Chapter 12

Concerning the Divine Power Dwelling in the Precious Wood of the Cross

Concerning the precious wood of the Cross, the historian Procopius says the following, recounting the events of the campaign of Chosroes, king of the Persians, against Apamea: There is a piece of wood from the Cross about a cubit long in Apamea, on which Christ is acknowledged to have once endured His Passion in Jerusalem; it was brought here secretly in ancient times by a Syrian man.[1] The people of old, believing it would be a great protection for themselves and for the city, made a wooden casket for it and deposited it there. Every year they bring it out and venerate it publicly on a single day. So then the people of Apamea, when they learned that the army of the Medes was marching against them, fell into great fear. Hearing that Chosroes would show no mercy, they came to Thomas, the high priest of the city, and begged him to show them the wood of the Cross, so that they might venerate it one last time before they died. And he did so. Then a spectacle beyond word and faith came to pass there. For the priest carried the wood and displayed it, and above it a radiance of fire was borne along, and the part of the ceiling directly above it shone with much light beyond what was usual. And as the priest walked throughout the church, the radiance accompanied him everywhere, always keeping to the space of the ceiling above him. So the people of Apamea were amazed and rejoiced and wept at the delight of the miracle, and all now had confidence concerning their salvation.

Such, then, is the account of the miracle that occurred at the manifestation of the precious wood of the precious Cross, which gave the people of Apamea confidence concerning their salvation. Concerning the fulfillment of the expectation of the people of Apamea, he says the following: “I think he would not have hesitated to enslave and plunder the whole city as well, had not something divine manifestly prevented him.”

(Procopius, On the Persian War, Book 2, p. 390–1, Bonn edition).

Gelasius of Cyzicus calls the Cross the mighty grace of God, from which time it has flourished among mankind both in heaven and on earth, in the sea and in plants, in wood and in garments, in sickness and in health, in food and in drink, having become, becoming, and destined to become an antidote and a cure; and those who have experienced it know, and we ourselves shall learn in due time as the narrative proceeds. [de santa Cruce Jacobi Gretseri 363].