ABSTRACT
In the fourth century the image of the cross developed rapidly from a symbol of disgrace into the Christian symbol par excellence. The cross could be seen everywhere: it was depicted on coins, houses, sarcophagi and weapons, sewn on clothes, and tattooed on bodies. The sign of the cross was thought to have healing power, to offer protection against evil, and to be able to ward off demonic forces.1 Not only was the symbol of the cross considered to have these powers but so also were its relics. Around the year 330 a piece of wood considered by Christians to be the cross on which Christ had suffered and died was alleged to have been found in Jerusalem by Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great.2 This relic, preserved in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, had been venerated in Jerusalem on Good Friday and during the feast of the Encaenia in September since at least the mid-fourth century.3 Pieces of the wood from the cross were quickly distributed over the Roman Empire and were not only preserved in churches but also carried around by Christians on their persons.4 Gregory of Nyssa reports that
1 P. Stockmeier, Theologie und Kult des Kreuzes bei Johannes Chrysostomos: Ein Beitrag zum Verständnis des Kreuzes im 4. Jahrhundert, Trierer Theologische Studien 18 (Trier, 1966) 212-17.
