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THE SUDARIUM CHRISTI

(The Face Cloth In The Tomb)

 

THE SUDARIUM CHRISTI - THE FACE CLOTH OF CHRIST:

John 20:6-7: "Then Simon Peter, who was behind him (John) arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there as well as the burial cloth that had been around His head. The cloth was folded up by itself separate from the linen."

In the Cathedral of St. Stephen in Oviedo, a city in northern Spain at the foothills of the Pyrennes Mountains, is a linen cloth called the "Sudarium Christi" or the Face Cloth of Christ, often referred to as the Cloth of Oviedo. The Sudarium is believed to be the cloth mentioned in the Gospel of St. John 20:7 that was "folded up by itself..." Modern studies by the Spanish Centre for Sindonology using infrared and ultraviolet photography and electron microscopy, have demonstrated that the Cloth in Oviedo, along with the Shroud of Turin, both TOUCHED THE SAME FACE (that of the historical Jesus of Nazareth) at different points in the Crucifixion process. Tradition, historical information and contemporary scientific research) support this belief of millions of Christians.

The Sudarium is NOT to be confused with the cloth called the Veil of Veronica as discussed elsewhere in this website. The Veil is the alleged cloth which early Christian legend claims was used by Veronica to wipe the blood and sweat from the face of Jesus while still alive on the Via Dolorosa. The Veronica is an "imaged cloth" on which Jesus is believed to have left His facial imprint with eyes open. The Sudarium has no image.

JEWISH BURIAL CUSTOM:

The Oviedo Cloth (Sudarium Christi) was placed around the head from the time death occurred on the Cross until the body was laid in the tomb at which time Jesus was enveloped by the Shroud. Prior to enveloping the body in the Shroud, the Face Cloth was removed and placed to one side (John 20:7). Mark Guscin living in Spain notes that the practice of covering the face is referenced in the Babylonian Talmud (Moed Katan 27a).

POINTS OF CONGRUENCE - SHROUD AND SUDARIUM:

Scientifically, there are several points of congruence between the Holy Shroud and the Sudarium:

1. Blood Type: The blood type of the shroud - namely AB blood - matches the blood type of the Sudarium. Dr. Garza Valdes of the University of Texas Health Science Center notes that only 3 to 5% of the world population has AB blood and the majority of these cases are in the Middle East. In face, AB blood has been called a bio-type of the Middle East.

2. Pollen Match: Pollen grains found on the Cloth of Oviedo by Dr. Max Frei in 1973 and 1978 and studied also by Monsignor Giulio Ricci match pollen grains found on the Shroud of Turin. Dr. Frei found at least four different pollens matching both the Shroud and the Sudarium. Dr. Uri Baruch (expert Palynologist from the Israel Antiquities Authority) has indicated that one of these pollen is Gundelia tourneforti - a thorn/thistle bush that is indigenous to the Holy Land. Professor Avinoam Danin (botanist and expert on the flora of the Holy Land who teaches at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem) reported that Gundelia tourneforti serves as a "geographic and calendar indicator" of the provenance of the cloths as originating in the Holy Land. In addition, on the Oviedo cloth "were found pollen representative of Israel, North Africa and Spain, exactly in accord with the cloth's known history."

Mark Guscin, an expert on the Sudarium, notes: "We have seen that historical testimony fits in with what we know about the Sudarium, and there is no reason to doubt the historicity of the few references that exist. Its stayed in Jerusalem (until 614 AD) and its route through the north of Africa can be further confirmed by studying pollen found on the cloth."

3. Blood & Serum: As Shroud historian Ian Wilson noted: "The Sudarium's "blood and body fluid stains" are "very compatible with Gospel writer John's observation that at the conclusion of Jesus' crucifixion", when pierced with a lance, "immediately there came out blood and water." John 19:34. 

4. Puncture Marks: A series of puncture marks noted on the Sudarium match those on the back of the head (occipital area) of the Holy Shroud consistent with the puncture marks from the capping of thorns. As Shroud Historian Ian Wilson noted: 'If the Oviedo cloth's back-of-the-head group of bloodstains are "photographed to the same scale as their equivalent on the Shroud, and then matched up to each other, there are again enough similarities to indicate...that these two cloths were in contact with the same wounded body."

 

5. Matching Nose:  The length of the nose on both cloths is 8 centimeters (3 inches). Mark Guscin notes: "The length of the nose which produced this stain has been calculated at eight centimetres, just over three inches, which is exactly the same as the length of the nose on the Shroud."

6. Wounds on Back of Neck: "The image of the back of the man on the Shroud is covered with wounds from the scourging he received before being crucified. The wounds on the man's back are obviously not reproduced on the Sudarium, as this had no contact with it. However, there are thick bloodstains on the nape of the man's neck, showing the depth and extent of the wounds produced by the crown of thorns. This crown was probably not a circle, as traditional Christian art represents, but a kind of cap covering the whole head. The stains on the back of the man's neck on the Shroud correspond exactly to those on the Sudarium." (Guscin, M., "The Oviedo Cloth," Lutterworth Press: Cambridge UK, 1998, pp.30,32).

7. Match of Beard and Bloodstain on Side of Mouth:

"Perhaps the most obvious fit when the stains on the Sudarium are placed over the image of the face on the Shroud, is that of the beard; the match is perfect. This shows that the Sudarium, possibly by being gently pressed onto the face, was also used to clean the blood and other fluids that had collected in the beard." (Guscin, 1998, p.28).

 "The principal bloodstains clearly form a mirror image along the axis formed by a fold that is still present. They are fundamentally light brown in color, in varying degrees of intensity. Although the linen has been traditionally called the 'Holy Sudarium' or 'Holy Face,' there is no visible image of a face on the relic, only blood that is believed to be that of Jesus of Nazareth." J. Bennett, "Sacred Blood, Sacred Image: The Sudarium of Oviedo" (Ignatius Press: San Francisco CA, 2001, p. 13.

8. Polarized Image Overlay Techinque: Dr. Alan Whanger of Duke University, N.C. found at least seventy matches between a polorarized image overlay of the blood stains of the Shroud and those found on the Cloth of Oviedi. Further computerized comparative studies by Nello Balossino of the University of Turin indicated that the traces of blood present on the two pieces of cloth matcher perfectly. (Iannone, J.C., "The Mystery of the Shroud of Turin: New Scientific Evidence," St Pauls: Staten Island NY, 1998, p.91).

"The PIOT methodology (Polarized Image Overlay Technique) (Whanger & Whanger, 1985, 1998) allows comparison of various objects and images with the Shroud images or stains. This affords for confirmation, image by image, stain by stain, painstakingly, of the historical authenticity of the Shroud. Representative observations include: … Sudarium (face cloth) of Oviedo, dated to the 1st century in Jerusalem, kept in El Salvador Cathedral of Oviedo, Spain, since the mid-8th century (Guscin, 1998), 120 points of congruent bloodstains between the Sudarium and the Shroud." (Whanger & Whanger, 1998)." (Danin, A., Whanger, A.D., Baruch, U. & Whanger, M., "Flora of the Shroud of Turin," Missouri Botanical Garden Press: St. Louis MO, 1999, pp.6-7)

BRIEF DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY OF THE SUDARIUM:

 The Sudarium Christi is an ancient linen venerated in Oviedo, Spain for more than 1,200 years. Mark Guscin notes that "It was originally a white linen cloth with a taffeta texture, now stained, dirty and wrinkled. It is rectangular, somewhat irregular and measures appoximately 34 by 21 inches (855 mm x 526 mm) or 84 x 53 cm. Unlike the Holy Shroud (Shroud of Turin), it does NOT have an image, having been removed from the face before the image was created on the Holy Shroud. "

 The Sudarium Christi, also known as the Sagrado Rostro or Holy Face, has a well-documented history. Once source traces the cloth back as far as 570 A.D. Pelayo, Bishop of Oviedo in the 1100's noted in his Chronicles that the Oviedo Cloth left Jerusalem in 614 A.D. in the face of the Persian invasion of the Holy Land and made its way across North Africa to Spain. In advance of Moslem assaults into Spain, the sudarium was later transported to Oviedo, Spain in a silver Ark (large box) along with any other sacred relics. This wooden reliquary housed the Sudarium in Carthage, North Africa and in Monsagro and Toledo, Spain. In Oviedo, the Sudarium was placed in the Cathedral of St. Stephen in the camera santa (holy room) specially built for it. In 1075 it was reliably recorded as being taken out of its still extant arca or chest in the presence of King Alfonso VI. .The fact that both cloths touched and same face at different points in the Crucifixion and that the Oviedo Cloth can be traced historically to a date as early as 570 A.D. are further proof that the Carbon-14 dating in 1988 which dated the Shroud to between 1260 - 1390 cannont be correct. (New evidence refuting the 1988 tests is discussed elsewhere on this website: see Shroud of Turin) has confirmed a flawed testing in 1988).

"The key date in the history of the sudarium is 14 March 1075. On this date the ark or chest where the sudarium was kept was officially opened in the presence of King Alfonso VI, his sister Doha Urraca, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (el Cid Campeador) and a number of bishops. This official act was recorded in a document which is now kept in the Capitular Archives of the cathedral in Oviedo, Series B.2.9. This is not the original document from the year 1075, but rather it is a copy, which was made in the thirteenth century. The copy is so exact that even the signatures are imitated - the vertical signature of Urraca is clearly legible. ... The document states that even in the year 1075, the chest had been in the church for a long time ... The sudarium has been in Oviedo ever since, kept in a wooden ark. Alfonso VI had this ark covered with silver plating, on which the twelve apostles, the four evangelists and Christ are portrayed. There are inscriptions in Arabic and Latin, both of Christian origin. After the reconquest of the kingdom of Toledo, Christian- inscriptions were often written in Arabic. The Latin inscription invites all Catholics to venerate this relic that contains the holy blood. The silver plating dates from the year 1113, and gives a list of the contents of the ark. One of these items is clearly registered as `el Santo Sudario de N.S.J.C.' These letters stand for `Nuestro Senor Jesucristo', and the inscription means, `The Sacred Sudarium of Our Lord Jesus Christ'." (Guscin, 1998, pp.17-18).

FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION, PLEASE SEE MY RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOK ON OUR BOOKSTORE (SEE LEFT COLUMN).
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              "THE THREE CLOTHS OF CHRIST: 
          THE EMERGING TREASURES OF CHRISTIANITY."  

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