But for 2,000 years, Christians have safeguarded the evidence.
These are 10 holy relics of Christ’s Passion that still exist today - a🧵
1. The Crown of Thorns in Notre-Dame, Paris.
2. The True Cross in Jerusalem, Rome, and beyond
After Emperor Constantine’s mother, St. Helena, discovered the Cross in the 4th century, fragments were dispersed to churches across Christendom.
Today, you can venerate parts of the True Cross in:
>Basilica of the Holy Cross, Rome
>Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem
>Monastery of Mount Athos, Greece
These relics are among the most sacred in the world.
3. The Holy Nails in Milan, Rome & Trier
The nails that pierced Christ’s hands and feet are venerated in multiple sites.
The most prominent:
>Milan Cathedral: suspended above the altar in a golden reliquary.
>Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, Rome.
>Trier Cathedral, Germany.
4. The Titulus Crucis in Rome
This is the wooden inscription placed above Christ:
“Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” (INRI).
It’s preserved in Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, brought by St. Helena.
The Latin, Greek, and Hebrew script match St. John’s Gospel (John 19:20).
5. The Holy Lance in Vienna, Vatican, and Armenia
The spear that pierced Christ’s side (John 19,34) has multiple claimed relics.
The most famous are:
>Hofburg Palace, Vienna
>St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican
>Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia
Many saints and emperors held it in awe, including Charlemagne.
6. The Seamless Garment in Trier Cathedral, Germany
This was Christ’s tunic, woven without seam, symbol of His priesthood and unity - John 19,23.
Legend says St. Helena brought it to Trier.
It’s rarely displayed, only during special jubilees. The last was in 2012.
7. The Holy Shroud of Turin, Italy
A linen burial cloth bearing the mysterious image of a crucified man.
No paint. No ink. Blood type AB.
Many believe, because of the undeniable evidence, it is the actual burial shroud of Jesus. Housed in Turin Cathedral, rarely displayed.
8. The Column of the Flagellation in Rome
Before the Cross, came the scourging.
The pillar where Christ was whipped is preserved in the Basilica of Santa Prassede, Rome.
Pilgrims since the early centuries have wept and prayed before it.
9. The Sudarium of Oviedo, Spain
Mentioned in John 20:7 as the cloth that covered Christ’s face.
Bloodstains match the Shroud of Turin, same type, same pattern.
Venerated in the Cathedral of San Salvador.
10. The Holy Sponge in Basilica of St. John Lateran, Rome
At the Crucifixion, a soldier soaked a sponge in vinegar and lifted it to Christ’s lips - John 19,29.
That very sponge is said to be kept at St. John Lateran, the Cathedral of the Pope.
It rests near relics of both the True Cross and the Holy Nail.
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Two disciples entered, Peter and John, finding not one, but two cloths.
A contradiction? No. A revelation.
One was the Shroud of Turin, the other?
The Sudarium of Oviedo, proof of the Passion of our Lord - a 🧵✝️☦️
The Gospel of John (John 20,6-7) tells us that when Peter and John entered the empty tomb, they saw two cloths, not one. The larger linen (the Shroud of Turin) was left neatly folded, while the smaller "Sudarium", which had been wrapped around Christ’s bloodied head, was set apart.
The reason for the Sudarium is that Jewish tradition demanded that if the face of a dead person was in any way disfigured, as was that of Jesus, it should be covered with a cloth so as not to be seen.
Unlike the Shroud of Turin, the Sudarium of Oviedo does not show an image. Instead, it is soaked in blood and fluid from the brutal wounds of a crucified man.
It was never meant to cover a body, its purpose was clear: it was hurriedly used to clean the disfigured, lifeless face of the Messiah before His final burial shroud was wrapped around Him.
There are remarkable similarities between the Sudarium and the Shroud of Turin, for example the nose is exactly the same length, about eight centimetres.
Likewise, the thorn stains on the nape of the neck coincide perfectly with those on the Shroud.
In fact, there are a total of seventy points of coincidence with the stains on the front of the Shroud and fifty on the back.
People keep claiming the Holy Shroud of Turin is fake.
They're wrong.
A groundbreaking X-ray study re-dated it at 2,000 years old, but that’s onlythe tip of the Iceberg.
Science still can't explain it!
Strap in fellas
This is why the Holy Shroud of Turin is real - a🧵✝️
After our Lord's passion and cruxifixion, Jesus Christ of Nazareth was laid to rest in a tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea, located beyond Jerusalem’s walls.
As written in scripture, his body was wrapped in a linen burial cloth. Today, that very shroud resides in Turin, where it has remained for 450 years.
But what makes it so extraordinary? The truth is fellas, no one can explain how its image was made.
When Saint Ignatius arrived in Rome, the Colosseum was full.
The gates opened. The lions were released.
The old bishop stood firm.
Torn apart limb by limb, he died in front of thousands, offering his life as a final show of faith in Christ.
This is his story - a 🧵✝️
In the early 2nd century, the Roman Empire was cracking down on Christians.
Why? Because they refused to bown down to false gods.
To worship Jesus alone was treason. And one man refused louder than the rest: Ignatius of Antioch.
Ignatius wasn’t just any bishop.
He belonged to the first generation after the apostles and was taught by Saint John the Apostle himself.
Yes, that John. He was a living link to the eyewitnesses of Christ.
And he would become a martyr for his Faith
When Emperor Trajan came to power, he demanded worship of Rome’s gods, and himself.
Ignatius refused: “I will not call any other Lord but Jesus.”
So he was arrested and sentenced to death. But not just any death. Ignatius was ordered to be taken in chains to Rome.
There, he would be thrown to wild beasts in the Colosseum, a bloody public spectacle for Roman entertainment.
But instead of fearing this fate he welcomed it.
Along the journey, Ignatius wrote seven letters to churches throughout the empire.
In them, he spoke with divine fire:
> “There is one Physician, God in man, true life in death, Jesus Christ our Lord.” - (Letter to the Ephesians, 107 AD)