Holy Shroud of Cadouin

After the Ascension of the Son of God, a Jew converted to the Christian faith stole the Shroud of the head of Our Lord Jesus-Christ, and kept it all his life with an abundance of riches. Being on the point of death, he divided his inheritance into two parts, and asked his children to know who would take the Shroud, and who would have the riches. The eldest preferred the money, and in a short time he was reduced to extreme poverty; the youngest took the Shroud, and with faith he increased his fortune. His faithful descendants kept it until the seventh generation. It then passed into the hands of the infidel Jews, who, having kept it with respect, also became very rich and remained so for a long time. But after many discussions and debates between the Christians and the Jews, the former, claiming that the Shroud belonged to them as heirs of Jesus-Christ, the others claiming it as an inheritance from their fathers, they finally had recourse to Mahuvias , king o Mahuvias King of the Saracens who arbitrated the dispute over the possession of the Shroud through an ordeal by fire. f the Saracens, as their judge. The latter, having had a great pyre lit, prayed to Jesus-Christ to be willing to decide the trial himself, since he had been willing to wear this sacred Shroud on his head for the salvation of his own. The Shroud was thrown into the fire, but behold, it flew promptly well above the flames from where, after having fluttered for quite a long time as if in play, it finally descended in the sight of all and went to land slowly between the hands of a Christian lost in the crowd. All then raised their hands to heaven and after having humbled themselves and prostrated themselves on the ground, they carried it in triumph into the city of Jerusalem while singing canticles of praise, and finally deposited it with respect in the cupboards of the c hurch. This fi vénérable Bède Hagiographer whose martyrology attests to the antiquity of the cult. rst account is taken from the v enerabl Arculfe A monk who witnessed and testified to the existence of the Shroud in Jerusalem. e Bede, who made it based on the report of Arculf: The Shroud, he adds, was eight feet in length; it was seen and kissed by our brother Arculf, who has borne witness to it.

After the history of its discovery, let us tell that of its transport to the Périgord.

"Adhémar de Monteil, Bishop of Le Puy and legate of the Holy See during the First Crusade, encountered the holy Shroud in Antioch, where it had been brought with many other relics to save it from the profanations of the Muslims, who were masters of the holy city. He acquired it in 1098; but, being on the point of being taken by the illness that caused so many warriors to die, he entrusted his treasure to a priest of his Church. This priest hastened to embark; struck down by death himself during the crossing, he left his deposit to an ecclesiastic attached to his person and native to the surroundings of Cad Cadouin Primary site for the preservation of the relic in Périgord. ouin. Here is how the Périgord priest went about saving the relic by hiding it from the ardent covetousness of his Christian companions. He took a barrel in the middle of which he placed a piece of wood that divided it in two. In one of these parts he put the sacred linen, and in the other his drink. In this way he carried it to his native land. Once back in the Périgord, he hid the Shroud with its history in a church where he served, which was near Cadouin. Very shortly after, in the absence of the priest, a violent fire consumed the village and the church; but the holy Shroud, placed in a small chest near the altar, remained intact. The religious, who had recently been living in Cadouin, learned of this wonder: they rushed over and took it to their monastery. This was in the year 1117. But the priest, having returned and not having found his precious treasure, came to the monks to recover it. As they did not wish to yield it, he begged them very humbly to receive him into their midst, so as to remain for the rest of his life the guardian of the relic he had had in his possession."

He died in Cadouin and was buried under the paving of the chapel of Saint Mary Magdalene, not far from the Shroud he had cherished so much.

If one wished to know how and in what place the holy Shroud was kept from the Resurrection of Jesus Christ until the seventh century, when it was saved from the flames, it would suffice to note that, according to Saint Athanasius, two years before the Romans seized Jerusalem, the faithful, warned by heavenly revelations, left the city in great numbers and withdrew to other provinces, taking with them the holy relics and other precious objects; and that later, according to the testimony of Eusebius, under the empire of Trajan, they returned there. In the year 636, the Mohammedans entered the holy city, but it only surrendered on the condition, made by Bishop Sophronius, that the Christians could freely practice their religion there. Indeed, says Baronius (year 643), the faithful kept their churches and pilgrims came there from all parts. The holy Shroud was therefore faithfully guarded, and one could easily follow the details of its history.

Finally, from the time it was miraculously saved from the flames, under King Mahuvias, until the first crusade, when it was purchased by Bishop Adhemar, we have four centuries. What became of the holy Shroud during this time? We know that the Christians of Jerusalem kept it in a church; later it was transferred to Antioch, and it must be admitted that this was around the year 1000, at the time when the faithful were afflicted by the Mohammedans, who, in hatred of the religion, destroyed the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The tradition of the holy Shroud must have been preserved with care, since Bishop Adhemar recognized it, procured it for himself, and would only entrust it upon his death to a priest of his church, who in turn bequeathed it, along with its history, to a clergyman of the Périgord.

Hardly arrived in the Périgord, it attracted considerable crowds, and the monks of Cadouin built in its honor the beautiful church that one can still see today. From the 12th century onwards, the history of Cadouin became truly magnificent. Popes, kings, and bishops took an interest in this abbey which possessed such a great treasure; they came from the four corners of Europe; King Louis visited it while departing for the last crusade and, along with social luminaries, the people flocked there in large numbers. The influx was such that it was necessary to build a hospital and more than sixty houses for foreigners in Cadouin. This devotion shone with great splendor for four hundred years and was one of the greatest devotions in the universe.

Numerous and brilliant tributes were paid to the Holy Shroud. Countless miracles occurred; a famous confraternity was established at Cadouin, which extended throughout Europe. We will not speak of the journeys of the Holy Shroud to Toulouse, where it remained for many years, to Paris, to Poitiers, to Obazine, and of the extraordinary tributes it received everywhere on its passage. This odyssey is marvelous. Lively disputes arose regarding it: cities and monasteries, popes and kings took part in them; they therefore saw in this shroud something other than a vulgar cloth. But the 18th century brought a fact that dominates this entire history and marks it with a supreme seal of authenticity: it is the official report of Mgr de Li ngendes, Bishop Mgr de Lingendes Bishop of Sarlat who authenticated the relic in the 18th century. of Sarlat. Let one read this important document attentively, let one study the character of the bishop, the circumstances and the persons who participated in this action, let one note the slightest details, and one will see there the Providence of God which attentively preserves the memory of such a precious relic. At the same time, the monks of Cadouin wrote its history and paid homage to the Queen Regent, Anne of Austr ia, mother of L Anne d’Autriche Queen of France who attended the missions of Jean Eudes. ouis XIV. They did not fear to call the Holy Shroud of Cadouin the richest jewel of the first kingdom of the universe and the most beautiful appanage of the royal domain.

The ill wind that never ceased to blow in the 18th century diminished without interrupting the flow of faithful visitors. The Revolution profaned the Church without destroying it, murdered the prior, and burned the history of the convent, the titles, and the manuscripts in the public square. The principal, the essential, the holy Shroud was fortunately hidden and thus escaped the fury of the impious.

Cadouin is very close to the Le Buisson station, on the railway line from Périgueux to Agen.

The ostensions of the holy relic take place regularly three times a year: the second Sunday after Easter, called the Sunday of the Good Step.

[The Sunday of the] Savior; Pentecost Sunday and September 8. They last eight days each time, and the Sovereign Pontiff Pius IX granted a plenary indulgence for each of these days. By a special provision of the Bishop of Périgueux, the great feast of Cadouin and the most solemn ostension take place every year in t he month of Septe Suaire de Cadouin Funerary cloth that wrapped the head of Jesus Christ, the central relic of the Abbey of Cadouin. mber.

The Shroud of Cadouin is eight feet long and four feet wide. It measures two meters and eighty-four centimeters in length and one meter and twenty-four centimeters in width.

Besides small parcels of the holy Cross, the diocese of Périgueux possesses two other very precious relics of the Passion, two thorns from the holy Crown. The first is in the church of Saint-Cyprien; the other belongs to M. de Montferrand, and is found in the chapel of his castle of Montréal. This one is broken and tied with a thread. Besides the Shroud of the Savior's head, Cadouin also possesses a small fragment, as big as the tip of a finger, of the blindfold used by the Jews to cover the eyes of the Savior at the moment of the Passion, when they struck him saying: *Prophetise*; tell us then who struck you. The holy blindfold came to Cadouin with the Shroud and always accompanied it.

Great festivities took place on September 5, 1866, on the occasion of the translation of the holy Shroud into the precious reliquary purchased in its honor.

Excerpt from an interesting brochure titled: *Histoire du saint Suaire de Cadouin*, by the R. P. Ca rles, missio R. P. Carles Author of the biographical notice. nary of the Calvary of Toulouse.