Image of Edessa

Description

Most Catholics know of the Holy Shroud of Turin, the tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, and the Miraculous Veil of Saint Veronica. These three images are each acheiropoietos (Greek: Αχειροποίητος, meaning “not-made-by-hands). Their origins are miraculous, that is, not painted by human hand.
However, the world knows of an alleged fourth acheiropoietos image, the Holy Mandylion of Edessa. This image is venerated in the East and not well known in the West except for that it is sometimes incorporated into images of Saint Jude Thaddeus the Apostle. Saint Jude is often depicted as bearing a version of the Holy Mandylion around his neck – as you can see in the painting to to the left. Unfortunately, later paintings make it appear that Saint Jude is wearing a join medal around his neck. It should be the Holy Mandylion, as depicted above at the beginning of the post.
According to tradition, King Abgar of Edessa wrote a letter to our Lord Jesus Christ, asking Christ to cure him. King Abgar received an letter in reply from Jesus declining the invitation, but promising a future visit by one of his Apostles (who turns out to be Saint Jude Thaddeus).
Eusebius of Caesarea, writing in the 300s, recounts the story for us. He claims that the original letters are still preserved in the city of Edessa. In this version, Christ sends Saint Jude Thaddeus to heal the king.
However, a later version of the legend from the 6th century (Acts of Thaddeus) recounts that the image was a sidon (Greek for burial shround) and that it was folded tetradiplon (Greek “tetra” = four and “diplon” = twofold). So then, it was a shroud folded twice and then fourfold. Oddly enough, the Holy Shroud of Turin has the exact same fourfold pattern:
This miraculous sidon was given to the King of Edessa along with the letter of Christ. The King was then healed. The letters and Holy Mandylion/Shroud were kept as prized treasures.
Saint John Damascene also described the Holy Image of Edessa as a large garment and not as a small napkin.