Exciting Shroud Discovery in the Wignacourt Museum in Rabat Malta! St.Paul's Grotto It was whilst revisiting the beautiful grotto where St. Paul is said to have resided after his shipwreck on Malta in A.D.60 that I made an amazing discovery! Following a passage leading from the Grotto entrance I found myself in the Wignacourt Museum opposite the Church. On the top floor tucked away and displayed unceremonially on a wall is one of the few surviving authenticated relic reproductions of the Shroud of Turin - lovingly referred to here as the Shroud of Rabat! The following description is courtesy "St.Paul's Grotto, Church and Museum", Edited by the Museum Curator, Mgr.John Azzopardi, and published by Progress Press Malta. Copies of this comprehensive work are available at the Museum. The article in question is by Br. Michael Buttigieg F.S.C. and I thank Fr. Azzopardi for permission to reproduce part of it for you here. - Dr. Peter J. Shield The Shroud of Rabat The Holy Shroud of Turin The Holy Shroud of Turin is reputed to be the Shroud in which the dead Body of Christ was wrapped before He was laid in the tomb.  Matthew specifies that the Shroud was 'new and clean'; John says that Jesus 'was buried in the manner of the Jews'; Matthew adds that Joseph's tomb was 'his own, and hewn in the rock.' In a recent talk on "The Healing Mystery and the New Testament" Dr Wolfgang C. Schuler, expressed his firm opinion that the Holy Shroud of Christ was in Malta, albeit for a brief time. He said: "Let me show you a few pictures of this out­standing document, the shroud of Turin, the burial cloth of Jesus. . . Later it was transfer­red to Edessa (today URFA, in TURKEY) a flourishing community, of that time, where it became famous as the 'Mandylion' or the "Picture of Edessa". Under dramatic circumstances it came to CON­STANTINOPLE (Istanbul) in 994, where it mysteriously disappeared in 1204 a. Ch. French knights, of the Crusader Order of Knights Templars, the 'Poor knights of Christ of the Temple of SOLOMON', brought it to French; on the way they must have stop­ped at MALTA to take fresh water and food. Today it is kept in Turin, Italy. It really is the first photograph about 1900 years before the invention of photography, because it actu­ally is a photographic negative. . ."   Whenever such a reproduction was ob­tained the Shroud was held in veneration by the faithful. We find such reproductions in several countries: there is one in Belgium and another in Argentina; two in France and two others in Portugal; thirteen in Spain and nineteen in Italy, besides the original one in Turin. One of these reproductions held in Spain in­terests us very specially. It was obtained through the good offices of a Grand Prior of the Knights of Malta. Fr Domenico Leone writes: "Francisco Lucas Bueno, Bishop of Malta and Grand Master of the Religion of St John  in the year 1650, obtained a copy (of the Shroud of Turin) from the Royal Savoy Family. On October 8, 1652 he sent the Shroud to Saragossa to the Lord Receiver of St John, who in turn entrusted it to Antonio Bueno and Andres Martinez of Campillo de Aragon. These (Bueno and Martinez) gave it to the people of Campillo. This Relic is kept over the altar in a chapel constructed for the purpose and is guarded by two strong doors in gold."   There is in Rabat a large reproduction of the Turin Shroud. It measures 293.5 cm and is 101 cm large; the frame is 7 cm wide. 12 Unfortu­nately little is known of this Rabat Shroud. Re­search is still being carried about it. What we know for certain is that the Archbishop of Tu­rin, Michael Beyamus, testifies in 1663 its aut­henticity. This is what he states:   "To all and every person living at present or in the future, We attest and in truth declare that on the fifteenth day of last May, when the Most Sacred Shroud in which the Most Sacred Body of Christ had been placed by Joseph of Arimathea (which without any doubt is kept in our Metropolitan Church in the Royal Chapel) was being shown to the large number of people frequenting the Church, in the presence of the King of the State of Savoy, the above drawn image herewith attached, was moved near the orig­inal Most Sacred Shroud and We made it touch it(Le. the original) and We guarded it." And, continues Archbishop Beyamus on the same document: "This is the truth. We therefore ordered that these our (letters) signed by our own hand, be made and signed and strengthened by our usual sea1." This authenticated document kept in Rabat bears the date of June 20, 1663; it is signed by Archbishop Michele Beyamus and countersig­ned by Neromi, probably the Notary of the Ar­chdiocese of Turin. Two important facts arise from this document: 1. the date of the 'Ostensione' (public showing) of the Shroud of Turin is given as may 15, 1663; 2. the Reproduction (or the Rabat Shroud) was brought near the Turin Schroud and made to touch it. (admovimus- eamque tangere fecimus). The author of the present article, through cor­respondence, sought for information in Turin. Don Piero Coero Borga 14 made research and kindly forwarded the following information: * Michele Beyamus (of Beggiamo) dei Signori di S. Albano e di Carere, was Bishop of Turin between 1662 and 1689. Before he had been bishop of Mondovi. * The records of the various 'Ostensioni' testify that in 1663 this solemn Ostensione was not held at the usual date, Le., May 4. The recent death of the Duchess of Parma caused the postponement; it was held on the 16/17 May of that year, 1663. This agrees with the date given by Archbishop Beyamus on the Certificate, Le. 15 May, 1663. * This particular 'Ostensione' is specially          re­corded because it coincided, perhaps         inten­tionally, with the solemn wedding of the Duke of Savoy, Carlo Emmanuele II with Francesca d'Orleans. Don Piero remarks that the 'solemn Ostensione' and much more the royal wedding were described in great detail by Count Abbot Emmanuele Tesaure. This is all we know so far about the Rabat Shroud when it was still in Turin. Now, when was it brought to Malta? By whom? How was it received? Who received it? What veneration was it given? More patient research may give the answer to these and similar questions. No­thing is known about the Rabat Shroud for the next nineteen years. The relations between the Savoy Royal Family and the Knights of St John were then, as for many years after, excellent. In the National Library of Valletta there are letters sent by Duke Carlo Emmanuele II, and after his death by other Heads of the State of Savoy, to Grand Master Nicholas Cotoner. In 1663, the year of the certificate of the Rabat Shroud by Archbishop Beyamus, on April 30, Carlo Em­manuele II wrote to Cotoner to announce his forthcoming marriage; on June 24, 1664, Carlo informed Cotoner of the birth of his first child, "il primogenito". He added that he hoped "che il figlio sara erede anche dell'affetto mio verso la Religione." Nineteen years after the Turin Certificate we find another mention of the Rabat Shroud. The 'Account Books' preserved in the St Paul's Grotto Archives reveal that "On April 13, 1682 two men transported the frame of the most holy Shroud from Valletta to Rabat; they were paid 4 scudi. On the following day, April 14, Master Guglielmo Alfart was paid 5 scudi for measuring and fixing the above mentioned frames in the Sacristy ofSt Publius." The 'Inventario Generale' under the section 'Mobili della Sacrestia' in 1756 records the pre­sence of "Un Ritratto del SS. Sudario con cornice indorata".This attestation is re­peated in the subsequent 'Inventario' of 1779 The Wignacourt Museum & Catacombs     The Wignacourt Collegiate Museum may be found to the right of St.Paul's Church in Rabat, - built above the Grotto where it is believed St. Paul spent three months after being shipwrecked on Malta in A.D. 60. The M’dina promontory, used by the local Bronze Age culture, was transformed into the city of MLT by the Phoenicians and expanded by the Romans to the city of Melite. This Roman town extended from present day M’dina to the area occupied today by St. Paul's Church in Rabat. In fact the latter church and the straight street (St. Rita) in front of it stands on a man made depression considered to be the Roman ditch of this city. On various occasions remains of this Roman city have been found, the most noteworthy of which being the remains of the Roman domus often erroneously referred to as the Roman Villa St. Paul's Church - Rabat Catacombs As burials were only allowed outside the city walls, an extensive burial site has resulted in what today is the Southern part of Rabat. Here two main sites are known. A space formerly used as a chapel greets the visitor to St. Paul's Catacombs,which consists of a central communal cemetery to which a number of small hypoegea have been attached. A second complex is found further down the road and is known as St. Agatha's catacombs. Once again a chapel this time embellished with a series of medieval frescoes is found just below the modern entrance, and a passage to the right leads into a series of family hypogea that can be visited in this place.   The modern entrance of another complex was rediscovered in 2002 making public access to the hypogeum complex under the Wignacourt Collegiate Museum possible   Leonardo Da Vinci; Another Shroud Mystery! There is little argument that the recent screening of Dan Brown’s Di Vinci Code has stimulated a terrific interest in the both Di Vinci himself and the secrets he was supposed to have hidden from the world! Equally fascinating to me as a researcher of the unexplained was the connection with the Knights Templar. If we are to accept Dan Brown’s interpretation of history, the role of the Knights was to help guard the secret of the Holy Grail. In the course of my Radio career I was offered a unique opportunity to personally interview the members of the STURP investigation team. A group of investigators charged with authenticating the holy “Shroud of Turin”. The cloth that Christ was said to have been wrapped in when he was laid to rest in the tomb. I still regard these interviews as the highlight of my broadcasting career. But that’s another story. What possible connection you ask, could there be between Leonardo Di Vinci, the Holy Shroud of Turin and the Knights Templar. Quite by chance, recently whilst filming on the Island of Malta where I worked on the excavation of the ancient catacombs in the mid 50’s, I discovered an aut­henticated replica of the ancient shroud. “The Holy Shroud of Turin is reputed to be the Shroud in which the dead Body of Christ was wrapped before He was laid in the tomb.  Matthew specifies that the Shroud was 'new and clean'; John says that Jesus 'was buried in the manner of the Jews'; Matthew adds that Joseph's tomb was 'his own, and hewn in the rock.' In a recent talk on "The Healing Mystery and the New Testament" Dr Wolfgang C. Schuler, expressed his firm opinion that the Holy Shroud of Christ was in Malta, albeit for a brief time. He said: "Let me show you a few pictures of this out­standing document, the shroud of Turin, the burial cloth of Jesus. . . Later it was transfer­red to Edessa (today URFA, in TURKEY) a flourishing community, of that time, where it became famous as the 'Mandylion' or the "Picture of Edessa". Under dramatic circumstances it came to CON­STANTINOPLE (Istanbul) in 994, where it mysteriously disappeared in 1204 a. Ch. French knights, of the Crusader Order of Knights Templars, the 'Poor knights of Christ of the Temple of SOLOMON', brought it to France; on the way they must have stop­ped at MALTA to take fresh water and food. Today it is kept in Turin, Italy. It really is the first photograph about 1900 years before the invention of photography, because it actu­ally is a photographic negative. . . " There is in Rabat a large reproduction of the Turin Shroud. It measures 293.5 cm and is 101 cm large;the frame is 7 cm wide. 12 Unfortu­nately little is known of this Rabat Shroud. What we know for certain is that the Archbishop of Tu­rin, Michael Beyamus, testifies in 1663 to its aut­henticity. This is what he states: "To all and every person living at present or in the future, We attest and in truth declare that on the fifteenth day of last May, when the Most Sacred Shroud in which the Most Sacred Body of Christ had been placed by Joseph of Arimathea (which without any doubt is kept in our Metropolitan Church in the Royal Chapel) was being shown to the large number of people frequenting the Church, in the presence of the King of the State of Savoy, the above drawn image herewith attached, was moved near the orig­inal Most Sacred Shroud and We made it touch it(Le. the original) and We guarded it." And, continues Archbishop Beyamus on the same document: "This is the truth. We therefore ordered that these our (letters) signed by our own hand, be made and signed and strengthened by our usual sea1." This authenticated document kept in Rabat bears the date of June 20, 1663; it is signed by Archbishop Michele Beyamus and countersig­ned by Neromi, probably the Notary of the Ar­chdiocese of Turin. Whenever such a reproduction was ob­tained, the Shroud was held in veneration by the faithful. We find such reproductions in several countries: there is one in Belgium and another in Argentina; two in France and two others in Portugal; thirteen in Spain and nineteen in Italy, besides the original one in Turin. One of these reproductions held in Spain in­terests us very specially. It was obtained through the good offices of a Grand Prior of the Knights of Malta. Fr Domenico Leone writes: "Francisco Lucas Bueno, Bishop of Malta and Grand Master of the Religion of St John in the year 1650, obtained a copy (of the Shroud of Turin) from the Royal Savoy Family. On October 8, 1652 he sent the Shroud to Saragossa to the Lord Receiver of St John, who in turn entrusted it to Antonio Bueno and Andres Martinez of Campillo de Aragon. These (Bueno and Martinez) gave it to the people of Campillo. This Relic is kept over the altar in a chapel constructed for the purpose and is guarded by two strong doors in gold." This is all we know so far about the Rabat Shroud when it was still in Turin. Now, when was it brought to Malta? By whom? How was it received? Who received it? What veneration was it given? More patient research may give the answer to these and similar questions. No­thing is known about the Rabat Shroud for the next nineteen years. The relations between the Savoy Royal Family and the Knights of St John were then, as for many years after, excellent. In the National Library of Valletta there are letters sent by Duke Carlo Emmanuele II, and after his death by other Heads of the State of Savoy, to Grand Master Nicholas Cotoner. In 1663, the year of the certificate of the Rabat Shroud by Archbishop Beyamus, on April 30, Carlo Em­manuele II wrote to Cotoner to announce his forthcoming marriage; on June 24, 1664, Carlo informed Cotoner of the birth of his first child, "il primogenito". Nineteen years after the Turin Certificate we find another mention of the Rabat Shroud. The 'Account Books' preserved in the St Paul's Grotto Archives reveal that "On April 13, 1682 two men transported the frame of the most holy Shroud from Valletta to Rabat; they were paid 4 scudi. On the following day, April 14, Master Guglielmo Alfart was paid 5 scudi for measuring and fixing the above mentioned frames in the Sacristy of St Publius." The 'Inventario Generale' under the section 'Mobili della Sacrestia' in 1756 records the pre­sence of "Un Ritratto del SS. Sudario con cornice indorata".This attestation is re­peated in the subsequent 'Inventario' of 1779” So much for the Shroud and its passage in the hands of the Knights through Malta; but what if any is the connection to Di Vinci? Here the plot thickens. In 1204 it is believed that the Crusaders ransacked the city of Constantinople. Among them were the Knights Templar, whom some scholars contend took the Burial shroud of Jesus from the city. To support this theory, author Ian Wilson who wrote the book "The Shroud of Turin: Burial Cloth Of Jesus?”, and whom I had the pleasure of interviewing during my STURP broadcast; makes the claim that “the head that the Templars were accused of worshipping was none other than that of Jesus”. He believes that the Shroud when folded in a certain way displayed the head of Christ and was referred to as the "Mandylion."  At Templecombe in England there is a painted panel that shows a bearded face like the one on the Mandylion. There is however another theory which suggests that the image on the Shroud of Turin is in fact that of the last Grand Master of the order, Jacques de Molay, who was tortured in a similar fashion to Christ some months before he was execuited in 1307. There is no question that the image on the shroud fits the description of De Molay as portrayed in medieval wood cuts, a long nose, long hair parted in the center, a full beard. De Molay was said to be quite tall (six-foot). The fact that Templars were forbidden from growing their hair beyond their shoulder does not rule him out.  DeMolay’s was imprisoned for over 7 years, so it is only logical that his hair would be long. The theory goes that part of the Templars rituals depicting the resurrection involved wrapping the deceased in a shroud similar to Christ, and that this was what happened to DeMolay’s body. It was the Knights practice to use frankincense to whiten the cloth and that this would have mixed with DeMolay’s blood, etching his image on the shroud. This shroud it is believed was put on display by the family of Geoffrey de Charney who was also burned at the stake with DeMolay in 1357, some 50 years after the disbanding of the Knights. It was immediately identified by those viewing the shroud as the image of the crucified Christ. Certainly if the recent carbon dating of the shroud is eventually proved correct, its date is closer to the 13th century and the crucifixion of DeMolay. You can read more about the DeMolay theory in two books, "The Hiram Key" and "The Second Messiah," by authors Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas. No matter which theory you accept, Ian Wilson or Knight and Lomas; it’s hard to understand why Dan Brown should not have implicated the Knights in the Shroud mystery. This is especially true if you believe Lynn Picknet and Clive Prince who in their book “Turin Shroud: In Whose Image?” claim that Leonardo Di Vinci actually created a photographic process, and it was he who was responsible for the image of Christ on the Holy Shroud.