SAINT
HELENA AND THE TRUE CROSS
Dear Saint Helena, Empress,
We are told that many years after
the Crucifixion of Jesus, you traveled
to the Holy Land, searching ceaselessly
for the True Cross on which Our Lord died.
Legend
has it that you did indeed excavate this holy
relic, the image of our salvation.
I
venerate your memory and the burning devotion
to the crucified Creator
which you diaplayed. Help us all hold
the Cross always in our hearts, remembering that
Our Savior died, hanging on the cross, in expiation
for all of our sins.
Please,
Saint Helena, pray to God for me, and help me
to be reminded each time
I see a cross, of the epochal sacrifice
made for us, and the sweet salvation gained for
us, by Jesus, Man, Son of God,
and God Himself, in the divine mystery
of the Holy Trinity.
Amen
Note:
To discourage Christian devotion on Mount Calvary,
pagans erected there an idol of Venus,
Goddess of Love.
Saint Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine,
is said to have come to Jerusalem in 326, and
through an excavation found the True Cross.
Many tiny slivers and fragmentary remains are
venerated today as relics of True Cross. However,
the sale of false relics, especially in the Middle
Ages, makes authentication of these and other
relics a challenge.
Documentation
on the True Cross
