Pope Leo will include veneration of The Holy Tunic and other Christian relics during his visit to France.
In a move that observers call unprecedented, Pope Leo XIV will venerate one of France's most precious relics when he gathers with young people in Paris on September 25.
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Simon de l'Ouest I CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Published in Aleteia Source: Courtesy of Charles Edouard Baudouin / saintetunique.com
Believed to be the garment Jesus wore during his Passion, The Holy Tunic will be brought under strictest security from Argenteuil, where it has been kept for more than 1,200 years. The National Catholic Register reports that Pope Leo will be the first pope in history to venerate the relic, which is usually viewable only through a small glass window and is only rarely exposed for public veneration.
The Pope will be joined by more than 80,000 young people who have registered for the Youth Vigil to be held at Paris' Stade de France soccer stadium. The Holy Tunic will be displayed at the close of the vigil. Earlier that evening, the Holy Father will venerate another relic of the Passion, the Crown of Thorns that is housed in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame.
Stained with the blood of Christ: According to the website of the Holy Tunic, maintained by the Basilica of Saint-Denis in Argenteuil, the seamlessly woven woolen tunic is held by long tradition to be the inner garment Jesus wore at the Last Supper (after taking off his outer tunic to wash the feet of the Apostles) and continued to wear throughout his Passion. That same tradition identifies the Holy Tunic as the robe for which the soldiers at Calvary drew lots during the Crucifixion, fulfilling the prophecy that the Messiah's garment would not be torn asunder (Matthew 27:35; John 19:23-24).
The Holy Tunic: A powerful sign of unity: In its long history, the Holy Tunic has served most movingly as a bridge between the East and West. Preserved by early Christians, it was rescued from the 7th-century Persian and Islamic invasions of the Holy Land by the Byzantine Empire, and brought to Constantinople with other relics.
By the end of the 8th century, the Eastern Roman Empire was weakening, and it reached out to the new Holy Roman Emperor of the West, Charlemagne, for alliance. The Byzantine Empress Irene dispatched ambassadors to Charlemagne, and sent with them relics, including the Holy Tunic. Charlemagne, according to tradition, gave the tunic to his daughter Theodrada, a nun at the Monastery of the Incarnation in Argenteuil. The tradition is specific enough to note that the Holy Tunic arrived there on August 12, 800, at 1:00 p.m.
This shared East-West history of the Holy Tunic brings a powerful sense of community to its veneration by Pope Leo XIV, who has spoken often of the unity that existed between Eastern and Western Christians in the early days of the Church.
Over the years, scientific tests have been conducted on the Holy Tunic that do not rule out its authenticity. Made of sheep's wool tightly woven on a wide loom, the tunic was dyed with a plant dye and carries microparticles of sand and plant life consistent with first-century Palestine. Analysis of apparent reddish spots on the back of the tunic, conducted as early as 1892, detected the presence of human blood, which in 1986, was found to be the rare type AB -- the same as the bloodstains on the Shroud of Turin. DNA trace analysis performed in 2005, determined the blood to have come from a Middle Eastern male.
No longer seamless: Like the Body of Christ, the Holy Tunic has endured its share of assaults, persecutions, and splits over the centuries.
When the Normans invaded France in the 9th century, the nuns hid the tunic in the walls of the convent. It was not discovered until 200 years later, during renovation of the ruins by the monks of Saint-Denis. The abbey was pillaged and burned in 1411, but the Holy Tunic survived and became the focus of pilgrimages from across medieval Europe. It survived the capture of Argenteuil by Protestant Huguenots in 1567.
During the French Revolution, the monastery was suppressed and the Holy Tunic was returned to the parish church. The pastor, fearing confiscation of Church property upon his own imminent arrest, cut the garment into many pieces. He gave some to parishioners for safekeeping, and buried other large pieces in the parish garden. When he was released in 1795, he attempted to reunite all the pieces, but some could not be found.
Today, in addition to Argenteuil, there is a piece of the Holy Tunic in Trier, France, and another robe alleged to be the tunic of the Passion is buried beneath an Orthodox Christian cathedral in Mtskheta, Georgia.
Pope Leo XIV's Apostolic Visit to France will take place September 25-28.
The Pope will be joined by more than 80,000 young people who have registered for the Youth Vigil to be held at Paris' Stade de France soccer stadium. The Holy Tunic will be displayed at the close of the vigil. Earlier that evening, the Holy Father will venerate another relic of the Passion, the Crown of Thorns that is housed in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame.
Stained with the blood of Christ: According to the website of the Holy Tunic, maintained by the Basilica of Saint-Denis in Argenteuil, the seamlessly woven woolen tunic is held by long tradition to be the inner garment Jesus wore at the Last Supper (after taking off his outer tunic to wash the feet of the Apostles) and continued to wear throughout his Passion. That same tradition identifies the Holy Tunic as the robe for which the soldiers at Calvary drew lots during the Crucifixion, fulfilling the prophecy that the Messiah's garment would not be torn asunder (Matthew 27:35; John 19:23-24).
The Holy Tunic: A powerful sign of unity: In its long history, the Holy Tunic has served most movingly as a bridge between the East and West. Preserved by early Christians, it was rescued from the 7th-century Persian and Islamic invasions of the Holy Land by the Byzantine Empire, and brought to Constantinople with other relics.
By the end of the 8th century, the Eastern Roman Empire was weakening, and it reached out to the new Holy Roman Emperor of the West, Charlemagne, for alliance. The Byzantine Empress Irene dispatched ambassadors to Charlemagne, and sent with them relics, including the Holy Tunic. Charlemagne, according to tradition, gave the tunic to his daughter Theodrada, a nun at the Monastery of the Incarnation in Argenteuil. The tradition is specific enough to note that the Holy Tunic arrived there on August 12, 800, at 1:00 p.m.
This shared East-West history of the Holy Tunic brings a powerful sense of community to its veneration by Pope Leo XIV, who has spoken often of the unity that existed between Eastern and Western Christians in the early days of the Church.
Over the years, scientific tests have been conducted on the Holy Tunic that do not rule out its authenticity. Made of sheep's wool tightly woven on a wide loom, the tunic was dyed with a plant dye and carries microparticles of sand and plant life consistent with first-century Palestine. Analysis of apparent reddish spots on the back of the tunic, conducted as early as 1892, detected the presence of human blood, which in 1986, was found to be the rare type AB -- the same as the bloodstains on the Shroud of Turin. DNA trace analysis performed in 2005, determined the blood to have come from a Middle Eastern male.
No longer seamless: Like the Body of Christ, the Holy Tunic has endured its share of assaults, persecutions, and splits over the centuries.
When the Normans invaded France in the 9th century, the nuns hid the tunic in the walls of the convent. It was not discovered until 200 years later, during renovation of the ruins by the monks of Saint-Denis. The abbey was pillaged and burned in 1411, but the Holy Tunic survived and became the focus of pilgrimages from across medieval Europe. It survived the capture of Argenteuil by Protestant Huguenots in 1567.
During the French Revolution, the monastery was suppressed and the Holy Tunic was returned to the parish church. The pastor, fearing confiscation of Church property upon his own imminent arrest, cut the garment into many pieces. He gave some to parishioners for safekeeping, and buried other large pieces in the parish garden. When he was released in 1795, he attempted to reunite all the pieces, but some could not be found.
Today, in addition to Argenteuil, there is a piece of the Holy Tunic in Trier, France, and another robe alleged to be the tunic of the Passion is buried beneath an Orthodox Christian cathedral in Mtskheta, Georgia.
Pope Leo XIV's Apostolic Visit to France will take place September 25-28.
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