CATHOLIC WORD BOOK - Knights of Columbus, Supreme Council

approval permits public devotion at the
shrine and implies that at least one miracle
has resulted from devotion at the shrine.
Among the best known crowned shrines
are those of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes
and Fátima. Shrines with statues crowned
by Pope John Paul in 1985 in South
America were those of Our Lady of
Coromoto, patroness of Venezuela, in
Caracas, and Our Lady of Carmen of
Paucartambo in Cuzco, Peru.
Shroud of Turin: A strip of brownish linen
cloth, 14 feet, three inches in length and
three feet, seven inches in width, bearing
the front and back imprint of a human
body. A tradition dating from the 7th
century, which has not been verified
beyond doubt, claims that the shroud is
the fine linen in which the body of Christ
was wrapped for burial. The early history
of the shroud is obscure. It was enshrined
at Lirey, France, in 1354 and was
transferred in 1578 to Turin, Italy, where
it has been kept in the cathedral down to
the present time. Scientific investigation,
which began in 1898, seems to indicate
that the markings on the shroud are those
of a human body. The shroud, for the first
time since 1933, was placed on public
view from Aug. 27 to Oct. 8, 1978, and
was seen by an estimated 3.3 million
people. Scientists conducted intensive
studies of it thereafter, finally determining
that the material of the shroud dated from
between 1260 and 1390. The shroud,
which had been the possession of the
House of Savoy, was willed to Pope John
Paul II in 1983.
Sick Calls: When a person is confined at
home by illness or other cause and is
unable to go to church for reception of the
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sacraments, a parish priest should be
informed and arrangements made for him
to visit the person at home. Such
visitations are common in pastoral
practice, both for special needs and for
providing persons with regular
opportunities for receiving the sacraments.
If a priest cannot make the visitation,
arrangements can be made for a deacon or
Eucharistic minister to bring Holy
Communion to the homebound or
bedridden person.
Sign of the Cross: A sign, ceremonial
gesture or movement in the form of a cross
by which a person confesses faith in the
Holy Trinity and Christ, and intercedes for
the blessing of himself or herself, other
persons and things. In Roman Rite
practice, a person making the sign touches
the fingers of the right hand to forehead,
below the breast, left shoulder and right
shoulder while saying: “In the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
The sign is also made with the thumb on
the forehead, the lips, and the breast. For
the blessing of persons and objects, a large
sign of the cross is made by movement of
the right hand. In Eastern Rite practice,
the sign is made with the thumb and first
two fingers of the right hand joined
together and touching the forehead, below
the breast, the right shoulder and the left
shoulder; the formula generally used is the
doxology, “O Holy God, O Holy Strong One, O
Immortal One.” The Eastern manner of
making the sign was general until the first
half of the 13th century; by the 17th
century, Western practice involved the
whole right hand and the reversal of
direction from shoulder to shoulder.