The Shroud

And then we kept going. The bus took us a half an hour from the Salesian complex, though we couldn't have traveled more than a half a mile. The traffic there was horrendous, due to all the pilgrims coming from all over to venerate this holiest of singular first class relic of Our Lord. When the bus finally found a place to let us off, we got down and followed our processional crucifix through a gate into what appeared to be a park. Then we walked past a wall of tents selling refreshments to weary pilgrims as we filed past first one side and then the other of a set of tram tracks, singing hymns and praying the Rosary. When we got to the emergency water station, a volunteer had to check us to make sure we had a reservation, and then we proceeded to the gate of the cathedral grounds. Once at the second gate, we had to be checked again, to make sure there were no gate crashers. Then we wound around the cathedral, and were presented with a special edition newspaper covering the exhibition, and prayer cards with an image of the Holy Face and a prayer composed by the archbishop of Turin for those in the presence of the Shroud. Then we were herded through a cloister to a large room that felt like an empty warehouse with a giant movie screen, which showed us what to expect when viewing the Shroud. From that point on we continued in silence to the entrance of the cathedral. Inside, we could not stand still to pray before and venerate lesser relics in the side chapels, but must push slowly forward to the three tracks set up for us. One track stayed on the ground level, while the other two went up ramps at different levels. Our group was directed to the middle track, at the lower ramp. We heard a lady read in Italian. And eventually it was our turn to stand in front of this much-anticipated relic.While we stood there for about 30 seconds, the Italian lady read an abbreviated form of the prayer we had received on the back of the card given us. Then she concluded by saying we had to move on to allow the next group of pilgrims.
Tens of thousands are visiting daily. The pope goes up this weekend himself. What an experience.