or is it on Shrove Tuesday?
Shroud.com serves to remind us: The Religion and Philosophy page at shroud.com links to an article, Feast of the Holy Shroud Solemnly Celebrated in Fátima, Portugal by Dr. Paulo Falcão Tavares:
The official Feast of the Holy Shroud occurs on May 4th every year. Although not celebrated widely in the U.S., it is a very important date in parts of Europe. This article provides a detailed description of the events that took place in Fátima, Portugal on May 4, 2013. Dr. Tavares is the Delegate and President of the Dynastic Orders of the Royal House of Savoy and Spokesperson for the Oureana Foundation. Carlos Evaristo was kind enough to send us several photographs of the event, which I have included in the article itself.
Not much mention of it, elsewhere. However, the National Catholic Register did mention it yesterday in a Q&A article about the third annual March for Life in Rome, which takes place today:
The march this year is notable for taking place on the feast of the holy Shroud of Turin — could you explain more about this and why it is significant?
Indeed, this year’s March for Life will take place on a very special day. On May 4, it is the feast of the holy Shroud, which is the sacred cloth that bears witness to both the death of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. The liturgical feast was approved in 1506 by Pope Julius II, who decided to set the day after the feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross [also known as the Invention of the True Cross].
Historical and scientific studies have now shown that the sheet in which the dead body of Jesus was wrapped is authentic. The shroud is, therefore, one of the most important relics of Christianity and is a testimony to the life that triumphs over death, the love that wins over evil and sin. In the holy shroud, symbol of pain and of eternal life, the March for Life this year will have its seal of protection.
Okay, something of a stretch on the connection, but okay.
But wait, Wikipedia tells us that
This feast was celebrated on 4 May, the day after the Invention of the Cross, and was approved in 1506 by Pope Julius II; it was kept in Savoy, Piedmont, and Sardinia as the patronal feast of the royal House of Savoy (4 May, double of the first class, with octave).
and that . . .
In 1958 Pope Pius XII declared that the Feast of the Holy Winding Sheet of Christ (now usually known as the Turin Shroud) was to be kept on the day before Ash Wednesday.
which, of course, is Shrove Tuesday. And isn’t the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross now celebrated on September 14 in Catholic, Anglican, Greek, Russian and Armenian traditions (it once upon a time was celebrated on May 3, at least in the Catholic church).
So, happy Shroud of Turin day again, maybe.
I can vouch for September 14 being the feast-day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, for it is my brother’s birthday, and I have known of the feast-day for at least 60 years. My own birthday occurs on December 25, another significant date in the western church calendar. My sister’s occurs on August 15, the feast of the Assumption, and the anniversary of the mandylion’s arrival in Constantinople in 944. Both my father and father-in-law shared the same birthday on August 17, within a day after Constantine Porphyrogenitus set the feast-day of the mandylion. My wife, my mother and my sister-in-law also shared the same birthday, March 26, the day after the feast of the Annunciation. Our family has always considered this concurrence of birth-dates a remarkable set of coincidences, and hopefully propitious.
Interesting. I have never heard of it.