Discovery of the Cross, Abridged

1At that time the bishop of Jerusalem was Macarius (meaning "blessed"), who had succeeded Hermonas. When Constantine the Great became sole ruler, he turned all his attention to divine things. He rebuilt the churches, since he was generous with the public treasury, with public funds and all kinds of resources. And first he wrote a law that the temples of the idols be handed over to those consecrated to Christ, and that those who still practiced idolatry be punished with severe penalties. Second, he wrote a law that orthodox Christians should serve in the army, and that these should command both nations and camps. Third, he wrote a law that the two Paschal weeks be free from work, one before and one after. And from then on there was deep peace and joy in the whole world, as all the nations daily came running to the faith, and were baptized, and with their own hands shattered their ancestral gods.

But these things were not bearable to the avenging demon, and he plotted how he might destroy such great joy among human beings. The demon was no longer able to persuade people to make a god of creation, for his deception had been exposed. But he attempted to persuade the unstable to rank the Creator with created things. And again there was no small disturbance in the churches of God, as a certain Arius of Alexandria went about everywhere, throwing the world into confusion. A few bishops, small in number, were carried away with him, of whom the first was Eusebius of Nicomedia, and Eusebius of Caesarea, also called Pamphili, and others with them. When Constantine the Great saw the great strife, he was grieved in his soul. At first he tried through letters of exhortation to extinguish the quarrel between the two parties. But when he saw that the evil was becoming incurable, he ordered an ecumenical council to be held in the city of Nicaea, and three hundred eighteen bishops assembled. Most of them were confessors, bearing the marks of Jesus in their body (Galatians 6:17). With them also was the most renowned Constantine, and when the matter was set in motion, they produced a written statement of faith, the one now proclaimed in every orthodox church, declaring the Son one in being with the Father. Those around Arius and Eusebius of Nicomedia who persisted in their false teaching they denounced, and they were exiled, and others were ordained in their place. The emperor honored the bishops, embraced them, and sent them away in peace to their own dioceses, rejoicing at the harmony of the churches.

He instructed Macarius, the bishop of Jerusalem, who was present at the council and fighting for the apostolic doctrines, to search for the life-giving Cross, and the holy tomb that received God, and all the holy places. He likewise urged the other bishops to ask for whatever each saw fit for the completion of his own church. It was the nineteenth year of his reign when the council at Nicaea took place.

After these things the emperor sent his own mother Helena, praiseworthy and beloved by God, to Jerusalem, with letters and an abundance of money, to Macarius (meaning "blessed"), bishop of Jerusalem, for the search for the life-giving wood of the glorious Cross and the building of the holy places. The queen herself had asked for this, saying that she had seen a divine vision commanding her to go to Jerusalem and bring to light the holy places that had been buried by the winds and had been hidden for so many years. When the bishop learned that the queen had arrived, he gathered the bishops of the province and met her with fitting honor.

2At once he commanded the bishops to search for the longed-for wood. But all were at a loss about the place, and one told of one suspicion, another of another. The bishop of the city urged them all to keep quiet and to offer more earnest prayer to God about this. When this was done, the place was shown to the bishop from God at once: the place where the temple and the statue of the unclean demon had been set up.

Then the queen, using her imperial authority, gathered a great crowd of craftsmen and laborers and ordered the abominable building to be overturned from its foundations and the earth thrown far away. When this was done, the divine tomb appeared, and Golgotha, the place of the Skull, and not far off three crosses lying apart. Searching carefully, they also found the nails.

From then on, helplessness and distress seized the queen as she sought to know which one was the Master's cross. But the bishop resolved the question through faith. He brought each of the crosses to a woman who was ill, one of the prominent women, given up on by everyone and breathing her last. He found the one he was seeking: for only the shadow of the saving cross drew near the sick woman, and at once she who was breathless and motionless leaped up by divine power on the spot, crying out with a loud voice and glorifying God.

Queen Helena, crying out with a loud voice and glorifying God, took up the life-giving Cross with great joy and fear. One part of it, together with the nails, she sent up to her son. The rest she placed in a silver casket and handed it over to the bishop of the city, as a memorial for all generations. She also decreed that a church be built at the life-giving tomb, and at holy Golgotha, and in Bethlehem in the cave where our Lord Jesus Christ endured birth according to the flesh, and on the Mount of Olives, where the Lord blessed the disciples and was taken up. And after doing many other things in Jerusalem, she returned to her son.

He received her with joy. He placed the portion of the precious Cross that had been sent to him in a golden case and handed it over to the bishop for safekeeping, commanding that the exaltation of the precious Cross be celebrated with annual commemorations. Some of the nails he forged into his own helmet, and the others he mixed into the bridle of his horse, so that what the Lord said through the prophet might be fulfilled: "On that day, what is on the bridle of the horse shall be holy to the Lord Almighty" (Zechariah 14:20).

The emperor wrote to Bishop Macarius to hasten the building, and he sent a superintendent of the work with an abundance of money, instructing him that the holy places be built magnificently, so that there would be no such beauty in all the earth. He also wrote to the governors of the province to assist the work in every way from the public account, with money, expenses, and materials. The emperor was joyfully celebrating the feast of his twentieth anniversary, giving thanks to God for all the good things he had done in the years of his reign.

The years from the coming of Christ to the discovery of the Cross total three hundred fifty-two years. From Adam to the coming of Christ, five thousand five hundred years; according to others, five thousand four hundred seventy-five. In Jerusalem, Macarius, whose name means blessed, was succeeded by Maximonas. He was a gentle man and very distinguished. During the persecution he endured many tortures for God, and after losing his right eye he was released for his confession of the faith.

At that time the blessed Queen Helena reached the end of her life, being eighty years old, after giving many instructions to her son about piety toward Christ. Let the account of the discovery of the life-giving Cross end here. And let no one deceive himself by speaking empty and unprofitable words, or by introducing fictions with strange names into the subject.

3For no other bishop of Jerusalem ever arose besides those previously written, nor any other emperor of the Romans, nor indeed was the precious Cross found in any other way. From Augustus the emperor, under whom our Lord Jesus Christ was born according to the flesh, until the pious emperor Constantine, there were thirty-five emperors. Likewise, from James the apostle and first of the bishops until that same reign, there were thirty-five bishops of Jerusalem.

The Fathers, with an imperial decree, determined that the revered day of the dedication of the holy places and the exaltation of the worshipped Cross should be observed each year on the fourteenth of the month of September, which is eighteen days before the Kalends of October, to the glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Since by the grace of God we have arrived in our discourse at the notable day of our feast, which is the exaltation of the life-giving Cross, come, let us greet it briefly as we are able and bring this discourse to rest.

[The orator now addresses the Cross directly.] Rejoice, then, precious Cross; rejoice, because in you our Lord Jesus Christ was lifted up in the divine plan, and in you are all the treasures of joy and grace. Rejoice, precious Cross; for through you unending joy is awarded in heaven and on earth. Rejoice, precious Cross, because from above and from the beginning the Creator painted your image in all creation. Rejoice, glorious Cross, because all the powers in heaven send up to the Master hymns made most awe-inspiring by the salvation that comes through you. Rejoice, glorious Cross; for through you churches of the orthodox have been founded in cities, and on islands, and in every nation. Rejoice, glorious Cross; for through you every mouth of the faithful has been opened for speaking of God. Rejoice, blessed Cross; for through you heavenly angels with human beings on earth hymn Christ. Rejoice, blessed Cross; for through you earthly human beings stand before God in the heavens, glorifying the Maker with unutterable joy. Rejoice, blessed Cross; for through you Adam, freed from the curse, has entered paradise leaping and rejoicing, having received back his ancient dignity. Rejoice, holy Cross; for through you every diabolical power has been cast down, and every demonic activity has been destroyed. Rejoice, holy Cross; for through you the thrice-holy and one-in-being Trinity is known in every place, and believed, and glorified. Rejoice, holy Cross; for through you goods that cannot be taken away have been given to human beings.

And what shall we say, and what shall we pass over? How shall we hymn the power of the Master's Cross? O name of the Cross, in which the mighty works of the mysteries of God are hidden, revered by angels and venerated by human beings! For what is more beloved than the name of the Cross, or sweeter to Christians? What is more effective than this for working wonders? The Cross is the most powerful sign of divine authority. The Cross is the joy of angels and the grief of demons. The Cross is the foundation of the Church. The Cross is the ever-shining and all-illuminating light of the whole world. The Cross is the unshaken wall of all the inhabited world, unbroken and unconquerable. The Cross is the holy and inviolate glory of priests. The Cross is the strength and power of emperors, and a victorious weapon against enemies. The Cross is the all-powerful full armor of armies, and it cannot be terrified by adversaries. The Cross is the guardian of cities, safe from plots and from plunder. The Cross is the unceasing and unending joy of peoples. The Cross is the unceasing and unrelenting utter destruction of devils. The Cross is the eternal and overwhelming downfall of demons. The Cross is the sure hope of Christians, unashamed and undiminished. The Cross is the most fitting healing of souls and bodies for the weak. The Cross is the unfailing health of the strong.

4For those who are storm-tossed, the Cross is a harbor of perfect calm. For those who are attacked in war, the Cross is a peace that cannot be shaken. The Cross is the boast of boasts for the orthodox, and for heretics a condemnation that never rests. The Cross is the destruction of idolatry and the raising up of true reverence. The Cross is the teacher of virginity and the guardian of self-control. The Cross is the security of the righteous and the repentance of sinners. The Cross is the adornment of monks and the good order of those who live in holiness. The Cross is the protector of infants, the discipline of the young, and the supporting staff of the aged. The Cross is a treasure for the poor that costs nothing, and a teacher of self-sufficiency for the rich. The Cross is the road for those who have wandered, and an unerring guide for those who are perishing. The Cross is rest in the labors of the day, and help in the terrors of the night. The Cross is the good order of the nations, and the deepest calm of the whole world.

And what shall we say, or what shall we pass over, or how shall we praise you, all-glorious Cross? For the King of glory has shown you forth alone from all creation as an unconquered weapon against the devil, and against sin, and against death. Therefore we are all blessed who have been deemed worthy to see the holy day of your manifestation. You are the proclamation of the prophets; for rejoicing in you they sing out daily to God, saying: "You have given to those who fear you a banner by which to flee from before the bow" (Psalm 59:6 LXX; 60:4 in English Bibles). You are the boast of the apostles. For they cry out unceasingly in the holy Church through one of their sacred heralds: "May it never be for me to boast, except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14). You are also the crown of the martyrs, since they too took up the Cross and followed the Lord. You are the boast and the joy of those who dwell in mountains and caves and holes in the earth for the name of the Lord, because they too have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. You are refreshment and rest for those near and those far off. O the inexpressible grace of the Master's Cross! O the inexpressible and incomprehensible mysteries in it!

And so that I too may say something inspired with the sacred trumpet: "O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments!" (Romans 11:33). For by the tree of life we were put to death, and by the tree of condemnation we were made alive. Because of the boundless grace of the Master who saved us, we must keep this all-festal feast "among the thick branches, up to the horns of the altar" (Psalm 118:27, LXX 117:27, following the Septuagint). Branches, as biblical interpreters say, are things that have been soiled by neglect or age, and then by care and diligence are adorned again to something more precious, for the gladness and delight of those who will feast at weddings in some other bright celebration. Let us therefore dispose ourselves as we have been instructed, and having stripped off the shame that has come upon our conscience from carelessness, let us celebrate this bright and all-holy day of the memory of the life-giving Cross with acts of mercy and with faith, taking up, as the divine Scripture says, a confidence adorned with reverence, and lifting on our shoulders the victorious weapon of the life-giving Cross, let us cry out to God the angelic hymn given to us from heaven for the ceasing of all wrath, as is our custom: "Holy God, holy mighty, holy immortal, have mercy on us." Holy Trinity, incomprehensible, unbounded, inseparable, one in being, sharing one throne, co-eternal, sharing one glory, have mercy on us, and be merciful to our sins for the sake of your holy name, and grant us to find mercy and compassion on the day of your just recompense. For you are our God, and to you, Father, Son, and Spirit, belong glory, majesty, might, and authority before every age, now and to all the ages of ages. Amen.