Page 7 - St. Joseph Messenger September 2020

History of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross

St. Helena’s mission to excavate the True Cross

T early years of the seventh century, the True Cross
he Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross is
celebrated on September 14th. It seems
was taken to Persia. It remained there until
appropriate that the True Cross, the most
rightful place in Jerusalem.
recognized symbol of Jesus and the Church, is Emperor Heraclius the Second restored it to its
glorified by a feast of its own.
This gesture resulted in another traditional
The cross had been a sign of suffering, but account that is quite moving. When Heraclius,
by the passion and death of Jesus Christ and His carrying the True Cross on his back, tried to bring
subsequent resurrection, it became a glorious it into the church on Mount Calvary, he could not
symbol of triumph over death, the ultimate sign do so. There seemed to be a strange force keeping
of God’s love for His Church. him out of the church. The Patriarch of Jerusalem,
seeing his difficulty, suggested that he take off his
The Story behind the Feast royal garb and enter as a poor pilgrim. When
St. Helena was the mother of the Holy Roman Heraclius did this he had no problem entering the
Emperor Constantine. (It was Constantine who church.
legalized Christianity and allowed for freedom of
worship throughout the empire.) The Instrument of Salvation
The reason for the celebration of the True Cross
Towards the final years of her life, St. Helena de- on which Jesus was crucified is self-evident to
cided to make the journey to Jerusalem to find the those who know its significance. The cross of
True Cross. She had the pagan temples which had Cont’d.
been built over the burial place of Jesus razed, and
tradition has it that the Holy Sepulchre was dis-
covered. The wooden cross on which Jesus was
crucified was found nearby along with the crosses
of the two thieves who were crucified with Him.
The challenge then was to determine which of the
three crosses was the True Cross.

Tradition holds that the method used was to
transport the three crosses to a woman near death.
When she touched the True Cross, she was
healed. To celebrate this profound discovery,
Emperor Constantine had churches built at the site
of the Holy Sepulchre and on Mount Calvary.
This led to the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy
Cross being celebrated in Jerusalem and then as a
universal feast.
Finding of the True Cross 1452-66
Piero Della Francesca
The Removal of the True Cross to Persia Fresco
When the Persians conquered Jerusalem in the San Francesco, Arezzo

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