Legend has it that Emperor Constantine’s mother, St. Helena, although then eighty years of age, undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, with a determination to find, if possible, the true cross. She caused the profane buildings that had been erected on Calvary to be removed, and put a band of men to work excavating. Presently they came upon three crosses and all the other instruments of the Passion. It had been the custom of the Jews to bury the instruments of a criminal’s death near the place of his execution. The difficulty now was to distinguish the cross of Our Lord from the other two. Accordingly, all three were borne in solemn procession to the home of a lady who was dangerously ill. The first and second crosses were applied to the invalid without effect, but on the third being applied, she was instantly restored to health.
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