The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1907-05-18
THE TRUE CROSS
Information Furnishe ed as to Its
Original Size
And Weight and the Number
and Bulk Of Its Relics.

of the relics of the True Cross are
shams; that there are more than could
be carried by three hundred men; that
house or battleship could be built
with them, etc. Calumnies innumer-
able and baseless as these are oirculaA.
ing among non-Catholics, and are &C.
copied by many without doubt or
question, simply because they heard
them in their childhood. A learned
Passionist Father performs valuable
an article on the True Cross in THE
Record" of Louisville he gives the
following brief summary of most i'm
portant and useful items to be pre-
served for future reference:
l. After the body of Christ was
buried the Cross was thrown into a
cavern on Mount Calvary. There 1t re-
manned buried until found by st.
Helena in 326. The feast of 1.-The Find
ing of the Holy Cross" May 8, CONF
lnemorates this fact.
2. st. Helena built a magnificent
church over the place where the Cross
was found, and in it she placed the
greater part of the Cross, enclosed in a
silver casket. In GA the Persians car
ried it away but ten years later Hera-
clius, Emperor of Constantinople, COM
PEELED them to restore it. The feast Of
"The Exaltation of the Holy Cross"
celebrates this event on September il.
8. From that time (624) the wood Of
the Cross became the object of pious
veneration. and small articles were
eagerly sought for and venerated an
precious relics.
4. The first authentic example Of
death by crucifixion is probably that Of
Pharsbh's chief baker, mentioned in
Genesis. chapter XII.
5. Four kinds Of crosses were used
as instruments of punishment-the
Crux Furea, or forked stake, like the
letter Y; the Crux Decussa, or oblique
cross, like the letter x, sometimes
called st. Andrews Cross; the Crux
Patibula, also called Tau Cross, because
1t is like the letter T, pronounced in
Greek Tau: finally, the Crux Immissa,
or Latin Cross. This is the ordinary
cross. and generally supposed to be
the kind on which our Saviour died.
6. The dimensions of the Cross OF
Christ We're as follows: The upright
beam was Is feet long: the transverse
beam, 7k feet long: each of these
beams were inches wide and 6
inches thick.
T.. The entire cross contained about
6 5-S cubic feet of wood, or 11,44s cubic
inches. The wood belonged to the
Pinus or pine tree genus.
8. The entire cross weighed about
200 pounds. but as it traied on the
ground when our Lord carried it, the
actual weight on His shoulders was
about $50 pounds.
3. Only 291 cubic inches of the True
Cross are still in existence and would
weigh. if brought together. only flve
10. The average size of a relic of the
True Cross is about one sixteenth Of
an inch long, and as thin as ordinary
thread. A common match will Weld no
less than 1,40o such pieces. One cubic
inch Of wood will produce 80 Matches
80 multiplied by 1,40O equals 44,so0.
which means that from one small
block of wood, whose entire bulk IN
only one cubic inch, no less than 44,soo
relics may be had.
II. With the foregoing figures an q
basis of calculation, the entire Cross.
containing 11,44S cubic inches. would
produce no less than 5O3,1s3, 600 relics.
enough to give each Christian man.
woman and child. of every denomina-
ton, one relic, and still have 56,119.442
remaining, for there are 447,0s0,15s
Christians in the world.
However only 291 cubic inches OF
the True Cross still remain, and of
these 1874 cubic inches are cut I'D into
twelve large pieces. varying in size
from 80 cubic inches down to 6 "a
cubic inches. These large pieces are
preserved in various cities. Only LOT
cubic inches, therefore, remain for
general distribution. Yet, according to
the calculation given above in number
10. these 107 cubic inches should yield
no less than 4,7s3,6o0 relcs-exceed-
ingly more than enough to account for
all the relics claimed by Catholics to
be genuine.