In Search of Holy Treasure

Since the mid-fourteenth century. a long piece of linen has been the object of an ongoing controversy. On it, we can see the image of a man with all the markings of the crucifixion. For the devout, it is the authentic shroud of Christ. For skeptics, this relic is merely an icon produced by some genius, a medieval con artist.

In 2003, Dan Brown published "The DaVinci Code". Through mystical clues, the author leads the reader on a sort of treasure hunt, in search of the mysterious Holy Grail. As a matter of fact, we learn that the word Holy Grail does not mean the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper, but rather a genealogical line traced from Jesus and Mary Magdalene's union. Occult reality or literary fantasy?

In 2007, Canadian documentary producer Simcha Jacobovici pompously announced, alongside prestigious director James Cameron, that he had found the ossuaries of Jesus. Since then, this archaeological discovery, announced as one of the most important of all time, has literally been forgotten.

Visitors to Hofburg Palace (Vienna) can admire an extraordinary relic; a richly decorated point of a lance. The object is believed to be the point of the lance of Longinus, a Roman legionnaire who pierced the side of Jesus. It is told that, since it was stained with the blood of the Savior, the lance has gained mysterious power, making its owner invincible.

In the Cathedral of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem in Rome, a little piece of wood is preserved in a magnificent silver reliquary. Apparently, it is a fragment of a sign with the word "Nazarene" written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Is it possible that this relic is a piece of the sign places over Jesus' head while crucified?

The great cathedral of San Salvador in Oviedo (Spain) houses an extraordinary relic, revered since the ninth century. It's a veil, soiled with reddish stains, which seem to be blood. Are the stains that cover the Oviedo veil really made with the blood of Christ?