Theres sex. Theres violence behind all of this. Her discovery will be hacked into tiny pieces and traded around the globe, venerated by millions, ridiculed by others. I dont think theres a snowballs chance in hell that helena discovered the true cross. Now for the first time, modern science sets out to answer the question is the true cross a hoax that mocks the crucifixion or the relic of relics . The true cross is one of the greatest mysteries of christian history. We have the tools to solve it. The cross, an object of savage torture. That cross was an instrument of death, pieces of wood nailed together to kill a human being. But also an object of deepest veneration. The cross on which jesus died really symbolizes for me the greatest act of love in Human History. The cross remains hugely powerful because jesus survives the cross. He doesnt just die an ignominious, shameful death, but rises to new life. The cross is now the ultimate symbol of christianity, adorning vast cathedrals and houses of worship the world over, but in some churches, they have crosses said to be made out of the actual wood jesus died on, the true cross. The true cross is surely the most important object in christian history. To touch a piece of the true cross is the opportunity to reach across time and space and Human History and grasp something that changed the world. To the churches that hold them, fragments of the true cross are a miraculous link to the son of god. But could these relics possibly be real, and where do they come from . According to church tradition, 300 years after the execution of jesus of nazareth, the mother of the Roman Emperor constantine, empress helena, arrives in jerusalem. She is arguably one of the most revered women of antiquity and of all time. She has come to lead a dramatic excavation on the site of christs crucifixion. She has been called the first archaeologist. She is said to have personally discovered the most sacred symbol in christianity, the true cross, the cross on which jesus was crucified. The story of helena puts her at the heart of the story of the christian faith. Helena is said to have broken up the cross and sent it throughout the roman empire. But as the legend grew, so did the number of relics. There are now more than a thousand scattered around the world. Theyre in trinkets. They are in necklace amulets. They are embedded underneath altars. And so there is a good bit of skepticism about relics such as these. One of the first people to publicly question the authenticity of the true cross was the 16th century protestant reformer john calvin. He says, you cant walk into a church anywhere without seeing a piece of whats supposedly the true cross. Calvin laughs and says, you know, if you took all of the pieces of the true cross and put them together, they would fill a ship. And yet scripture says that just one man, jesus, was able to carry it on his shoulders. There were a lot of people who were speaking out about the devotion of relics as something which is absurd and disgusting, and they really thought that people had lost touch with the true faith. The true cross had the power to divide christianity. And the question remained could the legend be real . High in the Cantabrian Mountains of Northern Spain lies the monastery of Santo Toribio de liebana. Its home to the largest and most revered piece of helenas discovery. Dr. Georges kazan is an archaeologist here to investigate the mystery of the true cross. Whats at stake here is the truth about the origins of this relic. Is it something that dates back from the time of christ . This relic is said to have been brought in the 5th century from jerusalem by a monk called toribio, and this relic is enormous by the standards of relics of the cross. Theres not many relics that are anything like this size. Theres a little window here where you can actually touch the wood itself. Unfortunately, we cant open up this reliquary and take this wood with us or subject it to any scientific sampling. However, what id really like to do is to get Something Like it into a proper Laboratory Environment where we can explore it further. To help him in his search, dr. Kazans starting point is a fascinating project by a 19th century french architect named charles rohault de fleury. He set out to add up all the pieces of the true cross. This map shows the places which he documented as having wood of the cross, and he worked out that all of this wood from all the places that hed been to didnt come up to 10 percent of the total volume needed to put up a cross of the size required to crucify christ. If rohault de fleury is right, calvin must be wrong. Now kazan will use de fleurys map to help locate relics that his team can then carbondate. We would want to find relics, subjecting these to scientific analysis just to see how much of the legend might be true. Dr. Kazans hunt for churches that will grant him access to the true cross will take him around the world, but the story of helenas quest to find the cross is one of the most dramatic in christian history. Still fresh. Unstopables inwash scent booster downy unstopables male anchor . An update on the cat who captured our hearts. Female anchor how often should you clean your fridge . Stay tuned to find out. Male anchor beats the odds at the box office to become a rare nonfranchise hit. You can give help and hope to those in need. That will makeout washington insiders very uncomfortable term limits. You and i both know we need term limits, that congress shouldnt be a lifetime appointment. But members of congress, and the corporations whove bought our democracy hate term limits. Too bad. 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According to church history, 300 years after the crucifixion of jesus christ, the most important woman in the roman empire, the empress helena, sets off on an epic quest to find the actual cross jesus died on. When helena herself went to the holy land, nobodys ever done this before. She is likely to have left from rome. To reach jerusalem is almost 2,000 miles over land. For an elderly lady helena was in her 70s at this point this journey is an enormous undertaking. It is so unbelievably far away. In the american context, if new york is rome, jerusalem is Something Like guam or american samoa. But by all accounts, helena is a remarkable woman. We know only a couple of things about the empress helena. We know that she was christian, and we know that she was a commoner. And yet she gets together with a traveling roman army officer and gives birth to the man who will one day become emperor of rome. Since its creation in 27 bc, the roman empire has been ruled by pagans. Then in 312 ad, helenas son, constantine, has a dramatic change of faith. The story goes that on the eve of a great battle outside rome, he has a vision. He sees a cross of light in the sky, and he hears a voice that tells him, by this, you will conquer. He takes it to mean that by the symbol of the cross and by christianity, hes going to become the lone emperor and the supreme figure in the known world. He wins the battle and becomes the First Christian emperor. Christianity is very much a minority cult practiced probably by no more than about 10 percent of the empires population, if that. Its almost impossible to underestimate the impact of constantines conversion to christianity. Before that, the empire had been persecuting its christians. It was illegal by the penalty of death to be a christian. After that, you were free. Constantine legalizes christianity throughout the empire. Fourteen years later, his mother is on her way to the holy land. I think that she was sent by the emperor constantine. He felt that the cross was very important, and he wanted to send her there to do something special. There is potentially a darker side to helenas journey. It follows on from a scandalous episode within the house of constantine. Constantine abandoned his first wife to marry the noble woman fausta. Fausta has given him three young sons, but her husbands likely successor is his eldest son, crispus. Crispus was the golden boy of the constantinian household. Hed had a very successful military career. Hed been made caesar by his father. On the face of it, the Christian Family at the center of the roman empire are united, but a scandal is about to erupt. Christian sources tend to hushhush about it. They dont wanna say anything, but the pagan sources jump all over constantine. The story goes that constantine discovers that his son, crispus, his favorite son, has been having an affair with constantines second wife, fausta. What were told by the sources we have is that on the orders of his father, he is sent to a place called pola on the coast of croatia, and he is put to death by poison. Helena was crushed by this scandal. This was likely her favorite grandson. This must have been devastating for her. But the scandal is about to get bigger. Constantine discovers from back channels that perhaps fausta had manufactured all of this, that she favored her own sons for the throne and that she set crispus up to be murdered. He orders that she be put in a bath chamber, the doors locked and the fire stoked up to the point that it cooks her to death. As the selfproclaimed christian emperor, hes engaged in the sin of murder. Thou shalt not kill is one of the top commandments. Constantine will have thought of helena as his great ally, thinking that he can rely on his mothers support in anything. Perhaps he should have thought again before he killed her grandson. You are weak. You are a weak and sinful man. The murder of fausta and of crispus happens in 326. Helena departs for the holy land in 327. Theres almost certainly some connection between those two events. If youre his mother hoping for his soul to be saved somehow, youre going to want to make a passionate gesture of reconciliation, of penitence. She knew what she wanted when she traveled to jerusalem. And when she went looking for that true cross, she was surely determined to find it. Tremfya® helps adults with moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis uncover clearer skin that can last. In fact, tremfya® was proven superior to humira® in providing significantly clearer skin. Tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Tremfya®. Uncover clearer skin that can last. Janssen can help you explore cost support options. Darrells family uses gain flings now so their laundry smells more amazing than ever. [woman] isnt that the dogs towel . Hey, me towel su towel. More gain scent plus oxi boost and febreze in every gain fling. In the year 327 ad, helena, the empress of rome, begins a pioneering mission in the holy land. According to christian tradition, she has come to find the cross jesus died on. Helena was doing something actually at the time quite radical in the history of christianity. She wants to hold in her hands something that has been close to jesus. Her pilgrimage could change the course of christian history. But the site of christs passion is no more. Jerusalem is now an outpost of the roman empire renamed aelia capitolina. When helena entered the city of jerusalem, its likely to have been a shell of its former glorious self from the early 1st century ad. You have to realize that ancient cities are absolutely chaotic. We can imagine that shes sort of overwhelmed by the tangible reality of life in the ancient world. It was full of sounds and noises, and it was dirty. Jerusalem is now a pagan city. Two hundred years before, a jewish uprising was crushed by rome. Jews were banned from jerusalem and an observance of jewish law was prohibited by the romans. Helena will be the first person to try and retrace the final footsteps of christ. Here you have a woman who stands in the pinnacle of power and understands what power looks like. It, to me, is fascinating that a person from that Vantage Point would see jesus as the one worthy of her life, her allegiance and her worship. This was a way of getting in closer to really understanding the bible and to really entering into the story of jesus. There was something about knowing that he actually walked here, that he talked here where shes standing. You realize that this is not just a myth. Jerusalem is not a madeup city. Jesus is not a madeup person. Its an incredibly powerful experience. According to all four gospels, roman soldiers marched jesus of nazareth to a hill called golgotha, the place of the skull, a place so evil, few who saw it could ever forget it, but 300 years have passed. Jerusalem is now a very different place. The question is, how could helena find it . Well, it really takes us back to the year 135 a. D. When the Emperor Hadrian built a pagan temple over the site, and it ends up marking for all of posterity the place of his death. The year before, helenas son, the emperor constantine, ordered the temple be torn down. It wasnt his policy to destroy all of them, but that temple was the very antithesis of what christians thought christ was about. The account of what happened next is recorded in a later church history. At some point, perhaps as easy as the 360s, we begin to see a legend emerge that describes helenas role in the finding of the true cross. Were told that helena personally, with her own bare hands, removed some of the earth and uncovers three wooden crosses jumbled together. But when she came across what she thought was that relic, one can only imagine the emotions that welled up inside of her. The reality is that we dont know precisely what happened in jerusalem, and my own personal belief is that helena found something that she believed to be the true cross. what even is this . It looks like cheese but it smells like barf. With tide pods, you dont need to worry. The pretreaters are built in. Nice if its got to be clean, its got to be tide. Male anchor . An update on the cat who captured our hearts. Female anchor how often should you clean your fridge . Stay tuned to find out. Male anchor beats the odds at the box office to become a rare nonfranchise hit. You can give help and hope to those in need. paul americas best network. The best network is even better. The best deals on the best network. How can everyone be the best . Well, sprints doing things differently. Theyre offering a 100 total satisfaction guarantee. While i think their network and savings are great, you dont just have to take my word for it. Try it out, decide for yourself. Hurry in for exciting holiday deals and save your family money. Get both an unlimited plan and one of the newest phones included for just 35 a month. For people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay. Com we need a solution. Ut their phones down. Introducing. Smartdogs. The first dogs trained to train humans. Stopping drivers from liking. Selfieing. And whatever this is. Available to the public. Never. Smartdogs are not the answer. But geico has a simple tip. Turn on do not disturb while driving mode. Brought to you by geico. According to christian history, 300 years after the crucifixion of christ, helena, the empress of rome, discovers the actual cross jesus died on. From the moment that the cross is found, people become interested in having a piece of the wood itself because of its direct connection to the body of christ. Legend says helena divides the cross into pieces. I imagine when helena broke up the cross, it was such a desire for her to take it with her, to be able to share this tangible representation of her savior, of her lord. Sometime later, pieces of the true cross start appearing throughout the roman empire. Our first evidence that fragments of the cross are being spread around the mediterranean is from the late 340s and 350s when we learn that people have taken pieces of the true cross over to the north african seaboard. If the helena tradition is correct, then that would only have been 20 years or so since its first finding that shows that physical particles of the true cross actually did spread out from jerusalem very, very early on. There must have been the discovery of the wood by helena or someone for this trade in relics to have really boomed. This really becomes a new moment for christianity in which the cross becomes something that they are no longer afraid to talk about or to signify. Before, the cross is basically a symbol of defeat, a symbol of humiliation, a symbol of death. People were familiar with the horrors of roman crucifixion. The cross is an instrument of capital punishment, and its quite amazing. Its one of the big stories of early christianity that the instrument of the execution and torture of jesus christ over time becomes the primary symbol of jesus christ. One of the key factors in the change is helenas pilgrimage to find the true cross. It changes the cross to something that actually becomes something tangible that people want to think about as part of their devotion. As fragments spread around the world, they will also help turn christianity from an underground cult into a global religion. Pieces of the true cross were almost used like trading cards. This is a way to gain favor with a bishop here or an aristocrat or prince over there. If you shared the true cross with someone, youre sharing power with them because the true cross is a source of religious power. People are going to respect you for having a piece of this. The legend of helenas discovery would change the course of christian history, but could what she found have been the actual cross jesus died on . Now the modernday investigation into the true cross is gathering pace. The city of waterford is the oldest city in ireland. It boasts a long history of christianity and a museum that holds an important relic of the true cross. Whats fascinating is that it is said to have been given directly by the pope to the king of ireland. And rome, as we know, had access to relics from jerusalem. Archaeologist Georges Kazan