Today, we will be in a city in the north of Spain that numbers among its treasure an ancient cloth about the size of a kerchief that is kept locked in a medieval strong box except for the days from September 14th to the 21st each year when it is on display. It is a sudarium or “sweat cloth”, a common item in the Mediterranean world in Roman times to wipe the sweat and dust from one’s face while journeying on foot. This sudarium contains ancient blood stains that curiously match the wounds found on the head of the man whose image has been mysteriously imprinted on the shroud of Turin. Tests in recent years also reveal that the blood type is also that of the man of the shroud, indeed AB, a type very common among the ancient people of Palestine. The history of this cloth is better documented than that of the more famous shroud, because it is known to have been in Jerusalem until the 7th century Arab invasion, when it was taken first to North Africa and then across the Mediterranean to Spain. The sudarium moved even further north over the centuries with the invasion of the Moors obviously to protect it from those who would not appreciate it. Today then, it is held, as it has been since medieval times, in the Cathedral of Oviedo in the very north of Spain. What is it? Could it be “the cloth that covered the head” as referred to in St. John’s Gospel, the one the evangelist tells us that the beloved disciple saw rolled up and apart from the shroud in the empty tomb? Quite possibly it is, as it can be said to have had contact with the same body that was covered by the shroud.
If you wish to learn more about it you might Google the name Mark Gucin who has been its chief historian in recent times. For the pilgrims, as for all of us, this simple ancient sweat cloth stained with blood and pleural effusion should serve simply as another reminder that the suffering of Jesus of Nazareth is entirely historical and very real, and its purpose remains only to pay the price of the debt that we could never pay, so ugly as this little cloth may be it is a sign of pure love!
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