Lost Relics of the Holy Cross Found in Argentina

“There are enough pieces of the True Cross to make a forest!” Bah! If you've ever seen a Relic of the Cross (I have) and know its size, all of them together would probably make up the Cross Beam.

From Aleteia

By Daniel Esparza

Fragments of the Cross lost since a 1944 earthquake return to San Juan’s cathedral in the midst of Lent.

A small discovery inside a school chapel in Argentina has returned a forgotten treasure of faith to the local Church. Relics believed to contain fragments of the Holy Cross — lost for more than eight decades — will soon return to the cathedral of San Juan de Cuyo, restoring a piece of the region’s spiritual history.

The Archdiocese of San Juan de Cuyo announced that the relics would be returned to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist during a Mass presided over by Archbishop Jorge Lozano.

As read in Julieta Villar’s article for ACI Prensa, the relics consist of two tiny wooden splinters arranged in the form of a cross and placed inside a reliquary known as a Lignum Crucis — a traditional name given to relics of the Cross on which Jesus was crucified.

The journey of the True Cross

According to Christian tradition, the True Cross was discovered in 326 by Helena during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem alongside her son, the Roman emperor Constantine I. Excavations at Golgotha revealed three crosses; the one belonging to Christ was identified after a sick woman was healed upon touching it. Helena ordered the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at the discovery site.

Over the centuries, the relic endured repeated losses and rediscoveries: seized by Persians in 614, recovered by Byzantine emperor Heraclius in 630, hidden during later upheavals, and ultimately lost after the Crusader defeat at the Battle of Hattin in 1187.

Small fragments known as Lignum Crucis spread across Christendom. Today, some of the largest surviving pieces are preserved in Rome, Paris, and at monasteries on Mount Athos.

Hidden since the 1944 earthquake

The relics were originally donated to the cathedral in 1908 through the efforts of Bishop José Américo Sansierra. Their documented origin traces back to Rome, where the fragments were certified as authentic relics of the Cross preserved in the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. But their trail disappeared in 1944 after a catastrophic earthquake devastated the city of San Juan and destroyed the cathedral.

For decades the relics were presumed lost. Their rediscovery came unexpectedly when authorities at the Colegio Santa Rosa de Lima found a small reliquary behind a piece of furniture in the sacristy of the school’s chapel. Curious about the object, they began researching its contents and provenance.

Parish priest Fr. Andrés Riveros of the cathedral later explained to local newspaper Diario de Cuyo that experts were consulted and the archdiocesan archives were reviewed.

Only then did the pieces fall into place.

The reliquary, Riveros confirmed, was the same Lignum Crucis that once belonged to the cathedral and had vanished after the earthquake.

A Lenten return

“For the joy of everyone and for the growth of devotion among the people of San Juan and those who visit the cathedral daily,” the priest said, the relics will return to their original home.

The timing is significant. “It is good news that arrives during Lent,” Riveros noted, a season when Christians meditate on the Passion of Christ and the meaning of the Cross.

The relic will not remain hidden in the cathedral. According to the parish priest, it will be carried through the streets of San Juan during the Good Friday Way of the Cross before being permanently placed behind the cathedral’s presbytery.

Pictured: A "Kreuzpartikel" or fragment of the True Cross in the Schatzkammer (Vienna)