The cross is arguably the most recognizable symbol in Western civilization. But what are its historical origins, and what happened to it after Christ`s crucifixion? In a church outside Rome, a fragment of wood may hold the answer to these questions and could be fundamental to our understanding of Christianity. Focusing on a long-ignored fragment of the Titulus Crucis-the inscribed headboard from Christ`s cross-authors Thiede and d`Ancona provide evidence that it may date from the time of Christ and was brought to Rome by Queen Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, in AD 328. Their claim is a radical challenge to the modern view that all reputed holy relics are fakes. Following in Helena`s footsteps and drawing together the threads of history, archaeology, myth, religion, and science, this journey through the ancient world is sure to transform many readers` conceptions about early Christian faith.

This fascinating study reconstructs the tradition of the Legend of the True Cross in text and image, from its tentative beginnings in 4th-century Jerusalem to the culminating expression of its multi-layered cosmic content in 14th and 15th-century monumental cycles in Germany and Italy.

The cross stirs intense feelings among Christians as well as non-Christians. Robin Jensen takes readers on an intellectual and spiritual journey through the two-thousand-year evolution of the cross as an idea and an artifact, illuminating the controversies—along with the forms of devotion—this central symbol of Christianity inspires. Jesus’s death on the cross posed a dilemma for Saint Paul and the early Church fathers. Crucifixion was a humiliating form of execution reserved for slaves and criminals. How could their messiah and savior have been subjected to such an ignominious death? Wrestling with this paradox, they reimagined the cross as a triumphant expression of Christ’s sacrificial love and miraculous resurrection. Over time, the symbol’s transformation raised myriad doctrinal questions, particularly about the crucifix—the cross with the figure of Christ—and whether it should emphasize Jesus’s suffering or his glorification. How should Jesus’s body be depicted: alive or dead, naked or dressed? Should it be shown at all? Jensen’s wide-ranging study focuses on the cross in painting and literature, the quest for the “true cross” in Jerusalem, and the symbol’s role in conflicts from the Crusades to wars of colonial conquest. The Cross also reveals how Jews and Muslims viewed the most sacred of all Christian emblems and explains its role in public life in the West today.

For centuries, scholars have tried to work out where Emmaus was: where, in other words, the risen Christ walked, ate and revealed himself. It is a crucial location in the map of Christian belief and one of the great missing links of Christian archaeology. This book produces a dramatic find about the lost site of Emmaus, rising again from the soil.

The Holy Grail: it conjures images of a rich and fantastic world full of magnificent adventures and perilous quests by gallant knights. It whispers of strange mysteries and fabled conspiracies staged by Templars, Cathars, Nazis, and innumerable secret societies. Was it the Cup used by Christ at the Last Supper, or something else? Is there any truth to the wonders and marvels bards and poets associated with it? After years of being co-opted by pop culture and New Agers, what significance can this fairy tale still hold for Catholics? Ah, but this is no fairy tale! As A Catholic Quest for the Holy Grail shows, not only does the Grail exist, its whereabouts are known today! Charles Coulombe examines the fabled vessel's literary and historical connections, but he offers far more than a stuffy history of a dusty old cup. Rather, he shows how the Holy Grail is the key to an entire genre of glorious relics and miraculous phenomena that extend from the time of Christ to the present day. A Catholic Quest for the Holy Grail uncovers the Grail's intrinsic connections to Catholic Monarchy and Chivalry, to the Precious Blood of Christ, the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts devotions, and to the Kingship of Christ and Queenship of Mary, as well as its ties to the Passion of Our Lord and the Blessed Sacrament. Indeed, the Holy Grail is not a myth, but a living reality, a key to a new understanding of the world in which we all live. As far in time and space as the Crucifixion at Golgotha and Medieval deeds of knightly valor, and as close as the next Mass you attend, the Holy Grail is there, a real myth. The Grail is proof that when J.R.R. Tolkien asks: "Do we walk in legends or on the green earth in the daylight?" it can truly be answered: "A man may do both ... The green earth, say you? That is a mighty matter of legend, though you tread it under the light of day!" In these pages, discover the reality of the legend of the Holy Grail!

Sweet-smelling basil marks the spot in this treasure hunt led by a queenly saint--join her as she treks to Jerusalem in search of the Holy Cross of Jesus Christ In this fabulous and instructive blend of tale and history, boys and girls alike will be captivated by Helen, an adventurous empress on a mission. Offering faith-based reading in an entertaining format of dialogue and narration, children are encouraged to treasure the Holy Cross in their "own" lives.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s Tradition on the Holy Cross is a volume that combines both ancient and derived Ethiopic literature on the Cross. The work brings together all the major sources from manuscripts preserved in different monasteries and edited and translated into English. The sources include homilies by Minas bishop of Aksum, John Chrysostom, James of Sarug, as well as a number of anonymous authors, all translated from Greek during the Aksumite era. The derived literature includes works by the famous men of the pen, including the fifteenth-century Abba Giyorgis of Sägla and Emperor Zär’a Ya‘ǝqob. Poetic hymns to the Cross constitute a part of the collection, one of these being glorification of the Cross by Abba Baḥrǝy, author of several important works.

Arguing from Scripture and history, the author makes a compelling case that getting too close to any political or national ideology is disastrous for the church and harmful to society.

First published in 1910.

The Children's Crusade was possibly the most extraordinary event in the history of the crusades. The first modern study in English of this popular crusade sheds new light on its history and offers new perspectives on its supposedly dismal outcome. Its richly re-imagined history and mythistory is explored from the thirteenth century to present day.