Exaltation of the Holy Cross

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross commemorates three major events relating to Jesus’ Cross. The first event is the finding of the True Cross by St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine. Tradition holds that St. Helena found three crosses, but could not determine which of the three crosses was the True Cross. A dying woman touched one of the crosses and was healed and thus this cross was determined to be the Cross of our Lord. The second event celebrated today is the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 335, built on the site of both Jesus’ crucifixion and His empty tomb. The third event celebrated today is when the True Cross was returned to Jerusalem in 629 after it was stolen by the Persians in 614.