While the Holy Shroud of Turin contains many things that tell us about its own past and amazing qualities, what is more important, of course, is the image itself. God, in His Mercy, has preserved for nearly two millennia an image of His Own Self. The image has, in a sense, been preserved especially for our own modern age: for before the invention of lenses, cameras, x-ray, infrared, etc. - it was not possible to see what we can see now. There are many details of the Passion and Death of Christ that are best told by a photograph.

By analyzing the image on the cloth, forensic doctors (medical specialists who examine corpses to ascertain the cause of death) have determined that the man, approximately five feet and eleven inches tall and weighing roughly one hundred and seventy-five pounds, was well formed anatomically.

Scourge marks cover the body all over, in the front and the back, from the shoulders to the feet. These marks show a beating that was made by a whip of three leather straps with two lead balls on each strap, attached to a small wooden handle. Replicas of artifacts of Roman scourges have been lined up with the scourge marks on the Shroud and they are an exact match. The crisscross pattern of the wounds on the body suggest that Our Lord was scourged by two people, one taller than the other. The scourging was fierce and intense. The leaden balls tore open the body at every strike, some of them having little sharp edges to dig into and pull out the flesh. The beating given to Jesus was unnaturally extreme, and experts say that it was unrestrained and brutally severe. So much so, they say, that a partial or complete collapse of a lung could easily have occurred. Simply to breathe afterwards would have been agonizingly painful. The scourge wounds on the swollen shoulders are smudged, showing signs of the carrying of the cross after the scourging.

The Shroud image clearly shows wounds in the hands and feet from the crucifixion. One nail went through both feet, the left foot over the right. The blood from the wounds show that other nails came through the back of the wrists, at an angle through the hand. The iron nails were square-like in shape, roughly seven inches long, with a round head one inch in diameter.

On the right side of the chest can be seen a large wound that was clearly caused by a large, sharp instrument. This corresponds to the lance which pierced Our Lord's side, as is recorded in the Gospels. From the blood flow and the angle of the piercing, the lance was violently thrust into the chest, cutting deeply into the body. However, unlike all other victims of crucifixion, there is no sign that the legs are broken. There are severe abrasions on the right knee, where the skin is worn down and scraped off, leaving the exposed kneecap bone, which some forensic doctors think may have been fractured as well. This could easily have occurred when Our Lord fell during the Carrying of the Cross. This evidence from the Shroud gives testimony to the words of St. John: "For these things were done, that the scripture might be fulfilled: You shall not break a bone of him. And again another scripture saith: They shall look on him whom they pierced." ( St. John 19: 36-37)

The word ‘crucifixion’ itself comes from the same Latin root as do the words excruciate and excruciating. Death by crucifixion was an extremely agonizing and torturous method of execution. The victim would be forced to remain in the exact same position until death, their whole body being supported by, and forcibly weighing down upon, their extended arms. The strain from this condition would cause the blood, in both the face and the neck, to congeal and clot in the veins, causing incredible pain and thirst. This terrible thirst is one of the sufferings that crucifixion was famed for. In addition to this natural thirst Our Lord, because He had lost such an overwhelming amount of blood already, also suffered from extremely severe dehydration - causing fever, and intensifying His already burning thirst. Death by crucifixion was the most painful, as well as the most shameful, method of death imaginable.

When hung upon the cross, Jesus’ arms were stretched out beyond their natural capacity. There was, obviously, unbearable aching in His arms and shoulders. Hanging with His arms and legs pulled to their extremes, His chest would have been tightly stretched, compressing it into itself - and making it nearly impossible to breathe. The only way to find relief from the pain, and avoid suffocation, would be to push down onto the wounded feet (their stationary position being painful enough) and force the body up to open the chest, allowing some breath.

There are two distinct angles of blood stains flowing from the wrists, which show that Jesus endured this painful process of pulling Himself up with His aching arms as He pushed down onto His pierced feet to be able to breathe. One blood angle was made when He pulled up, the other when He dropped back down. The slightest movement of any kind would renew all of the pains of the torn nerves from the nail wounds. But the movement to just be able to breathe would not only have been excruciating, but also exhausting and would have caused copious sweating. There was no way to relieve the pain. Every moment that Our Lord was on the Cross, He suffered untold agony.

The Shroud gives us more clear details on the less prominent sufferings of Our Lord - the sufferings of His Holy Face. The right cheek, slightly beneath the eye, is swollen. The cartilage on the nose is dislocated. And all around the front and back of the skull are stains of blood from puncture wounds inflicted by the crown of thorns. St. John, in his narrative of the Passion, chapter 19 verse 30, writes: "Jesus therefore, when He had taken the vinegar, said: It is consummated. And bowing His head, He gave up the ghost." After examining both the Shroud and the Sudarium, it is calculated that when the man died, the head was hung down on the right side of the body - 70 degrees forward and 20 degrees to the right.

It is an amazing thing to see that, while many untold and significant details of Jesus’ sufferings are shown to us, there is nothing seen on the Holy Shroud that disagrees with the accounts of the Passion as recorded in the Holy Gospels. The Shroud only succeeds in supporting, verifying, and showing us what we already know - and giving us additional, vivid details of the most important event in all of history.

While the many aspects of the Shroud of Turin demand our attention and gain our respect, one of the most unarguable features is this singular fact - the Face on the cloth bears an expression of such peace and tranquillity that it defies all explanation. Many forensic doctors have been astonished by this. For, physically speaking, it is impossible for anyone to undergo such horrific sufferings, and so violent a death, and yet have such peace and calmness on their face. Countless victims of deaths less violent have expired with expressions of painful agony contorting their face. It is definitely a powerful testimony of Christ's Divinity that, through all of His physical and mental sufferings, He would retain and possess such a powerful serenity in His death.

Lastly, last us remember the key purpose of the Shroud of Turin - it is a tangible record of the Love which Jesus has for us, and to what incredible depths of suffering this Love brought Him to endure for each and every one of us. Especially as we come to the close of Lent, let us take to heart the words of St. Alphonsus Liguori, which well describe the importance of meditating upon the tortures and immensity of Jesus' Passion and Death:

"... For it was not absolutely necessary in order to save us that Jesus should suffer so much and die for us; it were enough that He should pour forth but one drop of blood, should shed but one tear only for our salvation; this drop of blood, this tear shed by a Man-God, were sufficient to save a thousand worlds: but He willed to pour out all His blood, He willed to lose His life in a sea of sorrows and contempt, to make us understand the great love which He has for us, and to oblige us to love Him. The charity of Christ urgeth us, says St. Paul. (2 Cor. 5:14) He says not the Passion or the death, but the love of Jesus Christ which compels us to love Him in return.

... That which ought most to inflame our love for Jesus Christ is not so much the death, the sorrows, and the ignominies which He suffered for us, as the end which He had in view in suffering for us so many and so great pains; and that was, to show us His love and to win our hearts: In this we have known the charity of God, because He hath laid down His life for us. (St. John 3:11)

O cross, O wounds, O death of Jesus! you bind me closely to love Him. O God, eternal and infinitely worthy of love, I love You, I desire to live only for You, only to please You; tell me what You desire of me, and I shall desire it with all my heart. Mary, my hope, pray to Jesus for me."