US Catholic: TODAY'S SAINT (Triumph of the Cross)

TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS

When the Sacred Body of Jesus was taken down from the Cross and carried to the grave on Calvary, the Cross soon which He died was thrown into a ditch or well. and covered over with stones and earth, so that the followes of the Crucified Redeemer might not find it. Almost three hundred years later (312 A.D.), Constantinne the Great, not yet a Chriistian, while battling with Maxentius for the throne of the Roman Empire, prayed to the God of the Christians to aid him in his struggle.

In answer to his prayer, a luminous cross or monogram of Christ apeared in the heavens bearing the inscrrription: "In gratitude for victory, under this banner, over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge, on October 28, 312, Constantine had the Sign of Christianity placed on the Roman standards and on the shields of his soldiers. Then came the finding of the True Cross a Jerusalem by St. Helena in 326, commemorated by a feast on May 3.

In the year 614, Chosroes II, King of Persia, invaded Syria and Palestine; he took and sacked Jerusalem, carrying off with other treasures the great relic of the True Cross. The Empeor Heraclius of Constantinople, at the head of a large army invaded Persia, and forced the Persiansto sue for peace and to restore the Sacred Cross, which heraclius piously brought back to Jerusalem in 629. When he reached the city gate on the way that led to Calvary, the Empereor laid aside everey robe and mark of royalty, and , clothed in sackcloth of penance and barefoot, carried the Cross up the ascent of Calvary and restored it to its place in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This event is commemorated by the Church on September 14 in the feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross.

PRAYER

God, You willed that Your only Son should undergo

crucifixion, to bring about the salvation of the human

race. Grant that we who have known His mystery on

earth may deserve to reap the rewards of redemption

in heaven. Amen.

Feast: September 14