation was quite laborious since the framed copy of the Holy Shroud, crated as seen in the pictures, is approximately 16 ft long.
The copy of the Holy Shroud and the other Exhibit elements were then stored in a safe room waiting to be properly displayed.
The Parish has then provided a room to host the Exhibit. The Shroud Room was completely remodeled between the middle of June 2022 and the end of August 2022.
The Exhibit has been inaugurated on October 7th, 2022 festivity of Our Lady of the Rosary. On the inauguration day Fr Joseph Spence ffm offered a meditation on The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary in the Light of the Shroud of Turin. In the pictures some moments of the inauguration day with the unveiling of the Shroud . Our Pastor RevFr Bill Ashbaugh blessed the Exhibit and read the Gospel of John 20: 1-18. The Soprano Ginger Thorne-Herrmann sang the Ave Verum Corpus and the Salve Regina accompanied by Brittany Osman at the Viola. Since then the Shroud Exhibit is open to public and tours are given every Monday (5-8pm) and every Friday (4-6pm).
The Shroud, challenge to our intelligence, has indeed appeared into our lives so that once more the questions of what Truth is, where Life can be found, which is the Way that we can direct our lives, could resonate in us and find an answer, and to help each one of us to confront oneself with the great questions that the very fact of our existence poses to us. It is the Holy Shroud, bearer of the living and loving presence of Christ, that came towards us and that can speak to the heart of every person calling each person individually to abandon oneself to the kind of Love that on it is eloquently manifested. Thus, it is the risen Christ the one who, through the Holy Shroud, invites us to do of our lives something great united to Him. With these feelings, with much gratitude to the Lord and being witnesses of this Love, we are welcoming the Holy Shroud Exhibit at St Thomas.
Useful links:
CENTRO INTERNAZIONALE DI STUDI SULLA SINDONE ( CISS TORINO) https://sindone.it/museo/en/home/
OTHONIA INTERNATIONAL: https://en.othoniainternational.org/
SHROUD of TURIN EDUCATION and RESEARCH ASSOCIATION, Inc. (STERA, Inc.)https://www.shroud.com/
Centro Español de Sindonología (CES) http://www.linteum.com/