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Images of the Shroud

Images of the Shroud

I stay up late at night
searching for high-resolution
images of the Shroud of Turin
weighing the evidence
and different theories.
I can see the blood
on his arms, ringing round
the bicep and shoulders,
running like tattoos, the wound
on the hand, and those
on the feet, ribcage, and brow.
They trace a body on the cloth,
the relic of a crux connecting
earth to heaven, there
to issue blood and water
on the reaching stalks
of Roman spears.

If the Messiah walked
across my living room,
and if he carried with him
these same proofs,
I would watch. I would
certainly set down my coffee
and follow him around the corner,
and lock the door after him,
and return to my work, looking
to see what I could find
about the Virgin’s footsteps
in Portugal, and I would consider
writing about my experience
before I turned in.

Photo credit
Daniel Hyland

Daniel Hyland

Daniel is a Catholic writer and voice artist living in the Shenandoah Valley with his wife and daughter. He believes in the power of beauty in life, nature and art as a tool of evangelism, and seeks to follow Christ through study, work and prayer. His favorite book of the Bible is the Song of Songs because of the stunning intimacy it presents both with regard to the sacrament of marriage and the marital union with God to which every soul is called in Christ. He is the proud owner of a small collection of facial hair, charitably termed a mustache.

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