Q: On Sunday, the priest mentioned that St. Helena had found the cross of Christ, and the church even had a relic of the true cross. What were the circumstances behind the finding? Also, I have heard some scoff at relics of the cross. Any extra information would be helpful. — A reader via email
A: The story of the finding of the true cross will help us appreciate the relics of the true cross. First, we need to set the historical context. In AD 312, Emperor Constantine defeated his rival Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge, thereby taking control of the western half of the Roman Empire. The following year, Constantine promulgated the Edict of Milan, legalizing Christianity. When Licinius, who had control of the eastern half of the empire, began persecuting the church again, Constantine defeated him and consolidated his power over the whole Roman Empire by AD 324.
Constantine’s mother, St. Helena, decided to undertake the restoration of the sacred places of the Holy Land. Perhaps Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem had approached both Constantine and St. Helena for such help at the Council of Nicea in AD 325.
Two points to keep in mind: First, in AD 42, King Herod Agrippa enlarged Jerusalem, extending the city walls, thereby incorporating Mount Calvary. Executions now stopped here since they had to take place outside the city walls. Second, in AD 135, the Emperor Hadrian suppressed the Jewish rebellion in Jerusalem led by Bar Kokhba and decided to make Jerusalem a Roman city, which he named Colonia Aelia Capitolina. He also decided to obliterate Christianity, so he leveled Mount Calvary and erected the Temple of Venus, a project that also covered the tomb of Our Lord. While this act was meant to be destructive, it actually marked the sacred places.
Arriving in Jerusalem, St. Helena ordered excavations at the site of the Temple of Venus. At the site of the crucifixion, they found three crosses and three nails in a nearby cistern. One tradition holds that there was confusion as to which cross was the cross of Christ. Bishop Macarius, who was present, had a dying woman brought to Calvary, and she touched each of the crosses; when she touched the last one, she was cured, and that cross was declared the true cross.
Some accounts reported that one of the crosses still had the titulus attached to it, which declared, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,” thereby identifying it as the true cross. Both Sts. Ambrose and John Chrysostom preached this account.
Either way, the finding took place Sept. 14, hence the feast day for the exaltation of the cross. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was dedicated later on that same date. Note the Church of the Holy Sepulchre incorporates both the sites of Calvary and the tomb of Jesus.
To increase devotion to the passion of Our Lord, St. Helena divided the cross into three parts: one remained in Jerusalem, one she took to Rome and one was given to her son at Constantinople. Keep in mind that the vertical beam was between 3 and 4 meters long (about 9-12 feet), and the horizontal beam about 2 meters (6 feet). The titulus was also divided in two parts; half remained in Jerusalem and half in Rome, the only part that survives.
Because of the three parts of the cross (one of which had been stolen by the Persians and recovered) and the tiny size of most available relics, several researchers decided that the best way to determine the true cross’ authenticity would be to examine the titulus. Research has shown several facts. First, thetitulus bears inscriptions in Hebrew, Greek and Latin (a fact attested by Sozomen of Gaza, who as a youth had met some of the workers who had discovered the crosses). However, St. John, an eyewitness to the crucifxion, recorded in his Gospel the order of the inscriptions was: Hebrew, then Latin and Greek last. Carsten Peter Thiede posited that if the titulus were a forgery, the order of the inscriptions would have purposely matched that of the Gospel. Second, the Greek and Latin texts are written from right to left, imitating the direction of the Hebrew text. Hannah Eshel and Gabriel Barkay, specialists in Jewish paleography, noted that the style of writing dated to the second Temple period, or first century AD. Moreover, Thiede determined that the style of the Greek text also dated to the first century. In addition, the titulus has traces of whitewash on the surface and black-red paint in the recesses of the carved letters, which was typical of Roman methods. Finally, Elio Corona, an Italian botanist, identified the wood of the titulus as very old walnut (juglans regia,) which grows in the Middle East near the eastern Mediterranean. Thiede concluded that the titulus could not be fake, the product of a copyist or counterfeiter (The Quest for the True Cross).
So what is the point? Hesemann asserted, “If one can claim with a great degree of certainty that the titulus crucis does date back to Christ’s time, then we could also verify the circumstances of its discovery, and indirectly, the authenticity of the three crosses and nails. We could also suggest that numerous relics associated with the true cross, found today in various European cathedrals, are in fact genuine — or at least that those relics traceable to Rome, Constantinople and Jerusalem are genuine,” (Witness to Mystery).
Given this evidence, records show that by AD 400, relics of the cross (i.e. splinters or small fragments) were venerated in churches in Europe (like Ravenna) and North Africa (like Tixter and Cape Matifu). Sts. Paulinus of Nola, Gregory of Nyssa and John Chrysostom had such relics. In a catechetical lecture, St. Cyril of Jerusalem said “wood from the true cross” could be found not only in his basilica but also “in every corner of the globe.”
Alas, then came the skeptics. Erasmus of Rotterdam stated, “Even a cargo ship would be too small to transport the numerous fragments of the true cross, found scattered throughout the world.” Martin Luther opined that “one could build a whole house using all the parts of the true cross found scattered throughout the world.” Some Protestant antagonists have quipped one could build a bridge from Europe to America with all the fragments of the cross.
In 1870, French architect Charles Rohault de Fleury addressed these claims. He estimated the cross’ total volume was about 36,000 cubic centimeters, compared to the total volume of the cross’ scattered fragments at about 4,000 cubic centimeters. While many places possess relics of the true cross, these relics are tiny fragments or splinters. Granted, while splinters cannot be tested because of their size, if the relic’s place of origin is traceable, it is authentic.
Nevertheless, what is most important is our faith in what the cross represents. St. Jerome preached, “By the cross, I mean not the wood, but the passion. That cross is in Britain, in India, in the whole world. … Happy is he who carries in his own heart the cross, the resurrection, the place of the nativity of Christ and of the His ascension.”