The Main Altar Cross at
Sts. Vartanantz Church, Chelmsford, Mass.
A gift from
Mrs. Arshalous Goodsoozian, Mr and Mrs Haig Goodsoozian
on the occasion of the consecration of the Church in 1978
Feast of the Discovery of the Holy Cross - Kuid Khatchi
According to historical chronicles and ecclesiastic tradition, after the conversion to Christianity in the Empire under Constantine, his mother St. Helena made pilgrimage to Jerusalem in about the year A.D. 326 to see the places of Christ's life as told in Holy Scripture.
The Feast
One of four feast days of the year in celebration of the life-saving Holy Cross, this day commemorates the Discovery of the Holy Cross in A.D. 327 by St. Helena.
According to historical chronicles and ecclesiastic tradition, after the conversion to Christianity in the Empire under Constantine, his mother St. Helena made pilgrimage to Jerusalem in about the year A.D. 326 to see the places of Christ's life as told in Holy Scripture.
Constantine ordered the pagan temples in Jerusalem demolished and under them were found the holy sites of Crucifixion and Entombment of our Lord. Today, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher stands over these Holy Places. He also writes a letter to the Bishop of Jerusalem, St. Marcarius (Soorp Magar) ordering him to make a search for the true Holy Cross.
Stories and legends over the 300+ years that had passed since Christ's sacrifice on the cross pointed to a trash-pit at the hill of the original golgotha, the place of crucifixion during the reign of Herod Antipas, as the probable location. St. Helena personally supported and oversaw the search.
The miraculous finding of the Holy Cross was confirmed by the healing of a dying youth. According to tradition, and writings as early as the fourth century, the search found three crosses of no apparent value in a rock-cistern as well as the titulus - the title or sign on the cross declaring "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."
St. Marcarius had the youth, dying from a terminal disease, brought to the site and had each cross touched to the dying body. After being touched by the third cross, the youth was cured, thereby identifying the true cross.
St. Ambrose preached that when St. Helena found the true cross, "she worshiped not the wood, but the King - Him who hung on the wood."
St. Helena built churches on the sites of Christ's Nativity and Ascension, among other Holy Places, and is noted for doing many acts of charity.
The other feasts of the Holy Cross include Apparition, Varak, and Exaltation (primary).