Orthros and Divine Liturgy for the Universal Elevation of the Holy Cross

Saint Helen, the mother of Saint Constantine the Great, when she was  already advanced in years, undertook, in her great piety, the hardships  of a journey to Jerusalem in search of the cross, about the year 325. A  temple to Aphrodite had been raised up by the Emperor Hadrian upon  Golgotha, to defile and cover with oblivion the place where the saving  Passion had been suffered. The venerable Helen had the statue of  Aphrodite destroyed, and the earth removed, revealing the Tomb of our  Lord, and three crosses. Of these, it was believed that one must be that  of our Lord, the other two of the thieves crucified with Him; but Saint  Helen was at a loss which one might be the Wood of our salvation. At  the inspiration of Saint Macarius, Archbishop of Jerusalem, a lady of  Jerusalem, who was already at the point of death from a certain disease,  was brought to touch the crosses, and as soon as she came near to the  Cross of our Lord, she was made perfectly whole. Consequently, the  precious Cross was lifted on high by Archbishop Macarius of Jerusalem;  as he stood on the ambo, and when the people beheld it, they cried out,  "Lord have mercy." It should be noted that after its discovery, a  portion of the venerable Cross was taken to Constantinople as a  blessing. The rest was left in Jerusalem in the magnificent church built  by Saint Helen, until the year 614. At that time, the Persians  plundered Palestine and took the Cross to their own country (see Jan.  22, Saint Anastasius the Persian). Late, in the year 628, Emperor  Heraclius set out on a military campaign, retrieved the Cross, and after  bringing it to Constantinople, himself escorted it back to Jerusalem,  where he restored it to its place.