The Exaltation of the Cross
(Ἡ παγκόσμιος Ὕψωσις τοῦ τιμίου καὶ ζωοποιοῦ Σταυροῦ)
Σῶσον, Κύριε, τὸν λαόν σου, καὶ εὐλόγησον τὴν κληρονομίαν σου, νίκας τοῖς Βασιλεύσι κατὰ βαρβάρων δωρούμενος, καὶ τὸ σὸν φυλάττων διὰ τοῦ Σταυροῦ πολίτευμα.
Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, Rome.
The Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (lat. Sanctae Crucis in Hierusalem) was built in the early IV century over a wing of the Sessorian Palace. It is also called Helenian from the name of St. Helena, mother of St. Constantine the Great, who placed in it a fragment of the Cross.
The earliest historical record of the church, dated to 501 AD, refers to it as «Hierusalem basilica Sessoriani palatii». «Eodem tempore fecit Constantinus Augustus basilicam in palatio Sessoriano, ubi etiam de ligno sanctae Crucis Domini nostri Iesu Christi in auro et gemmis conclusit, ubi et nomen ecclesiae dedicavit, quae cognominatur usque in hodiernum diem Hierusalem» (Liber Pontificalis I, ed. Duchesne. P. 179).
Chapel of the Relics.
Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, Rome.
In 1492, a dramatic discovery was made in the course of repairs to a mosaic: a brick inscribed with the words TITULUS CRUCIS (Title of the Cross). Sealed behind the brick was a fragment of an inscription in wood, with the word «Nazarene» written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin.
. . . . . . . . . . הנצ . . . . .
. . . . . . . B SUNERAZAN SI
. . . . . R SVNIRAZAN.I
[ישו] הנצ[רי מלק היהודים]
[NWIADUOI NWT SUELISA] B SUNERAZAN SI
[MVROEADVI XE]R SVNIRAZAN.I
This Title is mentioned in all four Gospels accounts:
Pilate also wrote a title (joltit-John 19:19) and put it on the cross; it read, «Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews». Many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Christ was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek (John 19:19-20; also Matthew 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38).
Titulus Crucis,
the slab of wood that reads «Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews» in Hebrew (Aramaic?), Greek and Latin. Fragment.
25.3 x 14 x 2.6 cm.
Chapel of the Relics.
Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, Rome.
Discovery and History of the Cross.
1492.
Fresco by Antoniazzo da Romano (?) in the apse of the church.
Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, Rome.
Discovery and History of the Cross.
1492.
Fresco by Antoniazzo da Romano (?) in the apse of the church. Fragment.
Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, Rome.