placing him within, they made a great lamentation over him, weeping as if deprived of a loving father and not a despotic king. And Constantius, the emperor of the East, arriving, and having royally buried his father, placed him in a high place in the Church of the Apostles in the city of Constantine, where his mother Helena was laid to rest. For the blessed Constantine built that church for this purpose, for emperors and priests to be buried there, so that they might not be far from the apostolic relics. And the day of his falling asleep was the twenty-first of the month of May, the eleventh day before the Kalends of June, in the consulship of Felicianus and Tatianus. And when Constantius had just taken possession of the empire, the champions of the Arian disease approached him, urging him to remove the term "homoousios" from the symbol of the faith. For they said this 4069 had become the cause of the division of the Churches. Once this was removed, there would no longer be contention about dogmas. But he, with lightness of mind, having accepted their words without examination, agreed to do this, and again there was no small disturbance in the whole inhabited world. And at that time a wonder occurred in Jerusalem, surpassing all description. For since in the contention over dogmas there was a falling away of those coming to the faith, being scandalized by the disagreement of the clergy, the God of wonders showed from heaven that the word of faith in him was not the cause of the scandals, but the ineptitude of unworthy priests and the incontinence of their most wicked mind. Therefore, at midday, a very great cross made of light suddenly appeared above the holy Golgotha, covering the brightness of our sun by the excess of its light, in the sight of all who inhabited the city, both small and great, both faithful and unfaithful. And Cyril was then the bishop of Jerusalem, having succeeded the confessor Maximonas. Eighteen catecheses of his are preserved, excellently composed, in which, interpreting the holy Symbol, he made no mention of the word "homoousios," being suspicious of the devices of those who were then in power. Nevertheless, he remained with the holy Fathers, advocating for the Church without writing. He wrote to the emperor Constantius concerning the sign that had appeared. But the letters of the bishop himself will better teach about this, containing the following: "In the time of your blessed and renowned father the saving wood of the life-giving cross was found; but in your reign, most pious emperor, who restores the piety of your ancestors, it is fitting that wondrous works are not from earth, but from heaven. For in these holy days of Pentecost, on the Nones of May, around the third hour, a very great cross made of light appeared in heaven above the holy Golgotha and extending as far as the holy Mount of Olives, not appearing to just one or two, but most clearly shown to the whole populace of the city, not, as one might suppose, passing by swiftly or as a phantom, but for many hours seen visibly above the earth, and conquering the rays of the sun with its flashing beams. For it would have been overcome and hidden by them, if it had not provided flashes more powerful than the sun to those who saw it, so that the whole crowd ran together from the holy Church itself, seized by the fear of the divine vision from heaven, which came from God." And so the bishop. And from this miraculous event many thousands were added to the faith. Let the history concerning the finding of the life-giving cross be up to this point, 4072 and let no one deceive himself by speaking unprofitable vanities and introducing fictions to the subject through strange names. For there has never been another bishop besides those previously written, nor another emperor of the Romans, nor was the precious cross proclaimed in another way. For from Augustus the emperor,

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ἐν θέντες, ἐποίησαν κοπετὸν μέγαν ἐπ' αὐτὸν θρηνοῦν τες, ὡς πατρὸς φιλοστόργου, καὶ οὐ βασιλέως ἐξουσιαστοῦ στερηθέντες. Καταλαβὼν δὲ Κωνστάντιος ὁ τῆς Ἑῴας βασιλεὺς, καὶ βασιλικῶς κηδεύσας τὸν πα τέρα, ἐφ' ὑψηλοῦ ἀπέθετο ἐν τῇ τῶν ἀποστόλων Ἐκκλη σίᾳ ἐν Κωνσταντίνου πόλει, ἔνθα ἀπετέθη ἡ μήτηρ αὐ τοῦ Ἑλένη. Εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ μακάριος Κωνσταντῖνος ᾠκοδόμησεν ἐκείνην τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, εἰς τὸ θάπτεσθαι ἐκεῖσε τοὺς βασιλεῖς καὶ ἱερεῖς, ὅπως μὴ ὦσι μακρὰν τῶν ἀποστολικῶν λειψάνων. Ἐγένετο δὲ ἡμέρα τῆς κοιμήσεως αὐτοῦ εἰκάδι πρώτῃ Μαίου μηνὸς τῇ πρὸ δεκαμιᾶς καλανδῶν Ἰουνίων, ἐν ὑπατίᾳ Φηλικιανοῦ καὶ Τατιανοῦ. Κωνσταντίου δὲ ἄρτι κρατήσαντος τῆς βασιλείας, προσῆλθον αὐτῷ οἱ τῆς Ἀρείου νόσου προστάται, παρακαλοῦντες αὐτὸν τοῦ ὁμοουσίου τὸ πρόσρημα ἐκ τοῦ συμβόλου τῆς πίστεως περιελεῖν. Αἴτιον γὰρ τοῦτο 4069 ἔφασαν γεγονέναι τῆς τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν διαιρέσεως. Οὗ ἀρθέντος, οὐκ ἔτι ἔσται ἀμφισβήτησις περὶ δογμά των. Ὁ δὲ κουφότητι γνώμης ἀβασανίστως δεξάμε νος τοὺς λόγους αὐτῶν, συνέθετο τοῦτο ποιῆσαι, καὶ πάλιν ἦν τάραχος οὐκ ὀλίγος ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ οἰκου μένῃ. Κατ' ἐκεῖνον δὲ τὸν καιρὸν θαῦμα γέγονεν ἐν Ἱε ροσολύμοις πάντα λόγον ὑπερβαῖνον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν τῇ τῶν δογμάτων φιλονεικίᾳ ἐκκοπὴ γέγονε τῶν προσ ερχομένων τῇ πίστει, σκανδαλιζομένων ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν ἱερωμένων διαφωνίᾳ, οὐρανόθεν ἔδειξεν ὁ τῶν θαυ μασίων Θεὸς, ὅτι οὐχ ὁ λόγος τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν πίστεως αἴτιος τῶν σκανδάλων, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἀδοκίμων ἱερέων ἡ σκαιότης καὶ τῆς κακίστης αὐτῶν γνώμης ἡ ἀδια κρασία. Τοιγαροῦν ἄφνω φαίνεται ἐπάνω τοῦ ἁγίου Γολγοθᾶ ἡμέρας μεσούσης παμμεγέστατος σταυρὸς ἐκ φωτὸς κατεσκευασμένος, καλύπτων τὴν τοῦ ἡμε τέρου ἡλίου λαμπρότητα τῇ ὑπερβολῇ τοῦ φωτὸς, ἐνώπιον πάντων τῶν τὴν πόλιν οἰκούντων, μικρῶν τε καὶ μεγάλων, πιστῶν τε καὶ ἀπίστων. Κύριλλος δὲ ἦν τότε ὁ τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων ἐπίσκοπος, τὸν ὁμολογητὴν Μαξιμωνᾶν διαδεξάμενος. Τούτου σώζονται κατηχή σεις δεκαοκτὼ, εὐδοκίμως συγγεγραμμέναι, ἐν αἷς τὸ ἅγιον Σύμβολον ἑρμηνεύσας μνήμην τῆς τοῦ ὁμοουσίου λέξεως οὐκ ἐποιήσατο, τῶν καταδυνα στευόντων τότε τὰς συσκευὰς ὑφορώμενος. Ἔμεινε δὲ ὅμως σὺν τοῖς ἁγίοις Πατράσι, συνηγορῶν ἀγρά φως τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ. Οὗτος ἔγραψε τῷ βασιλεῖ Κων σταντίῳ περὶ τοῦ γενομένου σημείου. Ἄμεινον δὲ τὰ περὶ τούτου διδάξει αὐτὰ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου τὰ γράμ ματα, ἔχοντα τάδε· «Ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ μακαρίου καὶ ἀοιδίμου πατρός σου τὸ σωτήριον εὕρηται τοῦ ζωοποιοῦ σταυροῦ ξύλον· ἐπὶ δὲ σοῦ, εὐσεβέστατε βασιλεῦ, προγονικὴ εὐσέ βειαν ἐπανάγοντος, εἰκότως οὐκ ἐκ γῆς, ἀλλ' ἐξ οὐ ρανοῦ τὰ θαυματουργήματα. Ἐν γὰρ ταῖς ἁγίαις ταύταις ἡμέραις τῆς Πεντηκοστῆς, νόναις Μαΐαις περὶ τρίτην ὥραν παμμεγέστατος σταυρὸς ἐκ φωτὸς κατεσκευασμένος ἐν οὐρανῷ ὑπεράνω τοῦ ἁγίου Γολ γοθᾶ καὶ μέχρι τοῦ ἁγίου ὄρους τῶν Ἐλαιῶν ἐκτεινό μενος ἐφαίνετο, οὐχ ἑνὶ καὶ δευτέρῳ μόνον φανεὶς, ἀλλὰ παντὶ τῷ τῆς πόλεως πλήθει φανερώτατα δει χθεὶς, οὐδ' ὡς ἄν τις νομίσαι, ὀξέως ἢ καὶ κατὰ φαντασίαν παραδραμὼν, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ πλείοσιν ὥραις ὑπὲρ γῆν ὀφθαλμοφανῶς θεωρούμενος, καὶ ταῖς ἀπαστραπτούσαις μαρμαρυγαῖς τὰς ἡλιακὰς ἀκτῖνας νικήσας. Ἢ γὰρ ἂν νικώμενος ὑπ' αὐτῶν ἐκαλύπτετο, εἰ μὴ δυνατωτέρας ἡλίου τοῖς ὁρῶσι παρεῖχε τὰς λαμπηδόνας, ὡς ἅπαν ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς ἁγίας Ἐκκλη σίας συνδραμεῖν τὸ πλῆθος, τῷ τῆς θεοπτίας φόβῳ συσχεθὲν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ θεόθεν γεγενημένης.» Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ὁ ἐπίσκοπος. Ἐκ ταύτης δὲ παραδοξοποιίας πολλαὶ χιλιάδες προσετέθησαν τῇ πίστει. Ἕως ὧδε περὶ τῆς εὑρέ σεως τοῦ ζωοποιοῦ σταυροῦ ἡ ἱστορία ἔστω, 4072 καὶ μηδεὶς ἑαυτὸν ἀπατάτω ματαιολογῶν ἀσύμφορα καὶ μυθοποιίας δι' ὀνομάτων παραξένων παρεισαγα γεῖ τῇ ὑποθέσει. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐπίσκοπος ἕτερος γέγονε πώποτε παρὰ τοὺς προγεγραμμένους, οὐδὲ βασιλεὺς ἕτερος Ῥωμαίων, οὐδὲ ἑτέρῳ τρόπῳ ὁ τίμιος σταυ ρὸς ἀνεκηρύχθη. Ἀπὸ γὰρ Αὐγούστου τοῦ βασιλέως,

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