The Triumph of the Cross
One
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross.
This feast celebrates three things:
The discovery of the True Cross of Jesus by Queen Helena in Jerusalem in 326 AD.
The recovery of the Cross of Jesus by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius in 630 after it had been stolen by the Persians in 614.
The way we may triumph through our own crosses.
Many people think Jesus was not a real historical person and that Christianity is just a myth. One of the reasons I love going to the Holy Land is that the historical places connect us to the reality of Jesus.
St. Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 325 A.D to find and restore all of the places connected with the life of Jesus. In God’s Providence, the most important places, the birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem, Calvary where Jesus was crucified and died and the empty Tomb of the Resurrection were known by the local inhabitants for two reasons: First, Christians had continuously venerated these places from the time of Jesus. Second, the Roman Emperor Hadrian, following the Bar Kokhba rebellion in AD 132, to stop Christians from venerating these sites, placed a pagan temple over each one. Without realizing it, the Emperor Hadrian perfectly preserved our most important holy sites and that is why they were known to everyone.
When Queen Helena arrived, she ordered the pagan temples removed and underneath she found Calvary, the Empty tomb of Jesus and his birthplace in Bethlehem. Over Calvary and the tomb of Jesus, she built the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. At his birthplace in Bethlehem, she built the Church of the Nativity and on the Mount of Olives, she constructed the Church of Eleona.
Jesus is not a myth. He is real and with Him you are safe.
Two
The finding of the True Cross
Once Queen Helena found Calvary and the place of the Resurrection, she sought the Cross of Jesus.
Calvary, where Jesus was crucified, was just outside the original city of Jerusalem in a rock quarry. Right next to this quarry was the town dump. The local people told her that everything discarded from that part of the city was thrown into that dump. So, Queen Helena ordered her troops to excavate it. There they found three crosses.
Now the question was, could one of these be the cross of Jesus?
Queen Helena and the bishop of Jerusalem, St. Macarius, asked a woman with an incurable illness to touch all three. By touching one of them she was instantly healed. Wanting to confirm this, they touched that cross to a man who had recently died. The cross that healed the woman brought the dead man to life. They knew they had discovered the life-giving Cross of Jesus Christ.
Three
The recovery of the True Cross
In the year 614, the Holy Land was attacked by the Persians who destroyed the churches, put to death many Christians, and stole the true Cross of Jesus, taking it back to Persia, modern-day Iran. But in 628, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius defeated the Persians at the Battle of Nineveh and recovered the Cross of Jesus.
Heraclius wanted to carry the Cross of Jesus on his shoulders into Jerusalem to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but he was unable to lift it while wearing his royal garments. Modestos, the Patriarch of Jerusalem said to him, “How can you carry the Cross of Jesus dressed in expensive robes when Jesus carried the Cross in poverty.” Hearing this, the Emperor removed his royal garments and donned the simple clothes of a pilgrim and carried the Cross barefoot to Calvary.
This event is commemorated by the Church on this day, September 14, proclaimed as the feast of “The Triumph of the Cross” or “The Exaltation of the Holy Cross.”
Four
We triumph by the Cross of Jesus
If you experience some difficulty or suffering, some cross or some loss, and you have done all you can to change it, then you must be confident in this: God is allowing it for two reasons. First, to empty you of all that blocks His entry to your soul so that He may fill you with His divine life, love, and joy. Second, so that you may help Jesus save souls.
On this first point, St. John of the Cross writes, “Since the immense blessings of God can only enter and fit into an empty and solitary heart, the Lord wants you to be alone.” Letter 15
We become as big or as small as the objects of our love, says John of the Cross (Ascent of Mt Carmel. 1.4.8). We cling to many things which block us from receiving God. We may even become attached in a disordered way to good things that prevent God from entering more fully into our soul. God wants to remove all our blockages. That’s why He allows us to experience the cross. – to empty us of our disordered attachments. The Cross and suffering makes space and God fills that space if we place our trust in him.
Remember Jesus was born in a cave because the Inn was full and the cave was empty. If we want to receive Jesus in His fullness then we too must be emptied of all disordered desires so that we may be filled by God.
If you are experiencing some Cross, do not despair. Accept it with trust because God is emptying you to fill you with Himself.
By the Cross, we too will triumph.
Five
The second reason God allows some cross or suffering in our lives is to make us a partner in His saving work.
Jesus said, “If you want to be my disciple then you must take up your cross and follow me.” Jesus is inviting us to participate with Him in his work of rescuing souls. But do not forget, His victory came through the cross. Therefore, He invites us to take up our cross and follow him. Jesus invites us to help him save souls by uniting our own crosses to His. And the most powerful instrument at our disposal to help our family and friends get to heaven is our suffering. What you did not choose, do not like, cannot change, and cannot understand - accept with trust. Offer it up with love to Jesus for the conversion and holiness of others.
Archimedes said, “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”
The Cross is a lever to move souls toward heaven and our place to stand is Jesus. By uniting our suffering to Christ He can move souls. So Don’t waste your suffering. Leverage it by uniting it to Christ’s to move souls to Him.