In the present St. Peter's Basilica, inside one pylon supporting the dome, there is a chapel dedicated to St. Helena; Veronica's veil is kept here. On some solemn days, the holy veil is worn out for veneration by the faithful. When a hundred years ago - Jan. 6. 1849 - The Image Not-Made-by-Hands was shown to the people, everyone was amazed at the clarity of the image and noticed that its copies, which can be seen in almost every Catholic church, quite accurately reproduce the original.

So, as on the ubrus of kn. On the cloth of Veronica, the face of Christ was miraculously depicted: on the first - before the passions, on the second - during the passions; that is why on Veronica's cloth the head of the Savior is framed with a crown of thorns, and on his forehead there are drops of blood.

Here it is appropriate to emphasize the miraculous imprint of Christ's face on both cloths. On the board of the book. The face of Christ was imprinted after Christ, having washed, wiped Himself with it. But if we think that the wet face of Christ could leave its natural imprint on the cloths, then this impression could only be shapelessly flat and excessively wide: the convex face of a person on the cloth is different and cannot be imprinted when all parts of the face touch it. If we see the face of the Saviour reflected on the cloth in the same way as any convex object is imprinted on a photographic plate, then this is a sign that the image did not occur in a natural order, but miraculously. Mirabiliter impressa.

These considerations about the supernatural imprint of the face of Christ on the cloths of Abgarus and Veronica will have to be borne in mind at the moment when we speak of the third image of the Savior not made by hands, imprinted on the so-called Shroud of Turin. And now let us make a small digression and point out that in the Russian Law. The Church, although there is no other service to the face of Christ not made by hands, except for August 16, but the face of Veronica's veil can be windy everywhere. For example, in the iconostasis of the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius there was the famous Saviour Not-Made-by-Hands by Simeon Ushakov; this is the image of Abgarus. But in the same cathedral, behind the altar, there is the Savior of the brushes of Ushakov's disciples; this is the image of Veronica. The Savior in the house of Peter the Great is also Veronica's.

The third miraculous face of the Savior, which can now be found more and more often in the Catholic. temples, this is the face from the Shroud of Turin. It is not possible to tell her story in detail here. Those who wish should read the special literature on this issue. But we can express our point of view on the origin of this imprint of the entire body of Christ on the shroud. Did it originate naturally from the vapors of a dead body on a linen covered with a mixture of myrrh and scarlet (John 19:39), or, as on the cloths of Abgarus and Veronica, was the image miraculously imprinted?

If we assume the former, then it will be necessary to say that the body of Christ was laid in the tomb naked, and the shroud lay with one end under it, and the other over it; and that the sir (a separate head cloth) did not lie either on his face or on his head. Only under these conditions could the body of Christ be naturally imprinted on the shroud. But Bvangeliye does not allow us to think so. St. Mark says, "Joseph bought the shroud, and took it off, and wrapped it in the shroud, and laid it in the tomb" (15:46).

And in the Gospel of John: "So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in swaddling clothes with spices, as the Jews usually bury" (19:40). Let us pay attention to this most valuable addition of the Evangelist: "as the Jews usually bury"! It gives us the right to say that at the burial of Christ, all the main things that had to be done with the Dead, according to the Jewish custom, were done: the incense was laid, and the body was wrapped in the shroud, and the Emperor was on His head, as it is mentioned in John in the story of the resurrection of Christ: "Simon Peter came after him, and entered into the tomb, and saw only the swaddling clothes lying there, and the cloths, who was on His head, not lying with swaddling clothes, but specially twisted in another place" (20:6-7).

In order to make all of the above even more convincing for us, let us compare the burial of Christ with the burial of Lazarus. At the burial, the body of Lazarus was wrapped hand and foot with funeral shrouds, and his face was tied with a handkerchief (John 11:44). It is natural to assume that the body of Christ was wrapped in a shroud hand and foot, and the emperor did not simply lie on His head, but wrapped His face and entire head around His head. When the body of Christ was thus covered with the shroud and the judge, it could not be naturally reflected on one piece of linen, as can be seen on the Shroud of Turin.

And yet this image is undoubtedly Christ's; and all the signs on it are signs of Christ's sufferings! The face of Christ is regally calm, although it bears traces of a blow on the nose and eye. Not only do you not want to turn away from this countenance, which bears obvious traces of terrible desecration, but the more you look, the more you look, the deeper the thought enters your soul: "He was wounded for our transgressions, and was bruised for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:5).

But how did the image come about? Miraculously: as on the cloths of Augarus and Veronica. Mirabiliter impressa!

As soon as we accept this assumption, all difficulties will be removed, there will be no disagreement with the Gospel, there will be no need for artificial interpretations of the Evangs. text, there will be no need to leave Christ's body lying naked in the tomb. No matter how little time Joseph and Nicodemus had before sunset and the beginning of Holy Saturday, they could not leave the work they had lovingly taken upon themselves unfinished. It would be as if rich people now buried their friend naked and without a coffin!

We should not be at all confused by the fact that on the cloths of Augarus and Veronica the image is positive, and on the Shroud of Turin it is negative. If men of science, when asked, for example, about the causative agents of cancer, do not answer with a clear reference to a certain bacillus, but with long arguments about the degeneration of tissues under the influence of various causes, and finally add that in the present state of science this question cannot be finally clarified, why should not we, people of faith, say that we do not know? for what reasons and at what moment in the three days - from Friday to Sunday - the body of Christ was imprinted on the shroud, and in a negative way?! This is a mystery of God, similar to that which surrounds miraculous icons. A holy icon influences us spiritually, and why and how it became miraculous, we do not investigate.

The Lord Jesus Christ left us His faces not made by hands, so that through them we would love Him even more and believe that He is truly the One Who came into the world of sinners to save.