Exaltation of the Holy Life-Giving Cross of the Lord

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, celebrated every year on 14 September, recalls three events:
1. The finding of the True Cross by Saint Helena.
2. The dedication of churches built by Emperor Constantine on the site of the Holy Sepulchre and Mount Calvary.
3. The restoration of the True Cross to Jerusalem in AD 629 by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, after it had fallen into the hands of the Persian Emperor Chosroes II in the AD 614 Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem.
Under Emperor Constantine, around AD 327, Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem caused excavations to be made in order to ascertain the location of Calvary as well as that of the Holy Sepulchre. It was in the course of these excavations that the wood of the cross was recovered. It was determined by Macarius to be authentic (the crosses of the two thieves were also recovered) and for it Constantine built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. Subsequently, pieces of the True Cross relic were distributed across the empire.
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