The Knights and Dames of the Dynastic Orders of the Royal House of Savoy participated in the Celebration of the Feast of the Holy Shroud in the Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome on 4 May 2023.
The Feast of the Holy Shroud was celebrated on 4 May in the Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, with the promotion of the Giulio Ricci Diocesan Centre for Sindonology in collaboration with the International Centre for Studies on the Holy Shroud and the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum.
The event began with a lecture titled “The Holy Shroud and the Royal House of Savoy”, delivered by Comm. Prof. Antonio Cassanelli, who guided the audience through the intense and compelling history that saw the vicissitudes of the Shroud connected with those of the House of Savoy over five centuries rich in culture, art and faith, but also in wars, aggressions and invasions.
It is a history that has seen the millenary Savoy dynasty involved with 13 Dukes of Savoy, 7 Kings of Sardinia, 4 Kings of Italy in defending and guarding the most important relic of Christianity, increasing its knowledge, veneration and worship.
For 530 years, the Holy Sheet represented the “palladium” of the Savoy dynasty and its subjects, offering the certainty of protection and heavenly blessings in daily life and adversity, and a point of reference in the Christian faith.
The lecture was followed by a solemn Eucharistic Concelebration in the Basilica presided over by His Excellency the Most Rev. Mgr. Romano Rossi, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Civita Castellana, which was attended by a large number of worshippers, including representatives of the National Institute for the Guard of Honour at the Royal Tombs of the Pantheon and the Archconfraternity of Maria Ss. del Carmine in Trastevere.
At the end, the Knights and Dames, in church dress, carried a linen copy of the Shroud in procession to the altar to display it for the devout worshippers.
At the conclusion of the sacred rite, after the recitation of the “Prayer before the Holy Shroud”, Comm. Alfonso Marini Dettina, the Delegate for Lazio, read a message sent by HRH the Prince of Naples Vittorio Emanuele, Grand Master of the Dynastic Orders of the House of Savoy, a tangible expression of His closeness
