A lecture on the Shroud of Turin was held on 22nd March, the Tuesday of the second week of Lent, at the Christian Information Centre in Jerusalem.
The botany expert Prof. Avinoam Danin, Emeritus Professor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, had been invited to give the lecture.
Thanks to the images projected with the computer, the audience was able to follow the results of his long botanical studies on the Holy Shroud of Turin, which is believed to be the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth. The Shroud, kept in the Cathedral of Turin since 1587, is made from fine linen and is 4.35 m. long and 1.10 m. wide. It bears the complete image of the front and back of a crucified man.
During his lecture in English, the professor showed that the only place in the world where the fresh parts of at least three of the species found on the Shroud could have been picked is the geographical area between Jerusalem and Hebron. He also pointed out that the only time when eight of the plants identified on the Shroud is the period of the year between March and April.
On the Shroud, Prof. Danin, as well as the prints of plants, flowers and pollen, also found images of ropes, made from natural fibres, which could be up to 10 m. in length. As a souvenir of the lecture, all the attendees received a piece of rope which the professor had made by hand himself.
Towards the end of the lecture, Prof. Avinoam Danin also presented the “resurrection plant”, also known as the “rose of Jericho”. This plant, when the conditions for its natural development are absent, has the ability to close up on itself, drying up. If it rains, even many years after it had dried up, the small branches open up completely, regaining their green colour. It is these characteristics, unique in the world, that give it the name of “resurrection plant”.
The lecture continued in an interesting discussion, and at the end the professor signed his book, which is available in English and Italian.
Brother JerzyKraj
At the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Centre
Open all day
For more information:
Benedict XVI, meditation in the chapel of the Holy Shroud in Turin, 2nd May 2010
The botany expert Prof. Avinoam Danin, Emeritus Professor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, had been invited to give the lecture.
Thanks to the images projected with the computer, the audience was able to follow the results of his long botanical studies on the Holy Shroud of Turin, which is believed to be the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth. The Shroud, kept in the Cathedral of Turin since 1587, is made from fine linen and is 4.35 m. long and 1.10 m. wide. It bears the complete image of the front and back of a crucified man.
During his lecture in English, the professor showed that the only place in the world where the fresh parts of at least three of the species found on the Shroud could have been picked is the geographical area between Jerusalem and Hebron. He also pointed out that the only time when eight of the plants identified on the Shroud is the period of the year between March and April.
On the Shroud, Prof. Danin, as well as the prints of plants, flowers and pollen, also found images of ropes, made from natural fibres, which could be up to 10 m. in length. As a souvenir of the lecture, all the attendees received a piece of rope which the professor had made by hand himself.
Towards the end of the lecture, Prof. Avinoam Danin also presented the “resurrection plant”, also known as the “rose of Jericho”. This plant, when the conditions for its natural development are absent, has the ability to close up on itself, drying up. If it rains, even many years after it had dried up, the small branches open up completely, regaining their green colour. It is these characteristics, unique in the world, that give it the name of “resurrection plant”.
The lecture continued in an interesting discussion, and at the end the professor signed his book, which is available in English and Italian.
Brother JerzyKraj
Exhibition on the Holy Shroud of Turin
At the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Centre
Opposite the New Gate
Open all day
For more information:
Benedict XVI, meditation in the chapel of the Holy Shroud in Turin, 2nd May 2010