Pilgrimage Sunday: Santa Croce in Gerusalemme

Rick Bessey
Jun 29
1 min read

Updated: Jul 23

Santa Croce in Gerusalemme is a church that I have yet to visit. The foundations of the church date, actually, to the Severan Emperors in the early 200s. (Think of the Arch of Septimius Severus.)

The true story of the church, however, dates back to Helena, mother of Constantine. When she returned from her pilgrimage to the Holy Land (around 326 AD), she brought with her relics of the Passion — including pieces of the True Cross and soil from Calvary. That soil was placed in the floor of the chapel, which led to the church being considered, in a real sense, part of Jerusalem itself.

That soil would prove to be the downfall of Pope Sylvester II. According to tradition, Pope Sylvester II, who had vowed never to enter the Holy City for fear he would die there, entered Santa Croce — forgetting that it contained soil from Jerusalem — and died shortly afterward in 1003 AD.

The basilica has been remodeled and refurbished many times over the centuries, and as a result, it doesn’t follow any single architectural style.

Among the relics preserved here are fragments of the True Cross, thorns from the crown, and one of the nails used in the crucifixion. It’s a church layered in history.

The Pilgrimage Churches of Rome:

Four Major Basilicas:

St. Peter's Basilica

St. Paul Outside the Walls

St. John Lateran

Santa Maria Maggiore

Additional Pilgrimage Churches:

St. Sebastian Outside the Walls

Holy Cross in Jerusalem

St. Lawrence Outside the Walls