St. Jude Thaddeus (Apostle) & the Shroud of Turin

St. Jude Thaddeus was one the apostles of Jesus whose apostolic work after the resurrection is not mentioned explicitly in Scripture. But thanks to tradition, there are some interesting information that one can discover about St. Jude. Since the feast of St. Jude is on Monday (October 28^th), I thought it most appropriate to write about something I recently read connecting the apostle to the Shroud of Turin.

 

For those of you who may not know, the Shroud of Turin is considered to be the linen cloth in which Christ was wrapped after his body was taken down from the cross. This is the same linen cloth found by St. Peter and St. John on Easter Sunday in the empty tomb. The Shroud is kept in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy. 

Shroud of Turin

Now there is an interesting tradition that links St. Jude Thaddeus to the Shroud.

It is said that the King Abgar from the city of Edessa had sent message to Jesus while he was still carrying out his teaching among the Jews, asking for him to cure his Leprosy. Jesus is known to have replied to the King saying that his mission was in Palestine but after his return to the Father, he will send a disciple to him. 

The story continues that after the Ascension of our Lord and during the dispersion of the Apostles under the Jewish persecution in Jerusalem, St. Jude Thaddeus (according to St. Jerome) visited the King of Edessa before continuing to his evangelizing activity in Iran. He is known to have taken an image of Christ with him (which is given further credibility by the very early icons of St. Jude depicting him holding an image of Christ). 

One such tradition indicates that this image was indeed the Holy Shroud (that had made its way now to Turin). A study of the Shroud in Turin had revealed some pollen grains on it that were identified to be from a plant that grows local to Edessa which seems to further confirm this tradition. The Shroud had not been of much use among Jewish converts since the Jewish law considered articles that had come into contact with a dead body to be unclean. The Jews also had an aversion against images of persons due to Mosaic Law. So the early Church had decided it was appropriate to send this as a gift to the pagan king where it would be revered. The image was folded such that only the face of Jesus was featured and sent with St. Jude on his mission to Edessa. 

 

St Jude Thaddeus with the image of Christ

King Abgar is said to have been miraculously cured by St. Jude, and the image of Christ was received with much joy. It became known commonly in Edessa as the image “not made by hands”.

The relics of this great Apostle were brought to Rome after his martyrdom together with those of the Apostle Simon the Zealot. Both their relics today are kept under the St. Joseph’s altar at the St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

“Veni Vidi Deus Vicit” and feast of the Holy Name of Mary

I thought it was appropriate to make a post explaining the story behind the title of this blog. The part of history that I am about to describe was something that I again came to know through a homily by Fr. George on the feast of the Holy Name of Mary (September 12). 

(The materials used to put this post together were from Dr. Warren Carroll’s A History of Christendom Vol. 5: The Revolution against Christendom and the Catholic Encyclopedia)

In May of 1682, the Ottoman Turkish Empire launched an attack headed by Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa to capture Vienna, the seat of the Holy Roman Emperor. Over 100,000 Turkish soldiers laid siege to the city of Vienna and started bombarding the city with canons. Losing Vienna would have been a dire blow for Christendom. The Emperor had sent word to King John Sobieski of Poland asking for help in a fight which Vienna had no hope of winning alone.

King Sobieski was famous around that time as a fierce warrior who had already won many battles against the Turks in his attempts to free Poland. Upon hearing the siege in Vienna, he is known to have said “at every moment of the day I bestir myself to succor Christianity with the help of God, for Christianity finds itself in danger through the threat to Vienna”

King Sobieski agreed and immediately marched south to help. On the way, the King stopped at the Marian shrine of Czestochowa and heard mass. Then he and his troops marched 350 km to reach Vienna in just 14 days. Sobieski wrote to the Pope saying that he will fight to the end. 

Icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, Poland

On September 12^th, Sobieski lead his men to battle, clad in white and blue, and emerging victorious even before the day was over. He wrote to his beloved wife describing the event as “God and Our Lord gave such a victory and glory to our nation as never before was heard in past centuries.” This victory would set off a chain of subsequent victories against the Turks pushing them back and leading Christendom to ultimately break free once and for all from the Ottoman threat.

After the victory, Sobieski sent a letter to Pope Innocent XI containing the words “Veni, vidi, Deus vicit” (I came, I saw, God conquered) attributing his victory to the help of God. Shortly after, Pope Innocent XI extended the already existing feast of the Holy Name of Mary (which was limited to certain orders and locals at the time) to the entire Universal Church by decree to recognize the help of Mary in interceding with God on behalf of Christians during the battle of Vienna.

Prophecies of St. Don Bosco

As many of you may know, Pope Francis is set to consecrate the world to Immaculate Mary on this coming weekend (October 12/13^th, 2013). You may also be aware of the call by Our Lady of Fatima for the consecration of Russia that had been carried out by Pope Bl. John Paul II and therefore see the appropriateness of a similar undertaking by Pope Francis as well. What many may have not heard of (I myself had not till recently) are the prophecies of St. Don Bosco that do show significance relating to the role of Mary in solving this current crisis in the world. 

Now it is true that there are number of prophecies like that of the prophecy of St. Malachi that are hoaxes which seem to needlessly fascinate many in our times. But it is also true that there have been genuine prophesies by recognized saints in the Church that have come to pass as they predicted or helped the Church avoid a calamity. Therefore, to discard all prophesies as mere hoaxes would not be prudent. The prophesies today, though not new Divine Revelation, can be a sign to remind us that God has not simply abandoned the Church and the world but continues to use the saints to guide the Church through troubled times.

It is with this in mind that I want to look at the prophecies of St. Don Bosco (1815- 1888). St. Don Bosco was a priest who was very devoted to the Catholic Church. I will not say much more about his life but I do encourage the interested reader to definitely take a look at the life of this great saint and you can find a good start here. But in this post I would like to draw attention to his prophecies that seem to speak of events, some of which were seemingly fulfilled in the recent past,  present, and some that may happen in times to come. 

St. Don Bosco

One such famous prophecy of his known as the prophecy of two columns can be found in his Biographical Memoirs Volume VII (Pages 107-109). An excerpt is as follows (reproduced from here)

"In the midst of this endless sea, two solid columns, a short distance apart, soar high into the sky. One is surmounted by a statue of the Immaculate Virgin, at whose feet a large inscriptions reads:" 'Auxilium Christianorum' ('Help of Christians'). The other, far loftier and sturdier, supports a Host of proportionate size, and bears beneath it the inscription: 'Salus credentium' ('Salvation of believers').

"The flagship commander - the Roman Pontiff- standing at the helm, strains every muscle to steer his ship between the two columns, from whose summits hang many anchors and strong hooks linked to chains. The entire enemy fleet closes in to intercept and sink the flagship at all costs. They bombard it with everything they have: books and pamphlets, incendiary bombs, firearms, cannons. The battle rages ever more furious. Beaked prows ram the flagship again and again, but to no avail, as, unscathed and undaunted, it keeps on it course. At times, a formidable ram splinters a gaping hole in its hull, but immediately, a breeze from the two columns instantly seals the gash. 

"Meanwhile, enemy cannons blow up; firearms and beaks fall to pieces; ships crack up and sink to the bottom. In blind fury, the enemy takes to hand-to-hand combat, cursing and blaspheming. Suddenly the Pope falls, seriously wounded. He is instantly helped up, but struck a second time, dies. A shout of victory rises from the enemy, and wild rejoicing seeps their ships. But no sooner is the Pope dead than another takes his place. The captains of the auxiliary ships elected him so quickly that the news of the Pope's death coincides with that of his successor's election. The enemy's self-assurance wanes.

"Breaking through all resistance, the new Pope steers his ship safely between the two columns; first, to the one surmounted by the Host, and then the other, topped by the statue of the Virgin. At this point, something unexpected happens. The enemy ships panic and disperse, colliding with and scuttling each other.

"Some auxiliary ships, which had gallantly fought alongside their flagship, are the first to tie up at the two columns. Many others, which had fearfully kept far away from the fight, stand still, cautiously waiting until the wrecked enemy ships vanish under the waves. Then they too head for the two columns, tie up at the swinging hooks and ride safe and tranquil beside their flagship. A great calm now covers the sea."

As we can see, the prophecy suggests that our hope of weathering this current storm seems to be in how well we accomplish the reliance on the the Holy Eucharist and our Blessed Virgin Mary in the Church.

A scene from the prophecy of two columns

 

To appreciate this prophecy more, and to answer the question whether this prophecy had already been fulfilled, it is worth looking at another prophecy by St. Don Bosco. I quote the relevant text from it in this post but the interested reader can read it in its entirety here. 

"Things follow too slowly upon each other, but the great Queen of Heaven is at hand; the Lord's power is Hers. Like mist She shall scatter Her enemies. She shall vest the Venerable Old Man with all his former garments.

"There shall yet come a violent hurricane. Iniquity is at an end, sin shall cease, and before two full moons shall have shone in the month of flowers, the rainbow of peace shall appear on the earth.

"The great Minister shall see the Bride of his King clothed in glory.

"Throughout the world a sun so bright shall shine as was never seen since the flames of the Cenacle until today, nor shall it be seen again until the end of time."

The "Queen of Heaven" is a reference to the Blessed Virgin Mary and we also see the reference to a "hurricane" which may suggest the same scenario mentioned in the first prophecy under which the Pope was struggling to moor the ship. The reference to 'cessation of iniquity' did not happen in the time of St. Don Bosco or years leading up to now. So we can be assured that if this prophecy were to ever come in to fulfillment, it is yet to happen. (In case one is wondering when the next two full moons occur in the month of flowers (possibly referring to May), it will be in 2026 and 2045) 

Then there is the matter of whether all the details in these prophesies will ever come to pass. As you were reading the first prophecy, we are inclined to think of the first Pope in the prophesy as a reference to Bl. John Paul II who was critically wounded by an assassin on 13^th May 1981 (feast of Our Lady of Fatima). The fact that his life was spared can be seen as due to the intervention of our Blessed Mother as Pope Bl. John Paul II himself had acknowledged. (In my personal opinion, it maybe that the sudden resignation of Pope Benedict XVI takes the place of the sudden death of the Pontiff and the triumphant attitude of the world over what they thought to be a Church in ruins. The subsequent quick election of Pope Francis in a way that was unexpected to the world may also parallel that of the prophecy. This would suggest that Pope Francis is the Pope to finally get the ship between the two columns! Since I am not a specialist on this topic, do take these speculations with a grain of salt)

In the words of St. Don Bosco, it is not necessarily true that the prophesied events will come to pass. Some of the events may be given as warnings by God that is contingent upon our actions. So if we were to pray and act faithfully to the teachings of the Church, these events may not come to pass (like the calamity proclaimed to the city of Nineveh by the Prophet Jonah) or decrease in its severity. On the other hand, if we do not pray the rosary and neglect the Blessed Sacrament, it may also be that a time of peace may never come to pass or be delayed further than necessary as well.

So I suggest we can take away the following from these prophecies

1. We must pray our Rosary more frequently and often for the conversion of sinners
2. Approach the Eucharist with reverence and devotion
3. Not shy away from Marian devotions and rediscover the tested approach to Jesus through Mary
4. Whatever happens,  stay in communion with the successor of St. Peter and in the Catholic Church (be on the right ship!!!)

St. Don Bosco had written to one of his colleague "When we were born Europe was settling down to peace after long years of war. May we dare hope to see peace in the world and the Church's triumph before the end of our lives? We could then sing our Nunc dimittis. However, may God's will be done in all things.”

May we pray with confidence to the Blessed Virgin Mary for the conversion of the world (as well as our own protection from both spiritual and temporal enemies) and dare to hope the same!

(Aside: while there are iniquities in Russia, it must be said that today she stands as the only State that stubbornly and openly opposes activity that is outright contrary to the Christian faith. It also remains the only State in recent memory where the head of the country had openly said that he wishes to defend the Christian values of the nation (whether for deceit or out of honesty). When considering the journey from staunch atheistic communism to what Russia is today within such a short time, it seems to be nothing short of a miracle that can be attributed to the consecration by Pope Bl. John Paul II, in this writers humble opinion!)

History of the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (Oct. 7th)

I must first admit that I had no knowledge regarding the history behind the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary prior to attending mass for the feast today. When Fr. George at St. Mary’s mentioned a battle between Turks and the Christian army at sea and the involvement of Pope St. Pius V in his homily, it piqued my interest. After remembering it later today, I decided to do some research and I thought I will share what I found with my readers. 

(This is a summary of Dr. Warren Carroll’s description of the event as written in A History of Christendom Vol. 4: Cleaving of Christendom, Chapter 6, pages 352-356)

Vision of Pope St. Pius V

On March 15, 1570, during the Papacy of Pope St. Pius V, Sultan Selim II of Turkey sent out an ultimatum to Venice to surrender the old crusader kingdom Cyprus or face war. Venice senates held a vote on the matter and decided that they reject the ultimatum and prepare for war. At this time, Pope St. Pius V started making preparations to assist Venice by contacting Spain, Portugal and France.

In July, the Turkish army landed in Cyprus with an army of 60,000 and the Cypriote Capital, city of Nicosia surrendered on terms to the Turkish army. The Turkish army later broke the terms and slaughtered the soldiers and civilians while selling the women to slavery (by sending them to Istanbul via ships). A small Christian fleet that had been sent to help Cyprus retreated after seeing the situation. 

On March 7, 1571, Pope St. Pius V signed a treaty that formed the Holy League and he entrusted it to the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Supreme commander of the fleet was Don Juan of Austria.

Meanwhile, the city of Famagusta kept up the fight against the Turks. In April 1571, another Turkish fleet 100,000 strong headed by Lala Mustafa, landed in Cyprus to take up the battle against the city. The Holy League was still in stage of preparation. The commander Marcantonio Bragadino at Famagusta, the army and resources having been depleted, surrendered on the terms that the life of everyone in the city will be spared. But the terms were violated by the Turkish army as with Nicosia. Lala Mustafa is said to have flayed Bragadino alive, stuffed the skin and dragged it through the streets ordering that everyone in the city be massacred. 

The stage had been set. From the Christian point of view, the battle was a matter of victory or facing the fate of the cities of Cyprus. The entire Christian Europe was asked to pray the Rosary for victory.  A naval fleet of 200 war galleys had gathered under the Holy League alliance. They set off under Don Juan on September 16^th to battle. The Papal Nuncio blessed the ships as they were leaving the harbor entrance. Every man aboard the ships carried a rosary to pray. Earlier, Cardinal Granvelle had given Don Juan a golden banner with the figure of Christ Crucified that he was told to fly on the day of the battle.

Around 2 am in the morning of October 7^th, 1571, the Christian fleet entered the gulf carried on a strong wind that favored them. 

The Turkish fleet was stationed in the harbor of Lepanto at this time, about 300 ships strong. The Turkish fleet came in to battle in its crescent formation which is said to have extended from shore to shore across the gulf. The Turkish army was led by Grand Admiral Muesinsade Ali who flew a green banner with the name of Allah inscribed 28900 times on it in gold.

The Christian fleet took the formation of a cross with two large warships leading from the front and bulk of the ships on the center column. The front warships were commanded by two brothers of the commander Bragadino that had been flayed in Famagusta.  Don Juan flew a blue flag with the figure of Christ Crucified. He went from ship to ship with a crucifix in hand telling his men “Live or die, be conquerors; if you die, you go to heaven”. Then he hung the crucifix in the forward mast of his flagship. Mass was said aboard the ships by priests and general absolution was given to the men. 

As the Turkish army approached with the sound of “gongs, cymbals, conchs and yells” the Christian army waited in silence. Then Don Juan fired the first shot toward Ali’s ship and the battle began.

The front-line two large war ships manned by the Bragadino brothers opened fire while the two flagships met each other and the Christians took the fight to the deck of the Turkish flagship. As the battle was raging, the right wing of the Turkish army arrived to flank the Christian fleet. At this decisive moment, the Christians who had been held as slaves at the oars of the Turk galleys broke free and lead an assault themselves. By mid-afternoon, Muesinsade Ali together with 8000 turks were killed, 10,000 captured, 50 ships destroyed and 117 captured. 7500 Christians were killed and 12 ships lost but 12,000 Christian galley slaves were saved. The green banner was lowered and the blue flag with the figure of Christ crucified now flew from the top. More importantly, there was never to be another Turk invasion via sea against Christendom. 

(The banner used by Don Juan can be found today at the Museum of Toledo)

It is said that right around this hour of victory, Pope St. Pius V in Rome was speaking with his treasurer when he had a vision. He is known to have opened the window, looked up at the sky and said “This is not the time for business, make haste to thank God, because our fleet this moment has won a victory over the Turks”

When the official news of the victory arrived in Rome on October 21, the Pope is known to have wept and said to God “Now dismiss your servant in peace”. He celebrated a thanksgiving mass at St. Peters the following Saturday and the following march he declared that the feast of Our Lady of Victory (now known as Our Lady of Holy Rosary) to be celebrated on the day of the battle (October 7^th) as it continues to this day.

(Pope St. Pius V died in 1672 and was canonized in 1712) 

I hope that this event showing the power of the Rosary and the help we can receive through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary will encourage the dear reader to pray the rosary whenever it is possible during this month dedicated to her (since Pope Leo XIII).