The Cairo bulletin., 1908-03-15
KtL|CyUf The CROSS
NOT NUMEROUS
CAREFUL REASEARCH BRINGS TO
LIGHT LESS THAN HALF A
CUBIC FOOT.
There Were Probably 65s Cubic Feet
of Timber in the Original Cross
How the Specimens
Are Distributed.
written For The Bulletin

One of the commonest traits of hui
man nature is the desire to KEEP souve-
Mrs and relies OF objects or events
| that deeply interest us. Thus a
mother preserves and fondly kisses
the tiny wearing apparel of her babe.
So, too, great nation like the
United States preserves, and the peo.
! pie regard with feelings of reverence
and awe, the old silk flag of the First
City Troop of Philadelphia which is
said to be the prototype of the Stars
and Stripes; the old cracked bell of
the State House, which proclaimed
| liberty to all the world; the faded and
| Gecaying parchment on which was
written the Declaration of Independ-
epce; the sword, shoulder straps,
coat. stomacher, and even the silk
stockings and shirt of Washington,
THE Father of His Country"
Hence it was the most natural thing
| in the world for the Early Christians
| to keep many souvenirs and relics OF
| Christ, the founder of their religion
whom they believed to be not only
man but God; such, for instance. as
the Handkerchief loaned him by
Veronica, which afterwards retained
the bloody impression of his counte
nance; the seamless robe" woven by
his mother, for which the soldiers
cast LOTS" the spear with which
Longinus pierced his side, letting out
blood and water" the crown OF
| thorns which encxcled his head; ri
| ates placcard in Hebrew, Greek and
Latin, proclaiming him king of the
Iews." and, above ali. the cross or
gibet on which he died.
The interesting details of the find
| ne of the true cross, A. ID. 1876, by
the Empress Helena, mother OF Con
stantine, after much searching and
eXcavating, are too we'll known &c
,eed repeating here. What wonder
that. after the cross was brought out
from its long hiding place, popes and
emperors, pariarches and monarchs
primates and princes, bishops and
robles, converts and monasteries, and
even devout laymen, begged for small
particles of the precious wood; until,
in the course of centuries the original
cross was dismembered, divided and
subdivided, and scattered over
CEristendom? Indeed, so numerous
are the alleged relics of the true cross
that a widespread popular impression
exists that they cannot all be genuine.
81 the sum total of pieces would be.
sufficient in bulk to construct dozen
crosses the size of Christ's.
Recent exhaustive researches by NJ.
Combes mot the ex-premierl and NJ.
Rohault de Fleury. VINO, some forty
wears. ago, carefully collected,
studied. shifted. weighed and com
pared every shred OF historical evi
lence that he could find on the sub
iect. and personally visited, examined
and measured many OF the principa
relics of the cross, show some sur
prising results. Assuming the
original cross to nave been fifteen
feet high. the cross beam seven and
half feet. and the eros seven and a
1alf inches wide by six inches thick,
which are about the dimensions re
quired by the gospel narrative, the
original cross would contain about 6%
cubic feet of timber. or ,4fS cubic
inches. But, as the ordinary relic.
which Is Usually bestowed as a high
favor on a bishop, is of microscopic
dimensions. NJ. De F>eury uses the
smallest French measure. the MILL
metre: of which there are 5.G25 to
the cubic, inch. and no less than
twentyseven million to the cubic
foot Then adding the sum total of
ali the known existing and lost relics,
gives us a volume Of l0.3350 55 cubic |
millimetres. or about Gel cubic inches, |
which is considerably less than half a
cubic foot; leaving more than six
cubic feet of the original cross unac. |
counted for. after the most exhaustive |
research and careful investigation |
The wonder is. not that there should |
be so many relics of the cross exist. |
ing. but SO very rewi These relics |
are found chiefly in the following
places: Jerusalem. onethird cubic |
inches Rome 81 %: Venice 2SR |
the rest of Italy Z 40; Belgium 81
3s: Mt. Athens So: Germany, Holland |
etc. G2. Paris 15h; the rest of
France %: anal England 2.
! learned aud interesting account
NJ this subject in all its details may
be found in a 32-page pamphlet, by
Rev. James Bellord, published In a
penny edition" by the International
Catholic Truth Society. Arbuckle
Building, Brooklyn. n. Y.
~. nh. n,,1iotfp or, x-onr hraak. |