Why an Atheist Thinks the Shroud of Turin is the Real Deal

The Habitual Miracle

Anna, the daughter of Alexios Komnenos, a significant scholar in her father’s court, wrote about a “habitual miracle” at St. Mary’s. On every Friday, a veil that covered an icon of the Virgin Mary moved up slowly to reveal Mary’s face. (28).This has obvious parallels to the story of the shroud raising itself on Fridays. We could speculate endlessly about this, even wondering if St. Mary’s was not perhaps the church of secret levitating mechanisms. Was the shroud brought there for that reason? The hardest thing to imagine is that a napkin was confused with a burial shroud or that a napkin sized cloth would raise itself up to reveal a complete body.

 Is it not just as possible, also, that the shroud was moved to St. Mary’s, perhaps even moved from time to time. Might it have been moved for the sake of its safety in times of war or moved for festival occasions.