HOLY CROSS DAY
The Rev. Harold Shepherd, CD, M.A., S.T.M., LL.B., LL.M., Ph.D.
Sermon from September 14, 2003


And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. John 3:14-16

This year, Holy Cross Day falls on a Sunday. Given the prominence of the cross on Good Friday, why does it have a special day? Historically, Holy Cross Day dates to the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The circumstances that led to this are often associated with an important, thought not well-known person by the name of St. Helena. St. Helena, otherwise known as Flavia Julia Helena Augusta, was the first wife of Constantius Chlorus and the mother of Emperor Constantine. Reportedly born to humble parents about AD 248, she married a young army officer in 272 named Constantius who was related to Emperor Claudius (although they may well have begun in what today would be considered a common law relationship). Two years later their only son, Constantine, was born. In 292 Constantius was appointed co-emperor of the Western part of the Roman Empire (Gaul, Spain and Britain) by Emperor Maximianus Herculius (285-310). This emperor had been appointed by Emperor Diocletian to take responsibility for the Western part of the emperor, while Diocletian retained rule of the East. Maximianus then appointed co-regents to assist him in governing the West. After Constantius’ appointment as one of these co-regents, he divorced Helena, sent her into exile and married Maximianus’ step-daughter Theodora, presumably to consolidate his favour with his patron. Diocletian died in AD 305. The following year, Constantius died in York, England with Constantine at his side. The army then appointed Constantine to succeed his father. By now, there were six co-emperors. Maximianus and Constantine joined forces, defeated and killed Galerios. Constantine then allied with Licinius and marched against Maximianus in Rome. After seeing a vision of a cross with the words “In this sign, you will conquer,” Constantine defeated an army twice the size of his on October 28, 312. He went on to defeat Licianus in battle in 324 to become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire, living until 337. After Constantine was appointed co-emperor in 306, Helena returned from exile. According to the historian Eusebius, written within three years of Constantine’s death, Helena became a Christian under the influence of Constantine. This is historically more reliable than the later tradition of Eutychius Alexandrinus that states that she converted first and brought her son to Christianity.

When Helena was almost eighty years old, she embarked on a famous trip to Palestine to be, as one source puts, the first Christian archaeologist. According to Eusebius’ Life of Constantine, Helena had a youthful spirit and fulfilled a vow to God to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in about 328. Emperor Constantine provided her with a considerable amount of money for the trip which she used to endow charities for the poor and to pay the soldiers who accompanied her. In addition, she was given royal authority to free prisoners and criminals who had been sent to work in mines, and she could recall persons from exile. She was regular in her church attendance and gave expensive offerings. In 333, the journal of a Bordeaux Pilgrim records the visit of Helena to Jerusalem a few years previously and says that she build a house of prayer on the site of the Resurrection, the caves connected with Jesus’ birth, and the site of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives. The first reference is to the Church of Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem which contains both the traditional site of the crucifixion and his tomb under one roof. According to various writers in the fourth century, Helena found the true cross in Jerusalem during her visit. According to Sulpicius Severus (about 395), three crosses were found. Helena was able to identify the true cross when it was used to bring a dead person back to life. According to Rufinus (about 400), the true cross was identified because it healed a sick woman. Part of the cross was sent to Constantine and part left in Jerusalem in a silver casket. There are about as many traditions about the discovery of the true cross as there are historians of the period. On instructions from Helena, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built and dedicated on September 14, 335. Although opened 1,668 years ago, it continues to welcome worshippers to this day.

The pilgrimage of an eighty-year old woman to find the sites where Jesus was born, died, was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven combines both devotion to Christ with a desire to see and touch parts of the world touched by Jesus himself. At its heart is a strong sense of the incarnational- Jesus with us. However, at a certain point, Christian tradition turned this into superstition- focusing on the wood of the cross rather than on the one who died on it for us. Today we sometimes fall into the same trap- becoming more concerned with church buildings, traditions, ways of doing things and the like than on the Lord makes it all meaningful. The “it” can become more important than the “who.” Furthermore, the cross can be approached from the point of view of how it can meet our immediate desires, as opposed to how we can take up the cross daily, follow Jesus, and find our needs met through walking with Jesus. As we celebrate Holy Cross Day, may we fix our eyes on Jesus who was lifted up on the cross that we may be raised from the illusions of this world to new life in him is his Kingdom. Thanks be to God!