Discovery of the Holy Cross by Saint Helena

Source: bibliotheque-monastique.ch (transcription)

This precious wood of the Cross remained hidden beneath the earth for more than two hundred years; but it was discovered, as follows, by Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine…

Helena, having arrived in Jerusalem, gathered around her the learned men who could be found throughout the whole region…

After this, Judas girded himself and began to dig courageously. When he had reached a depth of twenty paces, he found three crosses buried there, which he immediately brought to the queen. Now, as they did not know how to distinguish the Cross of Jesus Christ from those of the thieves, they placed them in the middle of the city and waited for the glory of God to be revealed. At the eleventh hour, the body of a young man who was being carried to burial passed by. Judas stopped the coffin and placed the first and then the second cross upon the dead man’s body, but he did not rise again. Then the third cross was brought near the body, and immediately he returned to life…