Anastasia's Grail

by Mary Pearson

his malady. Then Abgar’s servant, Aggai, fashioned an ornate frame into which the linens were folded and kept with only the oval-framed face of Christ exposed. An image in mosaic was created that had been fashioned after the Face and was placed atop the city gate. Ultimately, as the people who lived in Edessa became less Christian, the Shroud and the mosaic image were sealed inside this gate where they remained safely hidden and forgotten until the sixth century. Then they were rediscovered and it was at this time that the first images of Christ with long hair, unshaven and with a forked beard began to appear. Up to this point depictions of Jesus had varied and were generally more Roman in character—clean-shaven, short-haired, etc.

  Edessa, which had become Moslem, sold the Shroud to Constantinople for the release of two hundred Muslim prisoners, twelve thousand silver crowns, and perpetual immunity from attack. The Image of Edessa was kept in Constantinople until the year 1204, when during the fourth Crusade, it was taken as spoils of war. After this time period, the Shroud became historically linked with—who else?—the Knights Templar.

  The Templars were responsible for protection of pilgrims who were traveling to the Holy Land and also were guardians of relics. It is therefore quite likely that the Shroud passed through their hands at this time. They were an extremely secretive group. Their initiation rituals were said to involve looking on the True Face of God. When they were disbanded by King Phillip IV due to alleged heresy, tortured members gave up the information that they worshiped a bearded head. Later some fifty-three copies of the Shroud Face were found in trunks that had once belonged to the Templars, and which they apparently had used during worship services.

  Whether he retained possession of it, or whether the Templars were guarding it for him, most likely the Shroud was actually the property of Othon de la Roche, one of the interim governors of Constantinople, because we next see his granddaughter, Jeanne de Vergy using it as dowry in her marriage to Geoffrey of Charny. This twosome received Papal approval to display the Shroud in the Cathedral of Lirey. A pilgrim’s coin found in the Seine depicted the Shroud, Jeanne de Vergy’s coat of arms and Geoffrey of Charny’s coat of arms and was issued the year of this exposition:1354.

  Jeanne passed the Shroud to her granddaughter, Margaret, who, having no suitable heirs, passed it to the House of Savoy. The Savoys rose in power until they became rulers of all Italy. In 1946 the last Savoy ruler, Umberto ll, was deposed and and when he died in 1983, the Shroud was given to the Vatican at his request. It remains on display in the Cathedral in Turin, which is attached still to the palatial residence of Umberto.

  That completed the known history of the Shroud. Stacy closed the book she was reading. She put on coat and shoes and headed across the street to the bakery. It was Saturday morning and she had promised to help in the bread shop for a few hours. When she got there she found Father Joseph just preparing to enter the shop. He grinned at her. “Your grandmother has a prototype for those tortilla chips I asked her to make. She wants me to sample them.” Stacy’s look said, ‘I told you so’ as loudly as if she had spoken the words. “Maybe afterwards you can give me that tour of the east side Martyr windows.” He followed Stacy into the work room.

  After considerable banter and the delivery of the promised chips, Stacy was again dispatched with Father Joseph to complete her tour with the east side windows, beginning with the eleven Holy Apostles: Peter, James, John (sons of Zebedee), Andrew, Matthew, Phillip, Bartholomew, Thomas, James (son of Alpheus), Thaddeus and Simon the Patriot. Each of the Apostles was depicted holding a symbol which distinguished who they were. For example, Peter carried a set of keys. Stacy noticed that Thaddeus carried an oval image of Christ. Thaddeus was the disciple named as having brought the Shroud to King Abgar in Edessa. “Is that supposed to be the Shroud?” She pointed to the image.

  Father scratched his head. “Strangely, Stacy, I never thought about it until now. You know, the more common name used by Thaddeus the Apostle was St. Jude…”

  Saint Jude—My Saint Jude…? Numbly Stacy wondered how much the events of the past weeks had been orchestrated by this saint whom she had begun to regard as her personal patron. As she sifted through her mind, untangling minute details, she realized Father Joseph had continued to talk about the window. She apologized for her inattention and explained that St. Jude had become very important to her in the past few months.

  “Perhaps you should choose him as your Confirmation patron,” Father suggested.

  Stacy searched his face. “Do you really think I can be confirmed starting this late?”

  Father cleared his throat. “Well, I suppose that would ultimately depend on how you do with the test.”

  “There’s a test?” she squeaked.

  Father put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. There’s plenty of time to memorize the information. I’ll give you catch-up study sheets the next time we meet. Stacy,” he met her eyes confidently, “I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

  They continued their tour of the east side windows with Justin-Martyr (AD165, beheaded), a successor to Polycarp. Then came St. Cecilia (third century). She was surrounded by musical objects as she was considered the patroness of music. She was depicted holding up one finger on one hand and three on the other, the position in which she had been found dead. The one finger stood for one God; the three fingers for three Persons. The plaque below her name read: asphyxiated, head severed.

  The next martyr window was of Sir Thomas More (1535), who died under King HenryVlll for refusing to acknowledge the king’s remarriage. He had been beheaded.

  The remaining two windows depicted modern martyrs: St. Maximilian Kolbe (1941, starved to death at Auschwitz, gave his life in place of another), and Gianna Molla (1962), only recently canonized for having sacrificed her life in bringing her unborn child into the world, rather than having her aborted in order to treat the cancer which ultimately claimed the life of this young doctor and mother of four.

  Of her, Father remarked, “She’s rather newer. I thought these windows were old.”

  “The church we got them from had them installed in the early seventies,” Stacy explained. “I guess they were mostly considered to be not politically correct by the other churches. Mom said the congregation at St. Mary- Theotokas was very traditional for this diocese.”

  “Oh, they were.” Father sighed. “So that’s where they came from. It’s too bad that parish was closed in the latter seventies. Many of the parishioners were never able to assimilate into another church and fell between the cracks. It was a unique group of people—very bonded.”

  “So, that’s it for the windows.” Stacy shrugged. As she walked him to his car, Father suggested the two of them could collaborate on a Shroud of Turin presentation for one of the remaining Confirmation class lectures. That way she could get a little practice and everyone could benefit from what they had learned. Stacy agreed. It couldn’t hurt to do a trial run.

  Father Joseph’s Sunday sermon was a weird one. Stacy couldn’t help wondering if it had been inspired by their tour of the windows.

  He began by depicting a scene: a grandmother gathering all her family around for a traditional look at the family photo album. The first page contains two pictures of babies. Everybody oohs and aahs at how cute they are. She retells the story of the circumstances surrounding the birth of these little ones. Everyone is smiling. Then she turns the page.

  Grimly they look at photos of a handsome young man. “Ah, cousin Stephen.” The grandmother sighs. The photos show a crowd surrounding a young man who is lying in a heap, dead at the hands of this angry mob. The family remembers grimly how brave Stephen had been. After a moment of reflection, she turns the page.

  They are met with gruesome images of their uncle, John, laying out on a slab, having been boiled in oil. He is old and looks distinguished, in spite of the torture. They remember his talent with writing and lament that he should have come to such an end.

  The next page depicts frightful scenes of an overturne
d bus. Innocent children strewn dead upon the pavement. Their cousins, lost forever in this tragic accident.

  The last page of this album reveals another uncle, a clergyman, ambushed and killed in the vestibule of his church. She sighs and closes the book.

  What a weird family ritual. What kind of twisted family would partake in such activities…?

  Father Joseph paused before answering his own question, “Our family. The family of the Roman Catholic church where the day after Christmas we remember the martyrdom of St. Stephen, followed in rapid succession by the feasts of St. John the Apostle, the Slaughter of the Innocents, and the martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket. Why does the Church do this…?

  To remind us not to sit and stare at the crib for too long. It is hard work being holy. It may even require the ultimate sacrifice. Stacy found the sermon sobering, especially coming only a few days after celebrating Christmas.

  Stacy dressed casually in jeans and sweatshirt for the Downhill Nikki concert. She was still not talking with her sister, although Emily had been driving her nuts playing that song. Stacy so longed to ask her whose song it was. Did she have more like it? But she was too stubborn to break her own silence. Now, as she sat watching out the window for Darius to