Sunday, September 14, 2014 - Litany Lane Blog:
Triumph, Psalms 78, Numbers 21, John 3:13-17, Pope Francis's Daily Catechesis, Feast ot the Triumph of the Cross, Saint Helena of Constantinople, The True Cross, Catholic Catechism Part Three: Life in Christ Section Two: The Ten Commandment Chapter Two: Eighth Commandment Article 8:3 Offenses Against the Truth, Recharge Heaven Speaks to Young Adults
The world begins and ends everyday for someone. We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have
flaws but we also all have the gift of knowledge, reason and free will,
make the most of these gifts. Life on earth is a stepping stone to our eternal home in
Heaven. The Seven Gifts of
the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, wonder and awe (fear of the
Lord) , counsel, knowledge, fortitude, and piety (reverence) and shun
the seven Deadly sins: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and
gluttony...Its your choice whether to embrace the Gifts of the Holy Spirit rising towards eternal light or succumb to the Seven deadly sins and 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 the Darkness, Purgatory or Heaven is our Soul...it's God's perpetual
gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...~ Zarya Parx 2013
"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012
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Prayers for Today: Sunday in Ordinary Time
Rosary - Glorious Mysteries
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Papam Franciscus
(Pope Francis)
Pope Francis Daily Catechesis:
September 14, 2014
(2014-09-14 Vatican Radio)
“Why do Christians exalt the Cross of Christ?” asked Pope Francis of pilgrims and tourists Sunday who had gathered beneath the window of his study to for the midday Angelus. Because, he told them, that Cross on which Christ was nailed “is the source of the mercy of God that embraces the whole world”. It’s not just any cross, it is the source of our salvation.
And today – on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross – the Pope said we should pray for Christians who are being persecuted and killed because of their faith in Christ. “This happens especially there where religious freedom is still not guaranteed or fully realized. It happens, however, even in well-to-do countries which, in principle, protect freedom and human rights, but where in practice believers, and especially Christians, encounter restrictions and discrimination. So today we remember them and pray especially for them”.
Dear brothers and sisters,
On September 14th the Church celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Some non-Christian person might ask: why "exalt" the Cross? We can say that we do not exalt just any cross any or all crosses: we exalt the Cross of Jesus, because God’s love for humanity was revealed most in it. That's what the Gospel of John reminds us in today's liturgy: "God so loved the world that He gave only begotten Son" (3:16). The Father has "given" the Son to save us, and this has resulted in the death of Jesus and His death on the Cross. Why? Why was the Cross necessary? Because of the gravity of the evil which kept us slaves. The Cross of Jesus expresses both things: all the negative forces of evil, and all of the gentle omnipotence God’s mercy. The Cross would appear to declare Christ’s failure, but in reality marks His victory. On Calvary, those who mocked him said, 'If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross "(cf. Mt 27,40). But it was the opposite that was true: it was because Jesus was the Son of God, that He was there, on the Cross, faithful to the end to the loving plan of the Father. And for this reason God has "exalted" Jesus (Philippians 2.9), conferring universal kingship on Him.
So what do we see, when we look to the Cross where Jesus was nailed? We contemplate the sign of the infinite love of God for each of us and the source of our salvation. That Cross is the source of the mercy of God that embraces the whole world. Through the Cross of Christ the evil one is overcome death is defeated, we are gifted life, hope is restored. This is important: Through the Cross of Christ hope is restored. The Cross of Jesus is our only true hope! That is why the Church "exalts" the Holy Cross, which is why we Christians bless ourselves with the sign of the cross. That is, we don’t exalt crosses but THE glorious Cross of Christ, a sign of God’s love, our salvation and journey towards the resurrection. This is our hope.
While we contemplate and celebrate the Holy Cross, we think emotionally of so many of our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted and killed because of their faith in Christ. This happens especially there where religious freedom is still not guaranteed or fully realized. It happens, however, even in well-to-do countries which, in principle, protect freedom and human rights, but where in practice believers, and especially Christians, encounter restrictions and discrimination. So today we remember them and pray especially for them.
On Calvary, at the foot of the Cross, there was the Virgin Mary (cf. Jn 19,25-27). She is the Virgin of Sorrows, whom we celebrate tomorrow in the liturgy. To Her I entrust the present and the future of the Church, so that we all may always know how to discover and accept the message of love and salvation of the Cross of Christ. To Her I entrust in particular the newly wed couples whom I had the joy of joining in marriage this morning, in St. Peter's Basilica.
Reference: Vatican News. From the Pope. © Copyright 2014 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Accessed 09/14/2014
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Liturgical Celebrations to be presided over by Pope: 2015
Vatican City, spring 2014 (VIS)
The following is the English text of the intentions –
both universal and for evangelization – that, as is customary, the Pope
entrusted to the Apostleship of Prayer for 2015.
January
Universal: That those from diverse religious traditions
and all people of good will work together for peace.
Evangelization: That in this year
dedicated to consecrated life, religious men and women may rediscover the joy
of following Christ and strive to serve the poor with zeal.
February
Universal: That prisoners, especially the young, may be
able to rebuild lives of dignity.
Evangelization: That married people who are separated may
find welcome and support in the Christian community.
March
Universal: That those involved in
scientific research may serve the well-being of the whole human person.
Evangelization: That the unique
contribution of women to the life of the Church may be recognized always.
April
Universal: That people may learn to respect creation and
care for it as a gift of God.
Evangelization: That persecuted
Christians may feel the consoling presence of the Risen Lord and the solidarity
of all the Church.
May
Universal: That, rejecting the culture of indifference,
we may care for our neighbours who suffer, especially the sick and the poor.
Evangelization: That Mary’s
intercession may help Christians in secularized cultures be ready to proclaim
Jesus.
June
Universal: That immigrants and refugees may find welcome
and respect in the countries to which they come.
Evangelization: That the personal
encounter with Jesus may arouse in many young people the desire to offer their
own lives in priesthood or consecrated life.
July
Universal: That political responsibility may be lived at
all levels as a high form of charity.
Evangelization: That, amid social
inequalities, Latin American Christians may bear witness to love for the poor
and contribute to a more fraternal society.
August
Universal: That volunteers may
give themselves generously to the service of the needy.
Evangelization: That setting aside
our very selves we may learn to be neighbours to those who find themselves on
the margins of human life and society.
September
Universal: That
opportunities for education and employment may increase for all young people.
Evangelization: That catechists may
give witness by living in a way consistent with the faith they proclaim.
October
Universal: That human trafficking, the modern form of
slavery, may be eradicated.
Evangelization: That with a
missionary spirit the Christian communities of Asia may announce the Gospel to
those who are still awaiting it.
November
Universal: That we may be open to
personal encounter and dialogue with all, even those whose convictions differ
from our own.
Evangelization: That pastors of the
Church, with profound love for their flocks, may accompany them and enliven
their hope.
December
Universal: That all may experience the mercy of God, who
never tires of forgiving.
Evangelization: That families,
especially those who suffer, may find in the birth of Jesus a sign of certain
hope.
Reference:
- Vatican News. From the Pope. © Copyright 2014 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Accessed 09/14/2014.
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November 2, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World: "Dear children; Anew, in a motherly way, I am calling you to love; to
continually pray for the gift of love; to love the Heavenly Father above
everything. When you love Him you will love yourself and your neighbor.
This cannot be separated. The Heavenly Father is in each person. He
loves each person and calls each person by his name. Therefore, my
children, through prayer hearken to the will of the Heavenly Father.
Converse with Him. Have a personal relationship with the Father which
will deepen even more your relationship as a community of my children –
of my apostles. As a mother I desire that, through the love for the
Heavenly Father, you may be raised above earthly vanities and may help
others to gradually come to know and come closer to the Heavenly Father.
My children, pray, pray, pray for the gift of love because 'love' is my
Son. Pray for your shepherds that they may always have love for you as
my Son had and showed by giving His life for your salvation. Thank you."
October 25, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World: “Dear children! Today I call you to open yourselves to prayer. Prayer works miracles in you and through you. Therefore, little children, in the simplicity of heart seek of the Most High to give you the strength to be God’s children and for Satan not to shake you like the wind shakes the branches. Little children, decide for God anew and seek only His will – and then you will find joy and peace in Him. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
October 2, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World: "Dear children, I love you with a motherly love and with a motherly patience I wait for your love and unity. I pray that you may be a community of God’s children, of my children. I pray that as a community you may joyfully come back to life in the faith and in the love of my Son. My children, I am gathering you as my apostles and am teaching you how to bring others to come to know the love of my Son; how to bring to them the Good News, which is my Son. Give me your open, purified hearts and I will fill them with the love for my Son. His love will give meaning to your life and I will walk with you. I will be with you until the meeting with the Heavenly Father. My children, it is those who walk towards the Heavenly Father with love and faith who will be saved. Do not be afraid, I am with you. Put your trust in your shepherds as my Son trusted when he chose them, and pray that they may have the strength and the love to lead you. Thank you." - See more at: http://litanylane.blogspot.com/2013/11/tuesday-november-12-2013-litany-lane.html#sthash.1QAVruYo.bk3E9rXR.dpuf
October 25, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World: “Dear children! Today I call you to open yourselves to prayer. Prayer works miracles in you and through you. Therefore, little children, in the simplicity of heart seek of the Most High to give you the strength to be God’s children and for Satan not to shake you like the wind shakes the branches. Little children, decide for God anew and seek only His will – and then you will find joy and peace in Him. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
October 2, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World: "Dear children, I love you with a motherly love and with a motherly patience I wait for your love and unity. I pray that you may be a community of God’s children, of my children. I pray that as a community you may joyfully come back to life in the faith and in the love of my Son. My children, I am gathering you as my apostles and am teaching you how to bring others to come to know the love of my Son; how to bring to them the Good News, which is my Son. Give me your open, purified hearts and I will fill them with the love for my Son. His love will give meaning to your life and I will walk with you. I will be with you until the meeting with the Heavenly Father. My children, it is those who walk towards the Heavenly Father with love and faith who will be saved. Do not be afraid, I am with you. Put your trust in your shepherds as my Son trusted when he chose them, and pray that they may have the strength and the love to lead you. Thank you." - See more at: http://litanylane.blogspot.com/2013/11/tuesday-november-12-2013-litany-lane.html#sthash.1QAVruYo.bk3E9rXR.dpuf
Today's Word: triumph tri·umph [trahy-uh mf]
Origin: before 900; Middle English triumphe (noun), Old English triumpha < Latin triump (h) us, perhaps < Etruscan < Greek thríambos hymn to Dionysus
1. the act, fact, or condition of being victorious or triumphant; victory; conquest.
2. a significant success or noteworthy achievement; instance or occasion of victory.
3. exultation resulting from victory; joy over success.
4. Roman History. the ceremonial entrance into Rome of a victorious commander with his army, spoils of war, and captives, authorized by the senate in honor of an important military or naval victory.
Compare ovation (def 2).
5. a public pageant, spectacle, or the like.
6. to gain a victory; be victorious; win.
7.to gain mastery; prevail: to triumph over fear.
8. to be successful; achieve success.
9. to exult over victory; rejoice over success.
10. to be elated or glad; rejoice proudly; glory.
11. to celebrate a triumph, as a victorious Roman commander.
12. to conquer; triumph over.
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Today's Old Testament Reading - Psalms 78:1-2, 34-38
1 [Psalm Of Asaph] My people, listen to my teaching, pay attention to what I say.2 I will speak to you in poetry, unfold the mysteries of the past.
34 Whenever he slaughtered them, they began to seek him, they turned back and looked eagerly for him,
35 recalling that God was their rock, God the Most High, their redeemer.
36 They tried to hoodwink him with their mouths, their tongues were deceitful towards him;
37 their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 But in his compassion he forgave their guilt instead of killing them, time and again repressing his anger instead of rousing his full wrath,
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Today's Epistle - Numbers 21:4-9
4 They left Mount Hor by the road to the Sea of Suph, to skirt round Edom. On the way the people lost patience.5 They spoke against God and against Moses, 'Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the desert? For there is neither food nor water here; we are sick of this meagre diet.'
6 At this, God sent fiery serpents among the people; their bite brought death to many in Israel.
7 The people came and said to Moses, 'We have sinned by speaking against Yahweh and against you. Intercede for us with Yahweh to save us from these serpents.' Moses interceded for the people,
8 and Yahweh replied, 'Make a fiery serpent and raise it as a standard. Anyone who is bitten and looks at it will survive.'
9 Moses then made a serpent out of bronze and raised it as a standard, and anyone who was bitten by a serpent and looked at the bronze serpent survived.
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Today's Gospel Reading - John 3:13-17
Sunday, September 14, 2014 (All day)
Anyone who believes in Jesus has eternal life.
Opening prayer
Oh Father who wanted to save man
by the Cross of Christ, your Son,
grant to us who have known on earth
his mystery of love,
to enjoy in Heaven the fruits of his redemption.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
1. LECTIO
Gospel: John 3:13-17
Jesus said to Nicodemus: 'No one has
gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of
man; as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so must the Son of man
be lifted up so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For
this is how God loved the world: he gave his only Son, so that everyone
who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. For God
sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but so that through
him the world might be saved.
2. MEDITATIO
a) Key for the reading:
The text proposed to us by the Liturgy
has been taken from the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. It
should not surprise us that the passage chosen for this celebration
forms part of the fourth Gospel, because, it is precisely this Gospel
which presents the mystery of the cross of the Lord, as the exaltation.
This is clear from the beginning of the Gospel: “as Moses lifted up the
snake in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up” (Jn 3, 14; Dn
7, 13). John explains the mystery of the Incarnate Word in the
paradoxical movement of the descent-ascent (Jn 1, 14.18; 3, 13). In
fact, it is this mystery which offers the key for the reading in order
to understand the evolution of the identity and of the mission of the
passus et gloriosus of Jesus Christ, and that we may well say that this
is not only valid for the text of John. The Letter to the Ephesians, for
example, uses this paradoxical movement to explain the mystery of
Christ: “Now, when it says, ‘he went up’, it must mean that he had gone
down to the deepest levels of the earth” (Ef 4, 9).
Jesus is the Son of God who becoming
Son of man (Jn 3,13) makes known to us the mysteries of God (Jn 1, 18).
He alone can do this, in so far as he alone has seen the Father (Jn 6,
46). We can say that the mystery of the Word who descends from Heaven
responds to the yearning of the prophets: who will go up to heaven to
reveal this mystery to us? (cf. Dt 30, 12; Pr 30, 4). The fourth Gospel
is over fool of references to the mystery of he who “is from Heaven” (1
Co 15, 47). The following are some quotations or references: Jn 6, 33.
38.51. 62; 8, 42; 16, 28-30; 17, 5.
The exaltation of Jesus is precisely
in his descent to come to us, up to death, and the death on the Cross,
on which he was lifted up like the serpent in the desert, which,
“anybody… who looked at it would survive” (Nm 21,7-9; Zc 12,10). John
reminds us in the scene of the death of Jesus of Christ being lifted up:
“They will look to the one whom they have pierced” (Jn 19, 37). In the
context of the fourth Gospel, to turn and look means, “to know”, “to
understand”, “to see”.
Frequently, in John’s Gospel, Jesus
speaks about his being lifted up: “When you have lifted up the Son of
man, then you will know that I am He” (Jn 8,28); “when I am lifted up
from the earth, I shall draw all peoples to myself. By these words he
indicated the kind of death he would die” (Jn 12, 32-33). In the
Synoptics also Jesus announces to his disciples the mystery of his
condemnation to death on the cross (see Mt 20, 27-29; Mk 10, 32-34; Lk
18, 31-33). In fact, Christ had “to suffer all that to enter into his
glory” (Lk 24, 26).
This mystery reveals the great love
which God has for us. He is the Son given to us, “so that anyone who
believes in him will not be lost, but will have eternal life”, this Son
whom we have rejected and crucified. But precisely in this rejection on
our part, God has manifested himself to us his fidelity and his love
which does not stop before the hardness of our heart. And even in spite
of our rejection and our contempt he gives us salvation (cf. Acts 4,
27-28), remaining firm in fulfilling his plan of mercy: God, in fact,
has not sent his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order
that the world may be saved through him”.
b) A few questions:
i) What struck you in the Gospel?
ii) What does the exaltation of Christ and of his cross mean for you?
iii) What consequences does this paradoxical movement of descent-ascent imply in the living out of faith?
ii) What does the exaltation of Christ and of his cross mean for you?
iii) What consequences does this paradoxical movement of descent-ascent imply in the living out of faith?
3. ORATIO
Psalm 77 (1-2, 34-38)
My people, listen to my teaching,
pay attention to what I say.
I will speak to you in poetry,
unfold the mysteries of the past.
pay attention to what I say.
I will speak to you in poetry,
unfold the mysteries of the past.
Whenever he slaughtered them,
they began to seek him,
they turned back and looked eagerly for him,
recalling that God was their rock,
God the Most High, their redeemer.
they began to seek him,
they turned back and looked eagerly for him,
recalling that God was their rock,
God the Most High, their redeemer.
They tried to hoodwink him with their mouths,
their tongues were deceitful towards him;
their hearts were not loyal to him,
they were not faithful to his covenant.
their tongues were deceitful towards him;
their hearts were not loyal to him,
they were not faithful to his covenant.
But in his compassion he forgave their guilt
instead of killing them,
time and again repressing his anger
instead of rousing his full wrath.
instead of killing them,
time and again repressing his anger
instead of rousing his full wrath.
4. CONTEMPLATIO
"Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil 2,11)
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
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Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane
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Saint of the Day: Feast Day of the Triumph of the Cross
In the Christian liturgical calendar, there are several different Feasts of the Cross, all of which commemorate the cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus. While Good Friday is dedicated to the Passion of Christ and the Crucifixion, these days celebrate the cross itself, as the instrument of salvation.
September 14
This feast is called in Greek Ὕψωσις τοῦ Τιμίου καὶ Ζωοποιοῦ Σταυροῦ ("Raising Aloft of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross") and in Latin Exaltatio Sanctae Crucis. In English, it is called The Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the official translation of the Roman Missal, while the 1973 translation called it The Triumph of the Cross. In some parts of the Anglican Communion the feast is called Holy Cross Day, a name also used by Lutherans. The celebration is also sometimes called Feast of the Glorious Cross.
According to legends that spread widely, the True Cross was discovered in 326 by Saint Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, during a pilgrimage she made to Jerusalem. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
was then built at the site of the discovery, by order of Helena and
Constantine. The church was dedicated nine years later, with a portion
of the cross placed inside it. Other legends explain that in 614, that portion of the cross was carried away from the church by the Persians, and remained missing until it was recaptured by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius in 628. Initially taken to Constantinople, the cross was returned to the church the following year.
The date of the feast marks the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 335. This was a two-day festival: although the actual consecration
of the church was on September 13, the cross itself was brought outside
the church on September 14 so that the clergy and faithful could pray
before the True Cross, and all could come forward to venerate it.
Western practices
In Roman Catholic liturgical observance, red vestments are worn at church services conducted on this day, and if the day falls on a Sunday, its Mass readings are used instead of that for the occurring Sunday in Ordinary Time. The lectionary of the Church of England (and other Anglican churches) also stipulates red as the liturgical colour for 'Holy Cross Day'.[4]
Until 1969, the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of the calendar week
after the one in which 14 September falls were designated as one of each
year's four sets of Ember days by the Church in the West. Organization of these celebrations is now left to the decision of episcopal conferences in view of local conditions and customs.
September 14 is the titular feast of the Congregation of Holy Cross, The Companions of the Cross and the Episcopal Church's Order of the Holy Cross. This date also marked the beginning of the period of fasting, except on Sundays and ending on Easter Sunday, that was stipulated for Carmelites in the Carmelite Rule of St. Albert of 1247. The Rule of St. Benedict
also prescribes this day as the beginning of monastic winter (i.e., the
period when there are three nocturns of psalms and readings at Matins) which also ends at Easter.
Eastern Orthodox practice
Orthodox Cross set for special veneration on the feast of The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life Giving Cross.
In Byzantine liturgical observance, the Universal Exaltation (also called Elevation in Greek Churches) of the Precious and Life-creating Cross commemorates both the finding of the True Cross in 326 and its recovery from the Persians in 628, and is one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the church year. September 14 is always a fast day and the eating of meat, dairy products and fish is prohibited. The Feast of the Exaltation has a one-day Forefeast and an eight-day Afterfeast. The Saturday and Sunday before and after September 14 are also commemorated with special Epistle and Gospel readings about the Cross at the Divine Liturgy.
On the eve of the feast before small vespers the priest, having prepared a tray with the cross placed on a bed of fresh basil leaves or flowers, covered with an aër (liturgical veil), places it on the table of prothesis;
after that service, the priest carries the tray on his head preceded by
lighted candles and the deacon censing the cross, processing to the holy table (altar), in the center whereof laying the tray, in the place of the Gospel Book, the latter being set upright at the back of the altar Those portions of the vespers and matins which in sundry local customs take place before the Icon of the Feast (e.g.,the chanting of the Polyeleos and the Matins Gospel) instead take place in front of the Holy Table.[8] The bringing out of the cross and the exaltation ceremony occur at matins.
The cross remains in the center of the temple throughout the afterfeast,
and the faithful venerate it whenever they enter or leave the church.
Finally, on the leave-taking (apodosis) of the feast, the priest and
deacon will cense around the cross, there will be a final veneration of
the cross, and then they will solemnly bring the cross back into the
sanctuary through the Holy Doors.
This same pattern of bringing out the cross, veneration, and returning
the cross at the end of the celebration is repeated at a number of the
lesser Feasts of the Cross mentioned below.
Moveable Feasts
In addition to celebrations on fixed days, the Cross may be celebrated during the variable, particularly in Lent and Eastertide.
Eastern Christians celebrate an additional Veneration of the Cross on the third Sunday of Great Lent.
The services for this day are modeled on the Feast of the Exaltation
(September 14), and include bringing the cross to the holy table at
little vespers and with solemnity out into the center of church at matins, albeit without the ceremony of the Exaltation of the Cross, for veneration by the faithful.
It remains in the center of the church for nearly a week (the Fourth
Week of Great Lent). On the Monday and Wednesday of that week, a
Veneration of the Cross takes place at the First Hour
(repeating a portion of the service from matins of the previous
Sunday). On Friday of that week, the veneration takes place after the Ninth Hour, after which the priest and deacons return the cross to the sanctuary.
Orthodox Churches, the Roman Catholic Church, and some Anglican churches have a formal Adoration of the Cross during the services on Good Friday.
In the Roman Breviary before the 1961 reform, a Commemoration of the Cross is made during Eastertide except when the office or commemoration of a double or octave occurs, replacing the Suffrage of the Saints said outside Eastertide.
Wednesday and Friday
In addition to all of the above commemorations, Orthodox also hold
Wednesday and Friday throughout the year as a commemoration of the
Cross.
Veneration of the Cross
Feast Days
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, on several of the feast days mentioned above, there is a public veneration of the cross. It may take place at Matins, after the cross is brought out, at the end of the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, or at the end of one of the Little Hours, depending upon the particular feast and local custom.
The faithful come forward and make two prostrations, make the sign of the cross
on themselves, and kiss the feet of Christ on the cross, and then make a
third prostration. After this, they will often receive a blessing from
the priest and bow towards their fellow worshippers on each side of the
church (this latter practice is most commonly observed in monasteries).
End of Services
At the end of the Divine Liturgy,
and at some other services as well, it is customary for the faithful to
come forward and venerate the "Blessing Cross" (hand-cross) which is
held by the bishop or priest,
and to kiss his hand. This practice is also called the "Veneration of
the Cross", though it does not involve making prostrations. The cross
which is venerated is small (typically 10-16 inches). This cross is
usually metal, often gold or gold-plated, and can be enameled and/or decorated with jewels. The figure of Jesus on the Cross (the soma)
is usually engraved, enameled, or painted on the cross, rather than
being a separate three-dimensional figure as is found on a crucifix. This is due to the Orthodox practice of using icons rather than statues in church.
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Today's Snippet I: Saint Helena of Constaninople
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
Sainthood
She 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
 |
| Birthplace of Jesus Grotto, Church of Nativity, Bethlehem |
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
 |
| Finding of the true cross by St Helena. Illustration from MS CLXV, Biblioteca Capitolare, Vercelli, 825 |
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 fiction
In 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
- ^ Her canonization precedes the practice of formal Canonization by the Holy See and the relevant Orthodox Churches. "August 18 in German History". TGermanCulture.com.ua. http://www.germanculture.com.ua/august/august18.htm. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
- ^ a b Harbus, 12.
- ^ Mango, 143–58, cited in Harbus, 13.
- ^ Rivka Shpak Lissak, "Dabburiya, An Arabic Village was formerly the Israeli/Jewish Davarita" RSLissak.com; Günter Stemberger, Jews and Christians in the Holy Land: Palestine in the fourth century, 2000, p. 9 full text
- ^ Hunt, 49, cited in Harbus, 12.
- ^ Eusebius, Vita Constantini 3.46.
- ^ a b Harbus, 13.
- ^ Ambrose, De obitu Theodosii 42; Harbus, 13.
- ^ a b Lieu and Montserrat, 49.
- ^ Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae 2776, cited in Barnes, "New Empire," 36.
- ^ Paul Stephenson, Constantine, Roman Emperor, Christian Victor, 2010:126f.:130.
- ^ Hieronymus, Chronica, s.a. 292, p. 226, 4 and s.a. 306, p. 228, 23/4, cited in Lieu and Montserrat, 49.
- ^ Drijvers, Helena Augusta, 17-19.
- ^ Barnes, New Empire, 36.
- ^ Barnes, CE, 3, 39–42; Elliott, Christianity of Constantine, 17; Odahl, 15; Pohlsander, "Constantine I"; Southern, 169, 341.
- ^ Barnes, CE, 3; Barnes, New Empire, 39–42; Elliott, "Constantine's Conversion," 425–6; Elliott, "Eusebian Frauds," 163; Elliott, Christianity of Constantine, 17; Jones, 13–14; Lenski, "Reign of Constantine" (CC), 59; Odahl, 16; Pohlsander, Emperor Constantine, 14; Rodgers, 238; Wright, 495, 507.
- ^ Barnes, CE, 3.
- ^ Barnes, CE, 8–9.
- ^ Origo 1; Victor, Caes. 39.24f; Eutropius, Brev. 9.22.1; Epitome 39.2; Pan. Lat. 10(2).11.4, cited in Barnes, CE, 288 n.55.
- ^ The cameo was incorporated in the rich binding of the Ada Gospels; the date 316 is argued in Stephenson 2010:126f.
- ^ "May 21: Feast of the Holy Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helen, Equal to the Apostles". Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Archived from the original on 2007-11-07. http://web.archive.org/web/20071107082709/http://www.goarch.org/en/special/listen_learn_share/constantineandhelen/learn/. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
- ^ Stephenson 2010:252.
- ^ Noted in Stephenson 2010:253f, who observes "None of this is true" noting Rufinus' source in a lost work of Gelasius of Caesarea.
- ^ There are actually several different accounts: Catholic Encyclopedia: Archæology of the Cross and Crucifix: "Following an inspiration from on high, Macarius caused the three crosses to be carried, one after the other, to the bedside of a worthy woman who was at the point of death. The touch of the other two was of no avail; but on touching that upon which Christ had died the woman got suddenly well again. From a letter of St. Paulinus to Severus inserted in the Breviary of Paris it would appear that St. Helena herself had sought by means of a miracle to discover which was the True Cross and that she caused a man already dead and buried to be carried to the spot, whereupon, by contact with the third cross, he came to life. From yet another tradition, related by St. Ambrose following Rufinus, it would seem that the titulus, or inscription, had remained fastened to the Cross."; see also Socrates' Church History at CCEL.org: Book I, Chapter XVII: The Emperor’s Mother Helena having come to Jerusalem, searches for and finds the Cross of Christ, and builds a Church.
- ^ a b "MO Plants: Vatican Gardens". © 2006 MoPlants.com. http://www.moplants.com/archives/vatican_gardens.php. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
- ^ Patron saint of archaeologists
- ^ Marc Dubin (2009). The Rough Guide To Cyprus. Rough Guide. pp. 135–136.
- ^ The purely legendary British connection is traced by A. Harbus, Helen of Britain in Medieval Legend, 2002.
- ^ "Socrates and Sozomenus Ecclesiastical Histories". Christian Classics Ethereal Library. http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-02/Npnf2-02-19.htm#P2958_1190344. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
- ^ http://www.dur.ac.uk/r.h.britnell/Portrait%204.htm
- ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/188789
- ^ http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/articles/tts/tts1928/itinerary1928p3.htm
- ^ Adrian Gilbert, The Holy Kingdom: The Quest for the Real King Arthur, 1998.
- ^ Laura A. Hibbard, Medieval Romance in England p29 New York Burt Franklin,1963
References
- Barnes, Timothy D. Constantine and Eusebius (CE in citations). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981. ISBN 978-0-674-16531-1
- Barnes, Timothy D. The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine (NE in citations). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982. ISBN 0-7837-2221-4
- Drijvers, Jan Willem. Helena Augusta: The Mother of Constantine the Great and her Finding of the True Cross. Leiden & New York: Brill Publishers, 1992.
- Drijvers, Jan Willem. "Evelyn Waugh, Helena and the True Cross." Classics Ireland 7 (2000).
- Elliott, T. G. "Constantine's Conversion: Do We Really Need It?" Phoenix 41 (1987): 420–438.
- Elliott, T. G. "Eusebian Frauds in the "Vita Constantini"." Phoenix 45 (1991): 162–171.
- Elliott, T. G. The Christianity of Constantine the Great . Scranton, PA: University of Scranton Press, 1996. ISBN 0-940866-59-5
- Harbus, Antonia. Helena of Britain in Medieval Legend. Rochester, NY: D.S. Brewer, 2002.
- Jones, A.H.M. Constantine and the Conversion of Europe. Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1978 [1948].
- Hunt, E.D. Holy Land Pilgrimage in the Later Roman Empire: A.D. 312–460. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982.
- Lenski, Noel. "The Reign of Constantine." In The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine, edited by Noel Lenski, 59–90. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Hardcover ISBN 0-521-81838-9 Paperback ISBN 0-521-52157-2
- Lieu, Samuel N. C. and Dominic Montserrat. From Constantine to Julian: Pagan and Byzantine Views. New York: Routledge, 1996.
- Mango, Cyril. "The Empress Helena, Helenopolis, Pylae." Travaux et Mémoires 12 (1994): 143–58.
- Odahl, Charles Matson. Constantine and the Christian Empire. New York: Routledge, 2004.
- Pohlsander, Hans. The Emperor Constantine. London & New York: Routledge, 2004. Hardcover ISBN 0-415-31937-4 Paperback ISBN 0-415-31938-2
- Rodgers, Barbara Saylor. "The Metamorphosis of Constantine." The Classical Quarterly 39 (1989): 233–246.
- Wright, David H. "The True Face of Constantine the Great." Dumbarton Oaks Papers 41 (1987): 493–507
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Today's Snippet II: 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
 |
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
 |
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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Catholic Catechism
Part Three: Life in Christ
Section Two: The Ten Commandments
Chapter Two: Eighth Commandment
Article 8:3 Offenses Against Truth
CHAPTER TWO
YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS
YOURSELF
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Love one another as I have loved you."1 Jn 13:34
2196
In response to the question about the first of the commandments, Jesus says:
"The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your mind, and with all your strength.' the second is this, 'You shall
love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than
these."2 Mk 12:29-31; cf.
⇒ Deut 6:4-5; ⇒ Lev
19:18; ⇒ Mt 22:34-40;
⇒ Lk 10:25-28
The apostle St. Paul reminds us of this: "He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."3 Rom 13:8-10
The apostle St. Paul reminds us of this: "He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."3 Rom 13:8-10
Article 8
THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not bear false
witness against your neighbor.
It was said to the men of old,
"You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have
sworn."
2464
The eighth commandment forbids misrepresenting the truth in our relations with
others. This moral prescription flows from the vocation of the holy people to
bear witness to their God who is the truth and wills the truth. Offenses
against the truth express by word or deed a refusal to commit oneself to moral
uprightness: they are fundamental infidelities to God and, in this sense, they
undermine the foundations of the covenant.
II. Offenses Against Truth
2475
Christ's disciples have "put on the new man, created after the likeness of
God in true righteousness and holiness."273 By "putting away
falsehood," they are to "put away all malice and all guile and
insincerity and envy and all slander."274
2476
False witness and perjury. When it is made publicly, a statement contrary to
the truth takes on a particular gravity. In court it becomes false
witness.275 When it is under oath, it is perjury. Acts such as these
contribute to condemnation of the innocent, exoneration of the guilty, or the
increased punishment of the accused.276 They gravely compromise the
exercise of justice and the fairness of judicial decisions.
2477
Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to
cause them unjust injury.277 He becomes guilty:
- of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor;
- of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them;278
- of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.
- of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor;
- of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them;278
- of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.
2478
To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as
possible his neighbor's thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way:
Every good Christian ought to
be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another's statement than to
condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it.
and if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love.
If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the
other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved.279
2479
Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one's neighbor.
Honor is the social witness given to human dignity, and everyone enjoys a
natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to respect. Thus,
detraction and calumny offend against the virtues of justice and charity.
2480
Every word or attitude is forbidden which by flattery, adulation, or
complaisance encourages and confirms another in malicious acts and perverse
conduct. Adulation is a grave fault if it makes one an accomplice in another's
vices or grave sins. Neither the desire to be of service nor friendship
justifies duplicitous speech. Adulation is a venial sin when it only seeks to be
agreeable, to avoid evil, to meet a need, or to obtain legitimate advantages.
2481
Boasting or bragging is an offense against truth. So is irony aimed at
disparaging someone by maliciously caricaturing some aspect of his behavior.
2482
"A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of
deceiving."280 The Lord denounces lying as the work of the devil:
"You are of your father the devil, . . . there is no truth in him. When he
lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of
lies."281
2483
Lying is the most direct offense against the truth. To lie is to speak or act
against the truth in order to lead into error someone who has the right to know
the truth. By injuring man's relation to truth and to his neighbor, a lie
offends against the fundamental relation of man and of his word to the Lord.
2484
The gravity of a lie is measured against the nature of the truth it deforms,
the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffered by
its victims. If a lie in itself only constitutes a venial sin, it becomes
mortal when it does grave injury to the virtues of justice and charity.
2485
By its very nature, lying is to be condemned. It is a profanation of speech,
whereas the purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others. the
deliberate intention of leading a neighbor into error by saying things contrary
to the truth constitutes a failure in justice and charity. the culpability is
greater when the intention of deceiving entails the risk of deadly consequences
for those who are led astray.
2486
Since it violates the virtue of truthfulness, a lie does real violence to
another. It affects his ability to know, which is a condition of every judgment
and decision. It contains the seed of discord and all consequent evils. Lying
is destructive of society; it undermines trust among men and tears apart the
fabric of social relationships.
2487
Every offense committed against justice and truth entails the duty of
reparation, even if its author has been forgiven. When it is impossible
publicly to make reparation for a wrong, it must be made secretly. If someone
who has suffered harm cannot be directly compensated, he must be given moral
satisfaction in the name of charity. This duty of reparation also concerns
offenses against another's reputation. This reparation, moral and sometimes
material, must be evaluated in terms of the extent of the damage inflicted. It
obliges in conscience.
273 ⇒ Eph 4:24.
274 ⇒ Eph 4:25; ⇒ 1 Pet 2:1.
275 Cf. ⇒ Prov 19:9.
276 Cf. ⇒ Prov 18:5.
277 Cf. ⇒ CIC, can. 220.
278 Cf. ⇒ Sir 21:28.
279 St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, 22.
280 St. Augustine, De mendacio 4, 5: PL 40: 491.
281 ⇒ Jn 8:44.
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Re-CHARGE: Heaven Speaks to Young Adults
To all tween, teens and young adults, A Message from Jesus: "Through you I will flow powerful conversion
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Reference
- Recharge: Directions For Our Times. Heaven Speaks to Young Adults. recharge.cc.
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