Catholic historians say that Jesus’ cross was thrown on a ditch and covered with stones and earth so Christians would not recover it.
But Saint Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, the Roman emperor, led expeditions to find the cross. Parts of it were discovered in 26 A.D. When Chosroes II, King of Persia (now Iran), invaded Syria and Palestine in 614, the cross was among the Christian treasures he took.
But Emperor Heraclius of Constantinople recovered the cross when he invaded Persia in 629 and brought it back to Jerusalem.
Relics of the cross of Jesus can be found in several parts of the world.
Ann Ball in The How-to Book of Sacramentals says the 12 most famous portions of the true cross range only from 6:33 cubic inches to 33 cubic inches.
The big portions are found in Jerusalem, in Brussels and Ghent in Belgium, and in Rome. One of the pieces of the true cross is enshrined in the main altar of the Monasterio de Tarlac in the Mountain of Resurrection in San Jose, Tarlac.
Saint Gertrude the Great is said to have desired to have a piece of the wooden cross. Jesus, in an apparition to her, mentioned a non-material relic that is more precious—the words about His Passion.
Jesus said: “If you desire to have some relics which will draw My Heart into yours, read My Passion and meditate attentively on every word contained therein; and it will be to you a true relic, which will merit more graces for you than any other…. Thence, you may know and be assured that the words which I uttered when on earth are the most precious relics which you can posses.”
Shouted at the cross, and received the stigmata
Saint Padre Pio was the first stigmatist priest of the Catholic Church. A simple, humble and holy priest, God gifted him with discernment of spirits, healing, bilocation, levitation, reading of minds, smell of sanctity and predicting the future.
At the age of 5, he pledged his fidelity to Saint Francis and loved God, Jesus, the Virgin Mary and his guardian angel. At an early age, he speaks with Jesus, Mary and his guardian angel that he assumed all people do.
As a priest, he realized that God’s love is reparative, a victimhood kind of life.
One day, so overwhelmed by the suffering Jesus endured for love of mankind, he shouted at Jesus on the cross “to give him a share of His cross.”
A piercing cry was heard in the silence of the chapel on September 20, 1918, that prompted Padre Leone to come to his rescue, found him unconscious, his five wounds on his feet, hands and side bleeding profusely.
Padre Pio was lifted by his Capuchin brothers and brought to his room, narrated Rev. Charles Mortimer Carty in Padre Pio—The Stigmatist. In Eucharist and Victimhood, Fr. Edgardo Arellano states that Padre Pio’s stigmata are unbearably painful when he celebrates Mass and would lose almost a cup of blood.
Theologians write that after Padre Pio “offered all his pains together with the infinite merits of the Passion and Death of Jesus, and the sufferings of Mary, he helped save 10,000 souls a day!”
For 50 years, Father Pio endured joyfully his stigmata to save souls from hell.
The ‘corpus’ took the chalice
During a Mass in 1257 in Saint Saviours Chapel in Regensburg, Germany, the officiating priest wondered if Jesus is really present in the chalice he was holding.
Immediately the corpus (body) on the large crucifix on the altar came to life. Detaching itself from the cross, it stretched forward and removed the chalice from the priest’s hand.
Shocked and frightened, the priest stepped backward, gazed at the cross, prayed fervently and repented for his unbelief. The hand of Christ gave back the chalice to him.
The miracle on the cross drew people to the church, and donations were generously offered to replace the wooden chapel. In 1260 a stone chapel was completed, and the church was renamed Kreuzkapelle, or Cross Chapel.
The Crucifix invitation: Repair My church
Saint Francis of Assisi is unique among the saints. He did not only have Christ’s stigmata, but also his likeness to Christ in his lifestyle and apostolate. Born to a wealthy family, his youth was characterized as “turbulent and adventurous.”
As a knight, he was imprisoned for a year in Perugia because of an unsuccessful campaign against the town. In prison he started to become aware of his religious vocation. After his release, he suffered a long illness and received a vision. In one of his errands for his father to sell a bolt of velvet in Foligno, he was drawn by an irresistible force to step in the ruined Church of San Damiano.
Dark and quiet, a single light shone on a Byzantine cross. The beautiful 12th century Umbrian cross painted in egg tempera had the image of a crucified Christ. The eyes seemed to look at him. So he asked the Lord what he should do. Suddenly the crucifix moved and said: “Fix my house which is falling into ruin.”
Francis went on a recluse in a cave, fasting and praying that when he came out, the people thought he was crazy. He worked in a Benedictine monastery, then in a hospital to care for the sick. But, he did not forget God’s request and a year after began the work in San Damiano alone, but many good people came to help finish the repair of the church.
The crucifix that spoke to Saint Francis is preserved in the Church of Saint Clare in Assisi, Italy.
Each one has a cross
Today, each person carries a cross or crosses, such as painful physical, financial or emotional experiences. But many people do not welcome crosses, and even pray and make novenas in supplication to God to remove or lighten their crosses in life.
However, the cross is a symbol of a genuine Christian. Jesus Himself emphasized: “Whoever wishes to come after me, must deny himself, take up his cross everyday and follow me,” according to Luke 9:23.
God never promised anyone a custom-made cross—a cross according to one’s taste or capacity to endure. Proverbs 3:12 even emphasizes that Christ chastises those whom He loves, and gives them crosses in life.
However, faith assures Christians that the loving, all-knowing, all-merciful God never sends anyone a cross beyond his capacity to endure. For the cross is never a sign of criminality or punishment among Christians, but of love and compassion exemplified by the only son of God, the Father.
****
Santiago is a former regional director of Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris College in Calauan, Laguna.
By Corazon Damo-Santiago