Saturday, August 18, 2012- Litany Lane:
Venerable, Ezekiel 18:1-10 13 30-32, Matthew 19: 13-15, St. Helena of Constantinople, True Cross
Good Day Bloggers!
Wishing everyone a Blessed Week!
P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Something Happens). It has a remarkable way of producing solace, peace, patience and tranquility and of course resolution...God's always available 24/7..
We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have
flaws but we also all have the gift knowledge and free will as well,
make the most of it. Life on earth is a stepping to our eternal home in
Heaven. Its your choice whether to rise towards eternal light or lost to
eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and
survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes
from this earth to Heaven is our Soul, our Spirit...it's God's perpetual
gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...
"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012
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Today's Word: venerable ven·er·a·ble [ven-er-uh-buh]
Origin: 1400–50; late Middle English < Latin venerābilis, equivalent to venerā ( rī ) to venerate + -bilis -ble
adjective
1. commanding respect because of great age or impressive dignity; worthy of veneration or reverence, as because of high office or noble character: a venerable member of Congress.
2. a title for someone proclaimed by the Roman Catholic Church to have attained the first degree of sanctity or of an Anglican archdeacon.
3. (of places, buildings, etc.) hallowed by religious, historic, or other lofty associations: the venerable halls of the abbey.
4. impressive or interesting because of age, antique appearance, etc.: a venerable oak tree.
5. extremely old or obsolete; ancient: a venerable automobile.
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Today's Old Testament Reading - Isaiah 12:2-6
Helena's birthplace is not known with certainty. The 6th-century historian Procopius is the earliest authority for the statement that Helena was a native of Drepanum, in the province of Bithynia in Asia Minor. Her son Constantine renamed the city "Helenopolis" after her death in 330, which supports the belief that the city was her birthplace.[2] Although he might have done so in her honor, Constantine probably had other reasons for doing so. The Byzantinist Cyril Mango has argued that Helenopolis was refounded to strengthen the communication network around his new capital in Constantinople, and was renamed simply to honor Helena, not to mark her birthplace.[3] There was also a Helenopolis in Palestine (modern Daburiyya)[4] and a Helenopolis in Lydia.[5] These cities, and the province of Helenopontus in the Diocese of Pontus, were probably both named after Constantine's mother.[2] G. K. Chesterton in his book 'A Short History of England' writes that she was considered a Briton by the British; supporting this, she is depicted as having golden hair. Some people believe that she came from Colchester in Essex; this being the Roman capital in Britain at the time, today the town has schools and places named after her, as well as her image appearing on the town hall and her son's name, Constantine, being used as the title for a particular road. The bishop and historian Eusebius of Caesarea states that she was about 80 on her return from Palestine.[6] Since that journey has been dated to 326–28, Helena was probably born in 248 or 250. Little is known of her early life.[7] Fourth-century sources, following Eutropius' "Breviarium," record that she came from a low background. Saint Ambrose was the first to call her a stabularia, a term translated as "stable-maid" or "inn-keeper". He makes this fact a virtue, calling Helena a bona stabularia, a "good stable-maid".[8] Other sources, especially those written after Constantine's proclamation as emperor, gloss over or ignore her background.[7] It is unknown where she first met Constantius.[9] The historian Timothy Barnes has suggested that Constantius, while serving under Emperor Aurelian, could have met her while stationed in Asia Minor for the campaign against Zenobia. It is said that upon meeting they were wearing identical silver bracelets, Constantius saw her as his soulmate sent by God. Barnes calls attention to an epitaph at Nicomedia of one of Aurelian's protectors, which could indicate the emperor's presence in the Bithynian region soon after 270.[10] The precise legal nature of the relationship between Helena and Constantius is also unknown. The sources are equivocal on the point, sometimes calling Helena Constantius' "wife", and sometimes, following the dismissive propaganda of Constantine's rival Maxentius,[11] calling her his "concubine".[9] Jerome, perhaps confused by the vague terminology of his own sources, manages to do both.[12] Some scholars, such as the historian Jan Drijvers, assert that Constantius and Helena were joined in a common-law marriage, a cohabitation recognized in fact but not in law.[13] Others, like Timothy Barnes, assert that Constantius and Helena were joined in an official marriage, on the grounds that the sources claiming an official marriage are more reliable.[14] Constantine was proclaimed Augustus of the Roman Empire in 306 by Constantius' troops after the latter had died, and following his elevation his mother was brought back to the public life in 312, returning to the imperial court. She appears in the Eagle Cameo portraying Constantine's family, probably commemorating the birth of Constantine's son Constantine II in the summer of 316.[20] She received the title of Augusta in 325 and died in 330 with her son at her side. She was buried in the Mausoleum of Helena, outside Rome on the Via Labicana. Her sarcophagus is on display in the Pio-Clementine Vatican Museum, although the connection is often questioned, next to her is the sarcophagus of her granddaughter Saint Constantina (Saint Constance). The elaborate reliefs contain hunting scenes. During her life, she gave many presents to the poor, released prisoners and mingled with the ordinary worshippers in modest attire. Helena's saintliness has never been questioned despite her active participation in the execution of Crispus and Fausta. On some date between 15 May and 17 June 326, Constantine had his eldest son Crispus, by Minervina, seized, tried and put to death by "cold poison" at Pola (Pula, Croatia). In July, Constantine had his wife, the Empress Fausta, killed at the behest of his mother, Helena. Fausta was left to die in an overheated bath. Their names were wiped from the face of many inscriptions, references to their lives in the literary record were erased, and the memory of both was condemned SainthoodShe is considered by the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern and Roman Catholic churches, as well as by the Anglican Communion and Lutheran Churches as a saint, famed for her piety. Her feast day as a saint of the Orthodox Christian Church is celebrated with her son on 21 May, the "Feast of the Holy Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helen, Equal to the Apostles."[21] Likewise, Anglican churches and some Lutheran churches, keep the Eastern date. Her feast day in the Roman Catholic Church falls on 18 August. Her feast day in the Coptic Orthodox Church is on 9 Pashons. Eusebius records the details of her pilgrimage to Palestine and other eastern provinces (though not her discovery of the True Cross). She is the patron saint of new discoveries. Her discovery of the cross along with Constantine is celebrated as a play in the Philippines called Santacruzan.Relic discoveries
Jerusalem was still being rebuilt following the destruction caused by Emperor Hadrian. He had built a temple over the site of Jesus's tomb near Calvary, and renamed the city Aelia Capitolina. Accounts differ concerning whether the Temple was dedicated to Venus or Jupiter[22] According to tradition, Helena ordered the temple torn down and, according to the legend that arose at the end of the 4th century, chose a site to begin excavating, which led to the recovery of three different crosses. The legend is recounted in Ambrose, On the Death of Theodosius (died 395) and at length in Rufinus' chapters appended to his translation into Latin of Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, the main body of which does not mention the event,[23] Then, Rufinus relates, the empress refused to be swayed by anything short of solid proof and performed a test. Possibly through Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem), she had a woman who was near death brought from the city. When the woman touched the first and second crosses, her condition did not change, but when she touched the third and final cross she suddenly recovered,[24] and Helena declared the cross with which the woman had been touched to be the True Cross. On the site of discovery, Constantine ordered the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; churches were also built on other sites detected by Helena. Sozomen and Theodoret claim that Helena also found the nails of the crucifixion. To use their miraculous power to aid her son, Helena allegedly had one placed in Constantine's helmet, and another in the bridle of his horse. Helena left Jerusalem and the eastern provinces in 327 to return to Rome, bringing with her large parts of the True Cross and other relics, which were then stored in her palace's private chapel, where they can be still seen today. Her palace was later converted into the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. This has been maintained by Cistercian monks in the monastery which has been attached to the church for centuries. Tradition says that the site of the Vatican Gardens was spread with earth brought from Golgotha by Helena[25][26] to symbolically unite the blood of Christ with that shed by thousands of early Christians, who died in the persecutions of Nero.[25] According to one tradition, Helena acquired the Holy Tunic on her trip to Jerusalem and sent it to Trier. According to Byzantine tradition, Helena is responsible for the large population of cats in Cyprus. Local tradition holds that she imported hundreds of cats from Egypt or Palestine in the fourth century AD to rid a monastery of snakes. The monastery is today known as "St. Nicholas of the Cats" (Greek Άγιος Νικόλαος των Γατών) and is located near Limassol.[27] Several relics purportedly discovered by Saint Helena are now in Cyprus, where she spent some time. Among them are items believed to be part of Jesus Christ's tunic, pieces of the holy cross, and pieces of the rope with which Jesus was tied on the Cross. The rope, considered to be the only relic of its kind, has been held at the Stavrovouni Monastery, which was also founded by Saint Helena. Depictions in British folklore
At least twenty-five holy wells currently exist in the United Kingdom dedicated to Saint Helena. She is also the patron saint of Abingdon and Colchester. St Helen's Chapel in Colchester was believed to have been founded by Helena herself, and since the 15th century, the town's coat of arms has shown a representation of the True Cross and three crowned nails in her honour.[30] Colchester Town Hall has a Victorian statue of the saint on top of its 50-metre (160 ft) high tower.[31] The arms of Nottingham are almost identical, because of the city's connection with Cole (or Coel), Helena's supposed father.[32] Adrian Gilbert has argued that Helena traveled to Nevern in Wales and hid the True Cross near the local Norman church of St Brynach, where a cross is carved into a rock formation. Named the Pilgrim's Cross, religious pilgrims once came here to pray for visions. Names of local places are abundant with cross imagery, including River of the Empress, Mountain of the Cross, Pass of the Cross, and others. The True Cross, however, has not been found in this region.[33] Depictions in fictionIn medieval legend and chivalric romance, Helena appears as a persecuted heroine, in the vein of such women as Emaré and Constance; separated from her husband, she lives a quiet life, supporting herself on her embroidery, until such time as her son's charm and grace wins her husband's attention and so the revelation of their identities.[34]Helena is the protagonist of Evelyn Waugh's novel Helena. She is also the main character of Priestess of Avalon (2000), a fantasy novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson. She is given the name Eilan and depicted as a trained priestess of Avalon. Helena is also the protagonist of Louis de Wohl's novel The Living Wood, 1947, in which she is again the daughter of King Coel of Colchester. Notes
References
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Today's Snippet: The True Cross
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| Discovery of the Three Crosses, Fresco in
Basilica di San Francesco ad Arezzo, 1452
|
The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified. According to post-Nicene historians such as Socrates Scholasticus, the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, the first Christian Emperor of Rome, travelled to the Holy Land in 326-28, founding churches and establishing relief agencies for the poor. Historians Gelasius of Caesarea and Rufinus claimed that she discovered the hiding place of three crosses that were believed to be used at the crucifixion of Jesus and of two thieves, St. Dismas and Gestas, executed with him, and that a miracle revealed which of the three was the True Cross. Many churches possess fragmentary remains that are by tradition
alleged to be those of the True Cross. Their authenticity is not
accepted universally by those of the Christian faith and the accuracy of the reports surrounding the discovery of the True Cross is questioned by some Christians.[2] The acceptance and belief of that part of the tradition that pertains to the Early Christian Church is generally restricted to the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.
The medieval legends that developed concerning its provenance differ
between Catholic and Orthodox tradition. These churches honour Helena as
a saint, as does also the Anglican Communion.
Provenance of the True Cross
The Golden Legend
In the Latin-speaking traditions of Western Europe, the story of the
pre-Christian origins of the True Cross was well established by the 13th
century when, in 1260, it was recorded, by Jacopo de Voragine, Bishop of Genoa, in the Golden Legend.[3]
The Golden Legend contains several versions of the origin of the True Cross. In The Life of Adam Voragine writes that the true cross came from three trees which grew from three seeds from the "Tree of Mercy" which Seth collected and planted in the mouth of Adam's corpse.[4] In another account contained in Of the invention of the Holy Cross, and first of this word invention, Voragine writes that the True Cross came from a tree that grew from part of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, or "the tree that Adam ate of", that Seth planted on Adam's grave where it "endured there unto the time of Solomon".[5]
After many centuries the tree was cut down and the wood used to build a bridge over which the Queen of Sheba passed, on her journey to meet King Solomon.
So struck was she by the portent contained in the timber of the bridge
that she fell on her knees and reverenced it. On her visit to Solomon
she told him that a piece of wood from the bridge would bring about the
replacement of God's Covenant with the Jewish people, by a new order.
Solomon, fearing the eventual destruction of his people, had the timber
buried. But after fourteen generations, the wood taken from the bridge
was fashioned into the Cross used to crucify Christ. Voragine then goes on to describe its finding by Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine.[6]
In the late Middle Ages and Early Renaissance, there was a wide general acceptance of the origin of the True Cross and its history preceding the Crucifixion,
as recorded by Voragine. This general acceptance is confirmed by the
numerous artworks that depict this subject, culminating in one of the
most famous fresco cycles of the Renaissance, the Legend of the True Cross by Piero della Francesca, painted on the walls of the chancel of the Church of San Francesco in Arezzo between 1452 and 1466, in which he reproduces faithfully the traditional episodes of the story as recorded in The Golden Legend.
Eastern Christianity
The Golden Legend and many of its sources developed after the East-West Schism of 1054,
and thus is unknown in the Greek- or Syriac-speaking worlds. The above
pre-Crucifixion history, therefore, is not to be found in Eastern Christianity.
According to the Sacred Tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church the True Cross was made from three different types of wood: cedar, pine and cypress.[7] This is an allusion to Isaiah 60:13: "The glory of Lebanon
shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box
[cypress] together to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will
make the place of my feet glorious." The link between this verse and the
Crucifixion lies in the words, "the place of my feet", which is
interpreted as referring to the suppendaneum (foot rest) on which Jesus' feet were nailed (see Orthodox cross).
There is a tradition that the three trees from which the True Cross
was constructed grew together in one spot. A traditional Orthodox icon depicts Lot, the nephew of Abraham, watering the trees.[7] According to tradition, these trees were used to construct the Temple in Jerusalem ("to beautify the place of my sanctuary"). Later, during Herod's reconstruction of the Temple,
the wood from these trees was removed from the Temple and discarded,
eventually being used to construct the cross on which Jesus was
crucified ("and I will make the place of my feet glorious").
Finding the True Cross
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| Finding of True Cross, Gaddi, 1380 |
Eusebius of Caesarea, in his Life of Constantine,[8] describes how the site of the Holy Sepulchre, originally a site of veneration for the Christian community in Jerusalem, had been covered with earth and a temple of Venus had been built on top — although Eusebius does not say as much, this would probably have been done as part of Hadrian's reconstruction of Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina in 135, following the destruction during the Jewish Revolt of 70 and Bar Kokhba's revolt of 132–135. Following his conversion to Christianity, Emperor Constantine ordered in about 325–326 that the site be uncovered and instructed Saint Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem, to build a church on the site. In his Life of Constantine, Eusebius does not mention the finding of the True Cross.
According to Socrates Scholasticus
Socrates Scholasticus (born c. 380), in his Ecclesiastical History, gives a full description of the discovery[9] that was repeated later by Sozomen and by Theodoret. In it he describes how Saint Helena, Constantine's aged mother, had the temple destroyed and the Sepulchre uncovered, whereupon three crosses and the titulus from Jesus's crucifixion
were uncovered as well. In Socrates's version of the story, Macarius
had the three crosses placed in turn on a deathly ill woman. This woman
recovered at the touch of the third cross, which was taken as a sign
that this was the cross of Christ, the new Christian symbol. Socrates
also reports that, having also found the nails with which Christ had been fastened to the cross, Helena sent these to Constantinople, where they were incorporated into the emperor's helmet and the bridle of his horse.
According to Sozomen
Sozomen (died c. 450), in his Ecclesiastical History,
gives essentially the same version as Socrates. He also adds that it
was said (by whom he does not say) that the location of the Sepulchre
was "disclosed by a Hebrew who dwelt in the East, and who derived his
information from some documents which had come to him by paternal
inheritance" (although Sozomen himself disputes this account) and that a
dead person was also revived by the touch of the Cross. Later popular
versions of this story state that the Jew who assisted Helena was named
Jude or Judas, but later converted to Christianity and took the name Kyriakos.
According to Theodoret
When the empress beheld the place where the Saviour suffered, she
immediately ordered the idolatrous temple, which had been there erected,
to be destroyed, and the very earth on which it stood to be removed.
When the tomb, which had been so long concealed, was discovered, three
crosses were seen buried near the Lord's sepulchre. All held it as
certain that one of these crosses was that of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
that the other two were those of the thieves who were crucified with
Him. Yet they could not discern to which of the three the Body of the
Lord had been brought nigh, and which had received the outpouring of His
precious Blood. But the wise and holy Macarius, the president of the
city, resolved this question in the following manner. He caused a lady
of rank, who had been long suffering from disease, to be touched by each
of the crosses, with earnest prayer, and thus discerned the virtue
residing in that of the Saviour. For the instant this cross was brought
near the lady, it expelled the sore disease, and made her whole.
With the Cross were also found the Holy Nails,
which Helena took with her back to Constantinople. According to
Theodoret, "She had part of the cross of our Saviour conveyed to the
palace. The rest was enclosed in a covering of silver, and committed to
the care of the bishop of the city, whom she exhorted to preserve it
carefully, in order that it might be transmitted uninjured to
posterity." Another popular ancient version from the Syriac tradition replaced Helena with a fictitious first-century empress named Protonike.
Historians consider these versions to be apocryphal in varying degrees. It is certain, however, that the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre was completed by 335 and that alleged relics of the Cross were being venerated there by the 340s, as they are mentioned in the Catecheses of Cyril of Jerusalem (see below).
Conservation of the relics
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Treasure Room, True Cross,
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem |
The silver reliquary that was left at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in care of the bishop of Jerusalem was exhibited periodically to the faithful. In the 380s a nun named Egeria who was travelling on pilgrimage described the veneration of the True Cross at Jerusalem in a long letter, the Itinerario Egeriae that she sent back to her community of women:
Then a chair is placed for the bishop in Golgotha behind the [liturgical] Cross, which is now standing; the bishop duly takes his seat in the chair, and a table covered with a linen cloth is placed before him; the deacons stand round the table, and a silver-gilt casket is brought in which is the holy wood of the Cross. The casket is opened and [the wood] is taken out, and both the wood of the Cross and the title are placed upon the table. Now, when it has been put upon the table, the bishop, as he sits, holds the extremities of the sacred wood firmly in his hands, while the deacons who stand around guard it. It is guarded thus because the custom is that the people, both faithful and catechumens, come one by one and, bowing down at the table, kiss the sacred wood and pass through. And because, I know not when, some one is said to have bitten off and stolen a portion of the sacred wood, it is thus guarded by the deacons who stand around, lest any one approaching should venture to do so again. And as all the people pass by one by one, all bowing themselves, they touch the Cross and the title, first with their foreheads and then with their eyes; then they kiss the Cross and pass through, but none lays his hand upon it to touch it. When they have kissed the Cross and have passed through, a deacon stands holding the ring of Solomon and the horn from which the kings were anointed; they kiss the horn also and gaze at the ring...[10]
Before long, but perhaps not until after the visit of Egeria, it was possible also to venerate the crown of thorns, the pillar at which Christ was scourged, and the lance that pierced his side. In 614 the Sassanid Emperor Khosrau II ("Chosroes") removed the part of the cross as a trophy, when he captured Jerusalem. Thirteen years later, in 628, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius defeated Khosrau and regained the relic from Shahrbaraz. He placed the cross in Constantinople at first, and took it back to Jerusalem on 21 March 630.[11]
Around 1009, Christians in Jerusalem hid part of the cross and it
remained hidden until the city was taken by the European knights of the First Crusade. Arnulf Malecorne, the first Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, had the Greek Orthodox priests who were in possession of the Cross tortured in order to reveal its position.[12]
The relic that Arnulf discovered was a small fragment of wood embedded
in a golden cross, and it became the most sacred relic of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, with none of the controversy that had followed their discovery of the Holy Lance in Antioch. It was housed in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre under the protection of the Latin Patriarch, who marched with it ahead of the army before every battle.
It was captured by Saladin during the Battle of Hattin in 1187, and while some Christian rulers, like Richard the Lionheart,[13] Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelos and Tamar, Queen of Georgia, sought to ransom it from Saladin,[14] the cross was not returned and subsequently disappeared from historical records.
Other fragments of the Cross were further broken up, and the pieces were widely distributed; in 348, in one of his Catecheses, Cyril of Jerusalem remarked that the "whole earth is full of the relics of the Cross of Christ," [15]
and in another, "The holy wood of the Cross bears witness, seen among
us to this day, and from this place now almost filling the whole world,
by means of those who in faith take portions from it." [16] Egeria's account testifies to how highly these relics of the crucifixion were prized. Saint John Chrysostom
relates that fragments of the True Cross were kept in golden
reliquaries, "which men reverently wear upon their persons." Even two
Latin inscriptions around 350 from today's Algeria testify to the
keeping and admiration of small particles of the cross.[17] Around the year 455, Juvenal Patriarch of Jerusalem sent to Pope Leo I a fragment of the "precious wood", according to the Letters of Pope Leo. A portion of the cross was taken to Rome in the seventh century by Pope Sergius I, who was of Byzantine origin. "In the small part is power of the whole cross", so an inscription in the Felix Basilica of Nola, built by bishop Paulinus at the beginning of 5th century. The cross particle was inserted in the altar.[18]
The Old English poem Dream of the Rood
mentions the finding of the cross and the beginning of the tradition of
the veneration of its relics. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle also talks of
King Alfred receiving a fragment of the cross from Pope Marinus (see:
Annal Alfred the Great, year 883).[19]
However, although it is possible, the poem need not be referring to
this specific relic or have this incident as the reason for its
composition.
Veneration of the Cross
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at Santo Toribio de Liébana, Spain |
St John Chrysostom wrote homilies on the three crosses:
- Kings removing their diadems take up the cross, the symbol of their Saviour's death; on the purple, the cross; in their prayers, the cross; on their armour, the cross; on the holy table, the cross; throughout the universe, the cross. The cross shines brighter than the sun.
The Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, and a number of Protestant denominations, celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14, the anniversary of the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In later centuries, these celebrations also included commemoration of the rescue of the True Cross from the Persians in 628. In the Galician usage, beginning about the seventh century, the Feast of the Cross was celebrated on May 3. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia,
when the Galician and Roman practices were combined, the September
date, for which the Vatican adopted the official name "Triumph of the
Cross" in 1963, was used to commemorate the rescue from the Persians and
the May date was kept as the "Invention of the True Cross" to
commemorate the finding.[27] The September date is often referred to in the West as Holy Cross Day; the May date was dropped from the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church by the Second Vatican Council in 1970. (See also Roodmas.) The Orthodox still commemorate both events on September 14, one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the liturgical year, and the Procession of the Venerable Wood of the Cross on 1 August, the day on which the relics of the True Cross would be carried through the streets of Constantinople to bless the city.[28]
In addition to celebrations on fixed days, there are certain days of the variable cycle
when the Cross is celebrated. The Roman Catholic Church has a formal
'Adoration of the Cross' (the term is inaccurate, but sanctioned by long
use) during the services for Good Friday, while Eastern Orthodox churches everywhere, a replica of the cross is brought out in procession during Matins of Great and Holy Friday for the people to venerate. The Orthodox also celebrate an additional Veneration of the Cross on the third Sunday of Great Lent.
References:
- Alan V. Murray, "Mighty against the enemies of Christ: the relic of the True Cross in the armies of the Kingdom of Jerusalem" in The Crusades and their sources: essays presented to B. Hamilton ed. J. France, W. G. Zajac (Aldershot, 1998) pp. 217–238.
- A. Frolow, La relique de la Vraie Croix: recherches sur le développement d'un culte. Paris, 1961.
- Jean-Luc Deuffic (ed.), Reliques et sainteté dans l'espace médiéval, Pecia 8/11, 2005
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