Footnotes
[1.]An English translation of this Treatise was published under the following title:—“A very profitable Treatise, declarynge what great profit might come to all Christendom yf there were a regester made of all the saincts' bodies and other reliques which are as well in Italy as in France, Dutchland, Spaine, and other kingdoms and conntreys. Translated out of the French into English by J. Wythers, London, 1561.” 16mo. I have made my translation from the French original, reprinted at Paris in 1822.[2.]It is well known that more than half a million of pilgrims went to worship the holy coat of Treves in 1844, and that many wonderful stories about the cures effected by that relic were related. Several of these stories are not altogether without foundation, because there are many cases where imagination affects the human body in such a powerful manner as to cause or cure various diseases. It was therefore to be expected that individuals suffering from such diseases should be at least temporarily relieved from their ailings by a strong belief in the miraculous powers of the relic. Cases of this kind are always noticed, whilst all those of ineffectual pilgrimage are never mentioned.[3.]A translation of this letter was published in the Allgemeine Zeitung of Augsburg.[4.]Thus St Anthony of Padua restores, like Mercury, stolen property; St Hubert, like Diana, is the patron of sportsmen; St Cosmas, like Esculapius, that of physicians, &c. In fact, almost every profession and trade, as well as every place, have their especial patron saint, who, like the tutelary divinity of the Pagans, receives particular honours from his or her protégés.[5.]In his Treatise given below.[6.]“Quod legentibus Scriptum, hoc et idiotis, præstat pictura, quia in ipsa ignorantes vident quid sequi debeant, in ipsas legunt qui litteras nesciunt,” says St Gregory.—Maury, Essai sur les Legendes, &c., p. 104.[7.]“Quoniam talis memoria quæ imaginibus fovetur, non venit es cordis amore, sed ex visionis necessitate.”—Opus illustrissimi Caroli magni contra Synodum pro adorandis imaginibus, p. 480, (in 18—1549),—a work of which I shall have an opportunity more amply to speak.[8.]See his chapter on the “Ill Effects of Solitude on the Imagination”—English translation.[9.]Ibid.[10.]“Fleury Histoire Eccles.,” lib. xxi. chap. 15.[11.]The author of this sketch says himself, in a note, “Yet this idolatry is far from having entirely disappeared. Pilgrimages, and a devotion to certain images, but particularly to that of the Virgin, are still continuing,” &c. This was said in 1843. I wonder what he will say now, when this idolatry is reappearing, even in those parts of Europe where the Calvinists had, according to his expression, struck at its very root.[12.]“Essai sur les Legendes Pieuses du Moyen Age,” par Alfred Maury, pp. 111, et seq.[13.]“Chateaubriand Etudes Historiques,” vol. ii. p. 101.[14.]“Histoire de la Destruction du Paganisme dans l'Empire d'Orient,” par M. Chastel, Paris, 1850, p. 342 et seq.[15.]“Histoire de la Destruction du Paganisme en Occident,” par A. Beugnot, Member of the French Institute, Paris, 1835, 8vo, 2 vols.[16.]Translator's Note.—Was not the introduction of pagan rites into the church the indirect way to idolatry alluded to in the text?[17.]Author's Note.—The festivals of the martyrs was a very large concession made to the old manners, because all that took place daring those days was not very edifying.[18.]Translator's Note.—I shall give in its proper place a more ample account of Vigilantius.[19.]Author's Note.—These compromises were temporary, and the church revoked them as soon as she believed that she could do it without inconvenience. She struggled hard against the calends of January, after having for a considerable time suffered these festivities; and when she saw that she could not succeed in abolishing them, she decided to transport the beginning of the year from the first of January to Easter, in order to break the Pagan customs.[20.]Author's Note.—“The Saturnalia, and several other festivals, were celebrated on the calends of January; Christmas was fixed at the same epoch. The Lupercalia, a pretended festival of purification, took place during the calends of February; the Christian purification (Candlemas) was celebrated on the 2d of February. The festival of Augustus, celebrated on the calends of August, was replaced by that of St Peter in vinculis, established on the 1st of that month. The inhabitants of the country, ever anxious about the safety of their crops, obstinately retained the celebration of the Ambarvalia; St Mamert established in the middle of the fifth century the Rogations, which in their form differ very little from the Ambarvalia. On comparing the Christian calendar with the Pagan one, it is impossible not to be struck by the great concordance between the two. Now, can we consider this concordance as the effect of chance? It is principally in the usages peculiar only to some churches that we may trace the spirit of concessions with which Christianity was animated during the first centuries of its establishment. Thus, at Catania, where the Pagans were celebrating the festival of Ceres after harvest, the church of that place consented to delay to that time the festival of the Visitation, which is celebrated everywhere else on the 2d July.”—F. Aprile Cronologia Universale di Sicilia, p. 601. I would recommend to those who wish to study this subject the work of Marangoni, a very interesting work, though its author (whose object was to convince the Protestants who attacked the discipline of the Roman Catholic Church on account of these concessions) tried to break the evident connection which exists between certain Christian and Pagan festivals.[21.]Author's Note.—“There are at Rome even now several churches which had formerly been pagan temples, and thirty-nine of them have been built on the foundations of such temples.”—Marangoni, pp. 236-268. There is no country in Europe where similar examples are not found. It is necessary to remark, that all these transformations began at the end of the fifth century.[22.]Author's Note.—At Rome four churches have pagan names, viz:—S. Maria Sopra Minerva, S. Maria Aventina, St Lorenzo in Matuta, and St Stefano del Cacco. At Sienna, the temple of Quirinus became the church of St Quiricus.[23.]Translator's Note.—And still more to their corruption.[24.]Translator's Note.—Christ has said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”—Matt. xi. 28-30. I would ask the learned author, whether these words of our Saviour are not sufficiently mild, tender, and consoling, and whether there was any necessity to consecrate some new ideas in order to temper their severity?[25.]Author's Note.—Amongst a multitude of proofs I shall choose only one, in order to show with what facility the worship of Mary swept away in its progress the remnants of Paganism which were still covering Europe:—Notwithstanding the preaching of St Hilarion, Sicily had remained faithful to the ancient worship. After the council of Ephesus, we see eight of the finest Pagan temples of that island becoming in a very short time churches dedicated to the Virgin. These temples were, 1. of Minerva, at Syracuse; 2. of Venus and Saturn, at Messina; 3. of Venus Erigone, on the Mount Eryx, believed to have been built by Eneas; 4. of Phalaris, at Agrigent; 5. of Vulcan, near Mount Etna; 6. the Pantheon, at Catania; 7. of Ceres, in the same town; 8. the Sepulchre of Stesichorus.—V. Aprile Cronologia Universale di Sicilia. Similar facts may be found in the ecclesiastical annals of every country.[26.]Translator's Note.—The time when the church is to accomplish this purification has, alas! not yet arrived.[27.]Beugnot, vol. ii., book xii., chap. 1, pp. 261-272.[28.]The opinions of different writers on the number of Christians in the Roman empire at the time of Constantine's conversion greatly varies. The valuation of Staudlin (“Universal Geshichte der Christlichen Kirche,” p. 41, 1833) at half of its population, and even that of Matter (“Histoire de l'Eglise,” t. i. p. 120), who reduces it to the fifth, are generally considered as exaggerated. Gibbon thinks that it was the twentieth part of the above-mentioned population; and the learned French academician. La Bastie (“Memoires de l'Academie des Inscripter,” &c.) believes that it was the twelfth. This last valuation is approved by Chastel (“Histoire de la Destruction du Paganisme en Orient,” 1850, p. 36) as an average number, though it was much larger in the East than in the West. The celebrated passage of Tertullian's “Apology,” in the second century, where he represents the number of Christians in the Roman empire to be so great, that it would have become a desert if they had retired from it, is considered by Beugnot (vol. ii. p. 188) as the most exaggerated hyperbole which has ever been used by an orator.[29.]Translator's Note.—Expression of St Jerome, Op. iv. p. 266. It would be curious to know what this father of the church would have said of the present Rome.[30.]Beugnot, vol. i., p. 86.[31.]“Ludorum celebrationes, deoram festa sunt.”—Lactantius, Institutiones Divin., vi., 20, apud Beugnot.[32.]“Adite aras publicas adque delubra, et consuetudinis vestræ celebrate solemnia: nec enim prohibemus preteritæ usurpationis officia libera luce tractari.”[33.]The labarum was a cross, with the monogram of Christ.[34.]The Græco-Russian church has, however, given him a place in her calendar on the 21st May, but only in common with his mother Helena. This was done only a considerable time after his death.[35.]Beugnot, upon the authority of Ausonius, vol. i., p. 321.[36.]Thus Symmachus, one of the leaders of the old aristocracy of Rome, celebrated for his learning, virtues, and staunch adherence to the national polytheism, was invested by Theodosius with the dignity of a consul of Rome; the well known Greek orator, Libanius, was created prefect of the imperial palace; and Themistius, who had been invested with the highest honours under the preceding reigns, was created by Theodosius prefect of Constantinople, received in the senate, and entrusted for some time with the education of Arcadius. These distinguished polytheists never made a secret of their religious opinions, but publicly declared them on several occasions. Many of Theodosius' generals were avowed Pagans, but enjoyed no less his confidence and favour.[37.]Fallmerayer, “Geschichte der Morea,” vol. i., p. 136.[38.]Vide supra, pp. 30-32.[39.]I think that it will not be uninteresting to my readers to know how the Roman Catholic Church explains this prohibition, and which may be best seen from the following piece of ingenious casuistry, by one of her ablest defenders in this country:—“Canon xxxvi. of the Provincial Council held in 305, at Eliberis, in Spain, immediately refutes the error of Bingham. (Bingham maintained the same opinion on the images which is expressed in the text.) The pastors of the Spanish church beheld the grievous persecution that Diocletian had commenced to wage against the Christian faith, which had for a lengthened period enjoyed comparative repose, under the forbearing reign of Constantius Cæsar, father of Constantine the Great. They assembled to concert precautionary measures, and amongst other things, they determined that, in the provinces under their immediate jurisdiction, there should be no fixed and immovable picture monuments, such as fresco paintings or mosaics, no images of Christ whom they adored, nor of the saints whom they venerated, on the walls of the churches which had been erected and ornamented during the long interval of peace which the Christians had enjoyed. ‘Placuit,’ says the council, ‘picturas in ecclesia esse non debere, ne quod colitur et adoratur, in parietibus depingatur,’ (Con. Elib., apud Labbeum, tom i. p. 972.) This economy was prudent and adapted to the exigency of the period. The figures of Christ and of his saints were thus protected from the ribaldry and insults of the Pagans. But this well-timed prohibition demonstrates, that the use of pictures and images had already been introduced into the Spanish church.”—Hierurgia, or Transubstantiation, Invocation of Saints, Relics, &c., expounded by D. Rock, D.D., second edition, p. 374, note. There can be no doubt that the enactment in question proves that images were used at that time amongst the Spanish Christians, as a law prohibiting some particular crimes or offences shows that they were taking place at the time when it was promulgated; but the opinion that the above-mentioned enactment was not a prohibition of images, but a precautionary measure in their favour, must be supported either by the other canons of the same council, which contain nothing confirmatory of this opinion, or by the authority of some contemporary writer, and is without such evidence quite untenable, and nothing better than a mere sophism, I have given this explanation of the Council of Elvira by a Roman Catholic writer as a fair specimen of the manner in which all other practices of their church, derived from Paganism, are defended.[40.]Translator's Note.—And yet the same writer has defended this manner of recruiting the church.—Vid. supra, p. [17].[41.]Translator's Note.—And yet this system of concession has been called by the same author true wisdom.—Vid. supra, p. [18].[42.]Translator's Note.—It dated from the time when the Christian church began to make a compromise with Paganism.[43.]Who would defile themselves by the impious superstition of the idols.[44.]An ecclesiastical writer of the fifth century.[45.]Translator's Note.—Importing usually into the Christian church that leaven of Paganism which is mentioned in the text.[46.]Translator's Note.—Retaining meanwhile, however, the thing itself.[47.]Translator's Note.—It is a great pity that the author leaves us in the dark about the time when this great improvement in the Roman Catholic Church to which he alludes took place.[48.]St Augustinus relates, in the fourth book of his Confessions, chap, iii., that he was diverted from the idea of studying astrology by a pagan physician, who made him understand all the falsehood and ridicule of that science.[49.]A similar custom is still prevalent is Russia. Vide infra, “On the Superstitions of her Church.”[50.]Author's Note.—In 1215, Buondelmonte was murdered by the Amidei at the foot of the statue of Mars. This murder produced at Florence a civil war, which, gradually spreading over all Italy, gave birth to the factions of the Guelphs and Ghibelines.[51.]Basnage, “Histoire de l'Eglise,” p. 1174.[52.]An interesting account of Vigilantius was published by the Rev. Dr Gilly, the well-known friend of the Waldensians.[53.]Vide supra, p. 8.[54.]Gibbon's “Roman Empire,” chap. xlix.[55.]The Greeks and Russians worship their images chiefly by kissing them, and it was probably on this account that it was ordered to raise them to a height where they could not be reached by the lips of their votaries, because this means could not prevent them from bowing to them.[56.]It is related that the women were the most zealous in defending the images, and that an officer of the emperor, who was demolishing a statue of Christ placed at the entrance of the imperial palace, was murdered by them.[57.]Gibbon and some other writers think that Constantine survived for some time the loss of his eyes, but I have followed in the text the general opinion on this event.[58.]Irene was a native of Athens.[59.]Vol. ix. p. 429, et seq.[60.]Extracts from the works of this celebrated monk, and his life, apud Basnage Histoire de l'Eglise, p. 1375.[61.]Theodora, on being appointed by her husband regent during the minority of her son, was obliged to swear that she would not restore the idols. The Jesuit Maimbourg, who wrote a history of the iconoclasts, maintains that, in restoring the worship of images, she did not commit a perjury, because she swore that she would not restore the idols, but not images, which are not idols.[62.]I may add, as well as the Russo-Greek Church, which, as I shall have an opportunity to show afterwards, is no less opposed to Protestantism than her rival, the Church of Rome.[63.]Thus, for instance, the well-known work of the celebrated patriarch Photius, written in the ninth century, contains extracts from and notices of many works which have never reached us.[64.]“Edinburgh Review,” July, 1841, p. 17.[65.]According to the author of “Hierurgia,” Cassianus suffered martyrdom under the reign of Julian the Apostate; we know, however, from history, that no persecution of Christians had taken place under that emperor. Cassianus' body is still preserved at Imola, but according to Collin de Plancy he has besides a head at Toulouse.[66.]“Hierurgia,” by D. Rock, D.D., second edition, p. 377, et seq.[67.]Prudentius was known as a man of great learning, and had filled some important offices of the state.[68.]The title of this book is—“Opus illustrissimi Caroli Magni, nutu Dei, Regis Francorum, Gallias, Germaniam, Italiamque sive harum finitimas provincias, Domino opitulante, regentis, contra Synodum quæ in partibus Greciæ, pro adorandis imaginibus, stolide sive arroganter gesta est.”[69.]I think that it has recently been completed at Brussels.[70.]The title of Ruinart's work is—“Acta primorum Martyrum sincera et selecta ex libris, cum editis, tum manuscriptis, collecta eruta vel emendata.” 4to, Paris 1687, and several editions afterwards.[71.]The most important of these Apocrypha of the New Testament, some of which have reached us, whilst we know the others from the writings of the fathers, are the Gospels according to St Peter, to St Thomas, to St Matthias, the Revelations of St Peter, the Epistle of St Barnabas, the Acts of St John, of St Andrew, and other apostles.[72.]Mabillon on the Unknown Saints, p. 10. Apud Basnage, p. 1047.[73.]“Vie de St François Xavier,” par le Pere Bouhours, 1716. Apud Maury, p. 22.[74.]“Liber Aureus Inscriptus, Liber Conformitatum Vitæ Beati ac Seraphici Patris Francisci, ad Vitam Jesu Christi Domini Nostri.” It went through several editions.[75.]The title of this curious work is “Histoire de St François d'Assise, par Emile Chavin de Malan.” Paris: 1845.[76.]“Edinburgh Review,” April 1847, p. 295.[77.]History of St Waltheof, p. 2 in the 5th vol. of the collection.[78.]Ibid., p. 24.[79.]Life of St Augustine of Canterbury, Apostle of the English, p. 237, in the 1st volume of the English Saints, mentioned above.[80.]There is a German story which is evidently a parody of this legend. It says that an individual who was passionately fond of playing at nine-pins committed a crime for which he was sentenced to be beheaded. He requested, as a favour which was usually granted to culprits before their execution, to indulge once more in his favourite game. This demand being conceded, he began to play with such ardour that he entirely forgot his impending execution. The executioner, who was present, got tired of waiting for the culprit, and seizing a moment when he stretched his neck picking up a ball from the ground, cut off his head. The culprit was, however, so keen in the pursuit of his game, that he seized his own head, and having made with it a successful throw, exclaimed, “Haven't I got all the nine?”[81.]An old German ballad gives a fair specimen of the ideas which people entertained of the joys of heaven. It says, amongst other things:—“Wine costs not a penny in the cellar of heaven; angels bake bread and cracknels at the desire of every one; vegetables of every kind abundantly grow in the garden of heaven; pease and carrots grow without being planted; asparagus is as thick as a man's leg, and artichokes as big as a head. When it is a lent day, the fishes arrive in shoals, and St Peter comes with his net to catch them, in order to regale you. St Martha is the cook and St Urban the butler.”—See Maury, p. 88.[82.]Zimmerman's “Solitude Considered with respect to its Dangerous Influence upon the Mind and Heart.” English translation. Ed. 1798, p. 102, et seq.[83.]Vide supra, p. [17].[84.]“Mandat sancta synodus omnibus episcopis et caeteris, ut juxta catholicae et apostolicae ecclesiae usum, a primaevis Christianae religionis temporibus receptum, de legitimo imaginum usu fideles diligenter instruunt, docentes eos, imaginis Christi et Deiparae Virginis, et aliorum sanctorum, in templis praesertim habendas et retinendas, eisque debitum honorem et venerationem impertiendam; non quod credatur inesse aliqua in divinitas, vel virtus, propter quam sint colendae; vel quod ab iis aliquod sit petendum; vel quod fiducia in imaginibus sit figenda, veluti olim fiebat a gentibus, quae in idolis (Psalm cxxxv.) spem suam collocabant: sed quoniam honos, qui eis exhibetur, refertur ad prototypae, quae illae representant, ita ut per imagines, quae osculamur, et coram quibus caput aperimus et procumbimus, Christum adoremus; et sanctos quorum illae similitudinem gerunt veneremur.”—Sessio xxv. de Invocatione Sanc. et Sacr. Imag.[85.]
The following description of this little idol is given by a well-known French writer of last century:—“This morning, when I was quietly walking along a street towards the capitol, I met with a carriage, in which sat two Franciscan monks, holding on their knee something which I was unable to distinguish. Every body was stopping and bowing in a most respectful manner. I inquired to whom were these salutations directed? ‘To the Bambino,’ I was answered, ‘whom these good fathers are carrying to a prelate, who is very ill, and whom the physicians have given up.’ It was then explained to me what this Bambino is. It is a little statue, meant for Jesus, made of wood, and richly attired. The convent which has the good fortune of being its owner has no other patrimony. As soon as any body is seriously ill, the Bambino is sent for, in a carriage, because he never walks on foot. Two monks take him and place him near the bed of the patient, in whose house they remain, living at his expense, until he dies or recovers.
“The Bambino is always driving about; people sometimes fight at the gate of the convent in order to get him. He is particularly busy during the summer, and his charges are then higher, in proportion to the competition and the heat, which I think is quite right.”—Dupaty, Lettres sur l'Italie, let. xlviii.
The Bambino continues to maintain his credit; and I have read not long ago in the newspapers, that an English lady of rank, who had joined the communion of Rome, was performing the duties of his dry nurse on a festival of her adopted church.
Herodot., lib. ii., p. 36,—
“Qui grege linigero circumdatus et grege calvo,
Plangentis populi currit derisor Anubis.”
Juvenal, vi. 532.
It appears that a kerchief with the likeness of the face of Jesus Christ imprinted on it, and covered with blood and sweat, was kept in a church at Rome in the eleventh century, for it is mentioned in the brief of Pope Sergius IV., dated 1011. We do not know what tales respecting this relic were related at that time, but it appears that copies of it called Veronies, i.e., a corruption of verum icon, “the true image,” were sold; and no doubt this appellation gave rise to the legend of Sancta Veronica who wiped the face of Christ with her kerchief as he was going to Calvary. There are many versions of this legend, as for instance that it was this woman whom Christ had cured of the bloody issue, whilst again it is maintained that she was no less a person than Berenice, niece to King Herod. It is also related that after the dispersion of the apostles, St Veronica went in company with Mary Magdalene, Martha, and Lazarus, to Marseilles, where she wrought many miracles with her kerchief. The Emperor Tiberius heard of these miracles, and having fallen ill, he summoned Veronica to Rome. She cured him in a moment, and was rewarded with great honours and rich presents. The remainder of her life was spent at Rome in company with St Peter and St Paul, and she bequeathed the miraculous kerchief to Pope St Clement. It must, however, be observed, that this legend has not obtained the official approbation of the Roman Catholic Church, though St Veronica is acknowledged and has a place in the calendar for the 21st of February; and it is said she suffered martyrdom in France. With regard to the large sudaries or sheets upon which the whole body of Jesus Christ is impressed, and the absurdity of which Calvin has so clearly exposed, the most celebrated of these is that at Turin. Its history is curious, inasmuch as it shows that the efforts of enlightened and pious prelates to prevent idolatrous practices invading their churches proved unavailing against that general tendency to worship visible objects, so strongly implanted in corrupt human nature, that even in this enlightened age we are continually witnessing such manifestation of its revival as may be compared only to that of the dark period of the middle ages. The most striking instances undoubtedly are those of the holy coat of Treves, and the relics of St Theodosia, which have been recently installed at Amiens, with great pomp, and in the presence of the most eminent prelates of the Roman Catholic Church, who seem now to be as anxious to promote this kind of fetishism, as some of their predecessors were formerly to repress the same abuse. But let us return to our immediate subject—the holy sudarium of Turin. It is a long linen sheet, upon which is painted in a reddish colour a double likeness of a human body, i.e., as seen from before and from behind, quite naked with the exception of a broad scarf encircling the loins. It is pretended that this relic was saved by a Christian at the taking of Jerusalem by Titus, and it was preserved for many centuries by the faithful.
In 640 it was brought back to Palestine, from whence it was transferred to Europe by the Crusaders. It was taken by a French knight named Geoffroi de Charny, who presented it to the collegiate church of a place called Liré, which belonged to him, and which is situated about three leagues from the town of Troyes, in Champagne; the donor declaring, on that occasion, that this holy sheet was taken by him from the infidels, and that it had delivered him in a miraculous manner from a prison dungeon into which he had been cast by the English.
The canons of that church, seeing at once the great profits to be derived from such a relic, lost no time in exhibiting it, and their church was soon crowded with devotees. The bishop of Troyes, Henri de Poitiers, finding however no proofs of the authenticity of this relic, prohibited it to be shown as an object of worship, and it remained unheeded for twenty-four years.
The sons of Geoffroi de Charny, about the year 1388, obtained permission from the Papal legate to restore this relic of their father's to the church of Liré, and the canon exposed it in front of the pulpit, surrounding it with lighted tapers, but the bishop of Troyes, Peter d'Arcy, prohibited this exhibition under pain of excommunication. They afterwards obtained from the king, Charles VI., an authorization to worship the holy sudarium in the church of Liré. The bishop upon this repaired to court, and represented to the king that the worship of the pretended sheet of Jesus Christ was nothing less than downright idolatry, and he argued so effectually that Charles revoked the permission by an edict of the 21st August 1389.
Geoffroi de Charny's sons then appealed to Pope Clemens VII., who was residing at Avignon, and he granted permission for the holy sudarium to be exhibited. The bishop of Troyes sent a memorial to the Pope, explaining the importance attached to this so-called holy relic. Clemens did not, however, prohibit the sudarium to be shown, but he forbade its being exhibited as the real sudary of Jesus Christ. The canons of Liré, therefore, put aside their sudary, but it reappeared in other places, and after being shown about in various churches and convents it remained at Chambery in 1432, where nobody dared to impugn its reality. From that time its fame increased, and Francis I., king of France, went a pilgrimage on foot, the whole way from Lyons to Chambery, in order to worship this linen cloth. In 1578 St Charles Borromeo having announced his intention of going on foot to Chambery to adore the holy sudary, the Duke of Savoy, wishing to spare this high-born saint the trouble of so long a pilgrimage, commanded the relic to be brought to Turin, where it has since remained, and where the miracles performed by it and the solemn worship paid to it, may be considered as a proof that its authenticity is no longer doubted.
There are about six holy sudaries preserved in other churches, besides the pieces shown elsewhere.