Today is the day that we honor the finding by St. Helena of the True Cross of Jesus's Crucifixion. The crosses from that day, three in all, were hidden by the Jews, but were found 300+ years later by St. Helena, the mother of Constantine. After they were found, they were put to the test. Each was applied to a woman who had a dangerous malady. The first two did nothing, while the Third, when applied to this woman, was restored to perfect health, thus proving which one had been the True One. Pieces have been shipped all the world to help us with our faith. A very holy priest I knew(God rest his soul) had such a piece, which he put into a monstrance which he had found in a dumpster when Detroit was shutting down churches. I wonder, what else was thrown away, never to be seen again? I will now borrow from our beloved Abbot Gueranger about this day:
'How dear, then, to us should this day be, which blends together the recollection of the holy Cross and the joys of the Resurrection of that Jesus who by the Cross has won the throne to which we shall soon see his having restored to mankind a treasure so immensely precious as is the Cross. Until the day comes for it to appear with Himself in the clouds of heaven, Jesus has entrusted it to his spouse(the Church), as a pledge of his second coming. On that day, he will collect together all the fragments by his divine power; and the Tree of Life will then gladden the elect with its dazzling beauty, and invite them to eternal rest beneath its refreshing shade.'
The reliquary of Jerusalem was committed to the care of Saint Macarius and kept with singular care and respect in the magnificent church which Saint Helen and her son built there. Saint Paulinus relates that, though chips were almost daily cut off from it and given to devout persons, yet the sacred wood suffered thereby no diminution. It is affirmed by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, twenty-five years after the discovery, that pieces of the cross were spread all over the earth; he compares this wonder to the miraculous feeding of five thousand men, as recorded in the Gospel. The discovery of the cross would have happened in the spring, after navigation began on the Mediterranean Sea, for Saint Helen went the same year to Constantinople and from there to Rome, where she died in the arms of her son (Constantine) on the 18th of August of the same year, 326.
Thought for the day: In all pious undertakings, above all in the sanctification of the soul, the mere beginning does not suffice. "Whoever perseveres to the end, he shall be saved." (Matt. 24:13)
Our beloved Abbot continues: Oh! that we had St. Helena's spirit, dear Jesus, and knew, as she did, the breadth, and length, and height, and depth of the mystery of thy Cross. Her love of the mystery made her so earnest in her search for the Cross. And how sublime is the spectacle offered to us by this holy Empress! She adorns thy glorious Sepulchre; she raises Thy Cross from its grave; who was there, that ever proclaimed with such solemnity as this, the Paschal Mystery? The Sepulchre cries out to us: "He is risen: He is not here!' The Cross exclaims: 'I held Him captive but for a few passing hours: He is not here!'...O Cross! dear object where our Jesus has left thee. Be its shield against Satan. Help us to remember that union of sacrifice and triumph which will support us in all our crosses, for it is by thee, O Cross! that Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands.
CHRISTUS VINCIT, CHRISTUS REGNAT, CHRISTUS IMPERAT!
The Church sure has had some extraordinary people within her walls. May we be blessed with such in our time, even though we don't deserve it. In fact, we are probably blessed with some of these holy people today; however, they are called 'old-fashioned', 'stuck in the past', intolerant, judgmental, 'better than everyone else', 'Trads', etc. So, apparently, everyone who doesn't teach what should be taught are to be called from this time on, 'saints'.
Let us call to mind what we should focus on today, and for that fact on all days, even though finding the Cross was spectacular, to say the least:
"Let us adore Christ our King, who hung upon the wood, and not the wood."
St. Ambrose
Adoramus te, christe, et benedicimus tibi,
quia per crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee,
for by thy Cross, thou hast redeemed the world.
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