May 1, a Study in Contrasts; the Cross, Then and Now - Pope's Appearance Gives Day Christian Meaning

ROME, MAY 5, 2005 (Zenit.org).- After the rollercoaster of events last month, Rome has returned to semi-normality. Only a few posters bidding farewell to Pope John Paul II with phrases such as "Thank you, Holy Father" or "A Good Man" remind passers-by of the sorrowful days past.

Spring is a time of new beginnings. As our first sunny days bring hints of summer, so the first encounters with Benedict XVI have whet our appetites for more.

Sunday was the Holy Father's first appearance over St. Peter's Square for the Regina Caeli address. While some pilgrims traveled all night to be present, for the Romans, the brief appearance at the window is like an informal Sunday visit to a dear relative. Whether walking their dogs, riding their bikes or pushing baby carriages, they stop in the square, wave at the Pope, then leave.

On May 1, Rome saw her new Bishop in this familiar fashion. The Pope spoke from the same window as John Paul II, at the same time, noon, and the city fell back to its everyday "Gospel of work." In the Catholic calendar, May 1 marks the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, a reminder of the value of human work and the virtues associated with it.

On the other side of the city, by the Forum and Colosseum, Rome was also celebrating. The secular holiday was May Day, the European version of Labor Day. As the result of a strike, all monuments were closed, and only a paper sign tacked to the Colosseum door informed baffled tourists what was going on.

The dual memorials, on one hand a joyous celebration of Joseph the worker and on the other a last minute strike causing widespread dismay offered the chance to reflect on the nature of the two holidays.

May Day was established at the First Paris Congress of the Second Socialist International in 1889 as a way to protest in favor of the eight-hour workday for laborers. The date was chosen to remember the Haymarket Massacre of 1886 where laborers demanding better working conditions were killed.

Polish-born Rosa Luxembourg, a Marxist activist and author, dubbed "Red Rosa" for her ceaseless efforts in furthering Communism, wrote on the origins of the "happy idea of using a proletarian holiday celebration as a means to attain the eight-hour day."

She declared that "as long as the struggle of the workers against the bourgeoisie and the ruling class continues, as long as all demands are not met, May Day will be the yearly expression of these demands."

Result? Unannounced closings and frustrated visitors.

Recognizing the need to celebrate the working man (and woman), and attempting to veer this holiday away from its decidedly Communist origin, Pope Pius XII baptized the feast by establishing a day in honor of St. Joseph the worker. Last Sunday marked the 50th anniversary of the institution of this memorial.

On the first day of the month dedicated to Mary, Catholics now remember her hardworking husband as well as the father who taught Jesus the trade of carpentry. Pius XII stated that this feast should serve to enhance the "dignity of human labor" rather than "incite hatred and seek disputes," thereby separating the wheat from the chaff of May Day.

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Relics of the Passion of the Christ

May 3 was once a great feast in Rome. For many years Romans celebrated the finding of the True Cross on this day. I went to visit the church that was built 1,600 years ago to house the Cross and commemorate this event.

The Church of the Holy Cross nestles right inside the Aurelian walls near the cathedral of St. John Lateran. The curving travertine facade forming a triumphal arch is a holdover from the Baroque era and gives the impression of a modern (by Rome standards) church. A second look reveals a Romanesque bell tower which speaks of a medieval presence. Only inside, among the massive granite columns or in the crypts does Santa Croce reveal its ancient origins.

The church was built in the fourth century by the Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine. Although her factual history is obscure, her story was charmingly narrated by Evelyn Waugh in his marvelous little novel "Helena." Waugh paints a colorful portrait of a strong-willed Englishwoman determined to prove the reality of Christ's crucifixion by finding the Cross. Against skepticism, deception and open opposition, she doggedly tracks down the Cross to bring it to Rome (stopping to cart off the Holy Stairs on the way).

Whether or not the circumstances were as described by Waugh, tradition holds that St. Helena found the Cross sometime around 325. On her own land, a stone's throw from St. John Lateran cathedral, the first Christian church built by her son in 313, she ordered that a shrine be made to house the precious relics. Over the years, other relics of the Passion have been added making this church historically one of the great pilgrimage sites of Rome.

The chapel of the relics is located to the left of the altar and reached by a series of stairs and ramps. Climbing toward the chapel, flanked by the Stations of the Cross on either side, the memory of Christ's ascent to Calvary and the site of his crucifixion comes vividly to mind.

The chapel of the relics is completely decorated in marble. Somber grays and greens impose silence, and the drop in temperature serves as a reminder of a tomb.

At the back of the chapel, a display case with glittering reliquaries beckons. Inside the gold and crystal containers, the humble remains of Christ's great sacrifice sit worn with age. The lower shelf contains a nail that passed through his hands and the board that was placed at the top of his cross mocking him with the letters INRI, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

The upper shelf contains two thorns from the crown that was pressed on his head, nearby the finger of St. Thomas who doubted. Three stones, one from Christ's tomb, one from the grotto of Bethlehem and one from column of the flagellation, are placed below.

The heart of the case contains a crystal cross, containing three pieces of the True Cross. Meditating before the relics, one feels present at the Passion, the mocking of the guards resounds in our ears, the doubt of his own followers provokes an uncomfortable recognition and the agony of the Cross make us feel unworthy of such sacrifice.

But to the right of the True Cross there stands another board, upright, waiting. This is from the cross of Dismas, the Good Thief, guilty as charged but hopeful enough to plead, "Remember me when you come your kingdom." And Jesus' answer revives the desolate pilgrim, "Amen, I say to you, today you shall be with me in Paradise."

Leaving the Church of the Holy Cross, I saw a little exhibition in a side room. Thinking to enter only for a moment, I was so moved that I wanted to share this beautiful story with ZENIT readers.

The exhibition remembers an extraordinary Roman girl, Antionetta Meo. Buried in the Church of the Holy Cross, she is recognized as a "servant of God," the first step toward sainthood.

Antonietta, or "Nennolina" as her family called her, was like most any little girl except for her precocious and deep love of Jesus. She was born on Dec. 15, 1930, and baptized on the feast of the Holy Innocents. The date of her baptism turned out to be a foreshadowing of her life. At age 5, she was diagnosed with cancer and at age 6 her leg was amputated. Shortly before her 7th birthday, she died.

What would appear to be a tragic story, takes on its joyous tone through the letters of Nennolina. Even as she was learning to write, her first letters were to Jesus.

One side of the room shows the possessions of any little girl. Dolls, tea sets, school dresses neatly arrayed seem normal enough until one notices the cane by Nennolina's Sunday coat and remembers the trauma she suffered.

The other side of the room documents the rich, intense and exemplary spiritual life of this little Christian soldier who was confirmed just before she died. The same little girl who asked God to "let me die before I commit a mortal sin."

Nennolina would put her letters under a statue of Jesus by her bed so "at night he could read them." The letters show her acceptance of suffering as a mark of Jesus' favor. "I am happy that Jesus sent me this difficulty, it means I am his beloved," she wrote.

Offering up her lost leg to God for lost souls, she begged Jesus to "give me many souls … to make them good so they can come to heaven with you."

The little suffering girl wrote 105 letters to Jesus and Mary, some in the awkward script of a young hand, some when she was too ill to write and dictated to her mother. In 1937, one letter found its way to Pope Pius XI.

It read, "Dear Jesus crucified, I love you so very much! I want to be with you on Calvary. Dear Jesus, give me the necessary strength to stand the pain which I offer to you for those who have sinned."

The next day, the Pope sent a legate to bring his apostolic blessing to Nennolina. Shortly after, she died.

Her example has not only provided much solace to those suffering but has also spurred conversions. Her age, however, has proved a difficulty on her path to sainthood. Her bravery, faith and deep love of Christ continues, nonetheless, to set an example for those many times her age.

Here's another version of the tradition of the Elevation of the Cross:

"Whenever the waves of persecutions directed against Christians died down and they emerged, tormented and bloodied, from the catacombs and caves into God’s light, signing themselves with an extensive sign of the cross, then it was that Constantine the Great, who more than once had felt the power of the Cross, decided to find the same Tree to which the Body of Christ had been nailed. His eighty-year old holy mother Helen took upon herself this sacred task. Arriving in Jerusalem she spent much time and means to discover exactly where the Cross of the Lord was hidden. She managed to establish the fact that soon after the Resurrection of Christ the Jews had deeply filled up the crag of the Lord’s tomb, since it was a living monument of their rejection of the Lord. There, covered by rocks and all sorts of refuse, was discovered the life-giving Tree of Christ with the crosses of the thieves. In order to weaken the respect of the early Christians towards the holy places, in later times the heathen had placed idols upon Golgotha, had built a temple in honor of the shameless goddess Venus. Later it was found that a certain old Jew, Judas by name, on the basis of written family traditions, knew exactly where the Cross of Christ was hidden. For a long time he did not agree to reveal his secret and only forced by hunger and poverty did he lead the Empress Helen and Patriarch Macarius to Golgotha. Pointing to the exact spot, he said : "Here you will find the Cross of your Christ.’’

With piety, burning with impatience, the people started to work, animated by the sweet odor emerging from the earth at that spot. Sure enough, soon there were found three well-preserved crosses which were exactly alike by their exterior shape. It was therefore impossible to ascertain which of them was the Cross of Christ, since the board with the inscription I.N.B.I. was lying separately. The perplexity was dispersed by Patriarch Macarius who said: "If Providence did not favor the leaving of the Lord’s Cross in the ground, will it allow it to remain unknown now? Will it allow us to give honor to a robber’s cross in place of the Lord’s Cross? God Himself will show us the Cross of Our Saviour." With these words he commanded that the crosses he taken to the home of a grievously-ill woman. Here, after fervent prayer, he placed on her the crosses, one after another. The first two did not show any effect on the sick woman, but as soon as he placed on her the third cross—the ill woman immediately felt herself healed and arose from her bed. Giving praise to God, everyone unanimously recognized this wonder-working cross as the Lord’s. It was pleasing to the Providence of God to reveal new glory for the life-bearing Tree. Just at that time a dead man was being carried to burial past the house of the woman who had been healed. Filled with faith, the Patriarch, in the presence of the Empress and a great multitude of people, stopped the sorrowful procession and began to lay the crosses upon the dead man. And the same one of them which gave health to the sick woman, resurrected the dead man. to the indescribable joy of the surrounding populace. All those present could not be controlled in their desire to venerate the precious Cross and kiss it. Since this was impossible because of the tremendous gathering of people, Patriarch Macarius stood upon an elevated place, and with help raised the Cross high in the air several times so that it could, at least, be seen by all. Bowing down to the ground with piety, the people cried out : Lord, have mercy!’’ It is from this festive act of the raising or elevation of the life-giving Cross of the Lord that today’s feast received its name. In this glorification of Christ’s Cross, His very enemies were forced to give it veneration. Judas, with whose help the Lord’s Cross was found, received Holy Baptism with the name Cyriacus and, little by little, being elevated in the degrees of the Priesthood, later occupied the place of Patriarch of Jerusalem, and later still was made worthy of a martyr’s crown.

What is the later history of the Cross of Christ and where is it now found?

In the year 614 the Persian King (Shah) Khosroes captured Jerusalem and along with other treasures abducted the Tree of the Cross. After 15 years when the Persians were defeated, the Cross was returned. At the triumphant meeting of the returned Cross the Emperor Heraclius, himself decided to bear this treasure from the Mount of Olives to the Church of the Resurrection. At the gates of Golgotha, however, some invisible force stopped him and the more he tried the stronger was the power that held him back. Then it was revealed to the Patriarch in a vision that it was not right for the Emperor to go in such majesty and brilliance where the Saviour Himself, carrying His own Cross, went in such poverty and humiliation. The next day. having divested himself of his footwear and extravagant raiment, dressed in simple clothing, the Emperor took the Cross upon his own back and without any hindrance carried it to the Church. This was 14 September of the year 629. Later this Cross was taken apart in particles by the Faithful and today there is not, it would seem, any country where particles of this most precious sacred object is not preserved in churches and even by individuals.

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