The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-05-04
BISHOP DELIVERS
 SERMON AT MASS Tells History of Finding of the
 Holy Cross FEAST WAS INSTITUTED ut.LA p.., p...ehar a4 cf PauI's
Rlaht Rev. Preacher at St. Paups Speaks of Lack of Faith on the Part of Many Persons.
 Fine Music.

At high mass at St. Paul's church yes terday the Rev Father Kerrigan was the celebrant and the Right Rev. E. P Allen, bishop of Mobile, was the preacher. John Devlin, member of the British parliament, occupied a pew in the middle aisle on the right.
 The choir sang Cans mass with Mrs. Putnam as solo soprano MT. Herbert sang the veni Creator, and at the of fertory Miss Heekin of Cincinnati sang a very beautiful Ave Maria by Apt. Miss Heekin has a clear, strong soprano voice and good vocalization.
 The bishop, after reading the epistle and gospel in English, spoke In part as follows:
 Bishops Discourse.
 This is the feast of the finding of the Holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and it is well for us to dwell for a few mo- ments on the historic event which the feast commentaries. After our Lord cruel death on the cross, the Jews, In ac- cordance with their custom. buried the instruments of torture near the tomb of a criminal, because they held these things in adherence and desired to put them where they could not be seen.
 The tomb of our Lord, from the hour of his glorious resurrection and ascension, became place of devout pilgrimages for the apostles and their zealous neophites. The pagans, in order to force the Chris tians to look on heather deities, covered the tomb with rubbish and stone and erected over 1t a temple dedicated to the worship of Venus and placed a statue of Jupiter over the exact spot where the tomb of our Lord was. Thus it remained until the Emperor Constantine became Christian. He, as well as his holy mother St. Helena, was anxious to show rever- ence for the places made sacred by the sufferings and death of the Redeemer' He was particularly anxious to honor the Holy Cross, for by that sign he conouereo his enemies.
 St. Helena.
 His venerable mo lher, a British princess, born in the city of York, went to Jerusa- lem in her S0th year to satisfy her oeVo- tion. She was told that if she could find the tomb of our Lord she would also md the instruments of the Passion buried nearby.
 At her command the Temple of Venus was removed, the tomb of the Lord laid bare and in the immediate vicinity three crosses were brought to light But which of the three was the one they were seek ing? They found, besides the cross, the inscription written at the command of Pilate; Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" and also the nails.
 In their doubt St. Macarius told them to ask God to make known to them which was the sacred relic worthy of their veneration. He reminded them that a we'll known lady was at the point of death in Jerusalem and that they should take the three crosses to her in succession. The first two made no impression upon her, but as soon as the third was brought to her she arose from her sick bed per- fectly cured. St. Helena, filled with joy at finding the treasure which she so earn estly sought and highly esteemed, built the first chtxch of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and deposited there in silver d pOh tiOh OA MY va Cs'- ~~HoNA%N@ portion she brought to Constantinople to her son, who erected there beautiful temple to contain It. The third part she took to Rome and gave it to the pope, who placed it in the Church of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, which he built to re- 5 ceive it.
 Instituted the Feast.
 To commemorate the finding of the cross, and to show her reverence for it.. the church instituted the feast of this day. We know that minute particles of this holy cross have been taken from one of these three portions. Some have thrown doubt on the authenticity of these relics, but those who are aware how carefully the mother church guards them, know full we'll that these doubts are unreason- able and unjust. No relic can be ex- posed for public observation unless 1t can be proved to be authentic by documents properly signed and sealed.
 The bishop then went on to speak of the incredulity of many persons at the present day and the evils that arise from a lack of faith. He showed that faith is an indispensable guide; that 1t Is the so,,roa of evety good and that without