Her name was Egeria and she was filled with love for the Lord. This was perilous in the 4th century until the Edict of Milan by the Emperor Constantine, that permitted Christians to worship publically. The great persecutions had come to an end and Egeria wished to fulfill a long-held dream, to travel in pilgrimage to the places made holy by the Savior. She, like Helena, the mother of Constantine, set out on an incredibly arduous journey to venerate the place of the crucifixion and resurrection as well as the holy places spoken of in the Scriptures. Along the way, she kept a journal that now forms the primary source for the liturgical celebrations that were celebrated in these very locations and especially in Jerusalem in the 4th century, when Cyril was Bishop.
The Greek Altar at Golgotha in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
The special and unique liturgy that we celebrate today, more properly called, The Celebration of the Passion of the Lord, has its roots sunk deeply in these 4th century rites described by Egeria. Two pivotal elements framed this ancient rite: The Proclamation of the Passion according to St. John and the Veneration of the Wood of the Cross. Here is how Egeria describe that veneration:
“Then a chair is placed for the bishop in Golgotha behind the Cross, which is now standing; the bishop duly takes his seat in the chair, and a table covered with a linen cloth is placed before him; the deacons stand round the table, and a silver-gilt casket is brought in which is the holy wood of the Cross. The casket is opened and (the wood) is taken out, and both the wood of the Cross and the title are placed upon the table.
Now, when it has been put upon the table, the bishop, as he sits, holds the extremities of the sacred wood firmly in his hands, while the deacons who stand around guard it. It is guarded thus because the custom is that the people, both faithful and catechumens, come one by one and, bowing down at the table, kiss the sacred wood and pass through. And because, I know not when, someone is said to have bitten off and stolen a portion of the sacred wood, it is thus guarded by the deacons who stand around, lest anyone approaching should venture to do so again.
And as all the people pass by one by one, all bowing themselves, they touch the Cross and the title, first with their foreheads and then with their eyes; then they kiss the Cross and pass through, but none lays his hand upon it to touch it. When they have kissed the Cross and have passed through, a deacon stands holding the ring of Solomon and the horn from which the kings were anointed; they kiss the horn also and gaze at the ring . . . all the people are passing through up to the sixth hour, entering by one door and going out by another; for this is done in the same place where, on the preceding day, that is, on the fifth weekday, the oblation was offered.”
From time immemorial, it is the account of the Passion as recorded by St. John that is proclaimed this day. Jesus, sovereign Lord of the Universe, is imaged in this Gospel, not as victim but rather victor in embracing his destiny that will lead to Glory. The wood of the cross is transformed from being an instrument of torture to that of the tree that becomes the instrument of our salvation because of him who hangs upon it in triumph over the powers of darkness.
In the 6th century, St. Venantius (c-530-c-609) composed the classic Good Friday chant, Crux Fidelis, sung during the veneration, that captures poetically, the beauty and glory of the cross now transformed by Christ the Victor.
Faithful cross, above all other,
One and only noble tree:
None in foliage, none in blossom,
None in fruit thy peer may be.
Sweetest wood and sweetest iron,
Sweetest weight is hung on thee!
On this most solemn day, let us too join Christians of all ages as we proclaim: We adore you, Oh Christ, and we bless you. Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.