The Shroud of Turin is believed to be the cloth that was used to wrap the body of Christ before it was placed in the tomb. The gospels accounts do not describe the resurrection but just the finding of the empty tomb by Mary Magdalen and other women. St. Matthew tells us that the angel of the Lord "appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow." (Mt. 28:3) This suggests the Transfiguration of Jesus with its emanation of light.

At burial Christ was wrapped in a cloth. When the women related to Peter what they they seen at the tomb, Peter "went into the tomb and saw the burial cloth there...." (Jn 20:6) Today this cloth is known as the Shroud of Turin.

In 1898, the Italian photographer Secunda Pia took the first photograph of the Shroud and noted that the photographic plate was a positive rather than a negative. From this point on many have pondered and made scientific studies of the the Shroud trying to find out how the image may have been formed.

How was the image formed?

Scientific investigations indicate that the shroud was not a painting, nor was it formed by transfer of oils or chemicals from the body. Some have suggested that the image could have been formed by the aura or energy body of Jesus, that is, a natural process. Granted that his aura would have been stronger than the average person, it is doubtful that it would have been strong enough to leave such an imprint on the shroud. Experts in atomic physics think that the image was formed by an very short and intense burst of radiant energy in the ultraviolet/visible range.73

Jack Sacco gives us the most likely scenario of how the image was formed. He says that the body did not decay but that the atoms and molecules of Christ's body underwent a reordering process which reached a "Super -Ordered" state. At this point heat and intense ultra-violet radiation emanated from the body. The cloth literally fell through the transformed body of Christ and the image was scorched into it by the intense ultra-violet radiation.74

Christ our Light