Relic of the Holy Cross arrives in Mangalore

Till now this port city was called ‘Rome of the East’ for its true Catholic outlook, but now it has one more reason to sustain that name, as a relic of the Holy Cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified by Romans 2000 years ago arrived in Mangalore and has been consecrated in the Holy Cross Church in Kulashekar in the city.

Catholics in Mangalore were trying to get the relic for over seven years, and the Vatican administration finally found that the city deserved to house a relic from the biblical times, senior parishioners of the newly built Holy Cross church felt.

According to the church administrators, housing the relic of the Holy Cross will be a rare distinction for Mangalore. The relic will be open to the lay people for adoration and prayers.

In 312 AD, after his victory in one of the many battles he waged, Roman King Constantine attributed his triumph to the grace of the holy cross. In 326 AD, he sent his mother St Helen to find the Cross of Jesus in the city of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified. The cross was installed in the Church of Sepulchre in Rome later.

Towards the end of 7th century AD, Persians tried to destroy it and took it to Persia, but in 629, King Heraclius regained the Cross and had it re-installed in the same Church in Rome.