Today one parish in Malta, that of Birkirkara commemorates the day when St Helena found the cross on which Jesus was crucified. Being the mother of Emperor Constantine, who ended the persecutions in 313 AD, Helena was determined to find the abandoned cross on which Jesus was crucified. The excavations actually found three crosses buried in Jerusalem close to Mount Calvary. To verify which was the actual cross of Christ, they asked a sick person to touch each cross. She touched the first two crosses and nothing happened. When she touched the third one, the person was completely healed, and thereby they concluded which was Jesus' cross. The Cross of Christ dominates our lives in many ways. So many of us start meetings, classes, trips and gatherings with the sign of the cross. Passing by a cemetery, you see hundreds of crosses lining up the entire area.
We honor St Helena today as we admire this beautiful statue being carried in a procession through the streets of Birkirkara. Many other festivities and celebrations are held all week long in the parish church which you can also admire in one of these photos.
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