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As for the reason of how this great pile of dirt came into being: the Jewish leaders, when they saw all the signs and wonders which were manifested from the sepulcher of the Savior, such as raising the dead and healing the sick, became angry, and they sent forth throughout Judea and Jerusalem ordering all the people to cast the sweepings of their houses and the dirt over the sepulcher of Jesus of Nazareth. They continued to do so for more than 200 years, until it became a very great heap.

When St. Helena came to Jerusalem, and asked the Jews about the whereabouts of the Cross, they did not inform her. Finally, some of them told her about an old Jew called Judas who knew the place. She called him, and he denied it at first, but when she urged him, he told her about that pile. She ordered its removal and the Holy Cross was found. She built a church for it, consecrated it and celebrated for the Honorable Cross on the seventeenth day of the month.

Several historical sources provide us with some basic facts about Constantine's mother. One of the most detailed is the Life of Constantine, written by the church father Eusebius of Caesarea in about 339 C.E.

From Eusebius and other early writers, we know that Flavia Iulia Helena (her official name) was born in about 248/249 C.E.,2 probably in the harbor town of Drepanum, in Bithynia (modern Turkey).3 After her death, her son Constantine renamed the town Helenopolis.

The Cross with reference to the Christian Dogma

The Cross embodies the greatest and most important Christian creeds. The Lord Christ tasted death on it. This proves that He has true flesh, the same as that of all people. In other words, the Cross is a proof of the Incarnation Creed. Christ fulfilled Redemption with his propitiatory death on the Cross. So the Cross emphasized the second great Christian Creed; i.e. the Redemption Creed. When the faithful make the sign of the Cross, they state and confess their faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One God. They declare their belief in the Creed of Trinity and One God, three hypostases and one essence (substance). Thus we see in the Cross the most important creeds of our holy faith.

The reconciliation between God and man was fulfilled through the Cross. For this reason Christ was hung between the sky and the earth to be the way for man to come back to God. He stretched out his blessed hands to receive all those under the sky. He descended into Hades through the Cross to bring Adam and his children back to Paradise.

We have also been justified through the Cross. We have become innocent of the charges directed to man (as a blasphemer and evildoer). These are the same charges that were directed to the Lord and he was innocent of them all (We are now justified with his blood).

Through the Cross all our previous debts have been paid. The Law could not payoff these debts but it emphasized them instead: "And you, who were dead in trespasses and the un- circumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this He set aside, nailing it to the Cross" (Colossians 2:13,14).

The Holy Cross with reference to its rite

1.In Baptism: The water is sanctified with the sign of the Cross in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. St. John Chrysostom says, "Thus baptism is not only called a cross but the Cross also is called baptism" because the Cross is the baptism of blood and in baptism we die with Christ.

2.In Chrism: All our organs are circumcised with the sign of the Cross 36 times (for all parts of the body).

3.In the Sacrament of Confession (Penance): The Cross is placed on the Confessor's head as a sign that his sins are forgiven with the blood of the Cross.

4.In the Sacrament of the Holy Communion: This is the blood of the Cross and the Holy Body broken for us is incarnate before our eyes.

5.In the Sacrament of the Unction of the Sick: Here the oil is first sanctified by crossing it with the Cross seven times during reading the seven appropriate texts from the Gospels and by lighting seven wicks.

6.In the Sacrament of the Holy Orders: When the Cross is put on the head of the person chosen to receive the Holy Order, the person receives, through prayer and the power of the Cross, the ability to carry the Cross and to exercise the other sacraments. You may notice that the priest wears a cross and holds a cross in his hand. He puts a cross on the front of his clothes (his own cross) and a cross on the back of his clothes (the people cross).

7.In the Sacrament of Marriage (Matrimony): The married life is a series of sacrifices starting from the moment when the Cross is put on the heads of the bride and the bridegroom and ending with the Crown of Victory and the glories of resurrection.

The Cross in our Life

The sign of the Cross drives away demons as it reminds them of the Devil's defeat at Golgotha.

It is a cure for defiled lust and a power that quenches the flames of fire and the authority of sin.

When we stretch our hands in the shape of the cross and cross our foreheads and chests, we become free from the authority of death, and we go deep into the depth of the soul through prayer like a bird stretching its wings and flying high in the sky.

The Cross is also a means of triumph over temptation and a sign of Salvation. The martyrs used to cross the cup offered to them with the sign of the Cross.

The Cross was and will remain a pride, a beauty, a crown, a weapon and declaration of faith and the irresistible power of God.

Source: Synaxarium and from Sunday school material