In recent times an attempt has been made to reconcile the two accounts, by attributing to St Helena the rediscovery of the true cross, originally found by Protonice, and which had been buried again on the spot. A change was made in 1895 in the _Diario Romano_, when the word _Ritrovamento_ was substituted for that of _Invenzione_, in the name of the festival of the 3rd of May. After St Helena's discovery a church was built upon the site, and in it she placed the greater portion of the cross. The remaining portion she conveyed to Byzantium, and thence Constantine sent a piece to Rome, where it is said to be still preserved in the church of S. Croce in Gerusalemme, which was built to receive so precious a relic. It is exposed for the veneration of the faithful on Good Friday, 3rd of May, and the third Sunday in Lent, each year.
Another festival of the holy cross is kept on the 14th of September, and is known as the "Exaltation of the Holy Cross." It seems to have originated with the dedication, in the year 335, of the churches built on the sites of the crucifixion and the holy sepulchre. The observance of this festival passed from Jerusalem to Constantinople, and thence to Rome, where it appears to have been introduced in the 7th century. By some it is thought that the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross had its origin in Constantine's vision of the cross in the sky in the year 317, but whether it originated then, or, as is more generally supposed, at the dedication of the churches at Jerusalem, there is no doubt that it was afterwards kept with much greater solemnity in consequence of the recovery of the portion of the cross St Helena had left at Jerusalem, which had been taken away in the Persian victory, and was restored to Jerusalem by Heraclitus in 627. Pope Clement VIII. (1592-1604) raised the festival of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross to the dignity, liturgically known as that of a Greater Double.
Before leaving the story of St Helena and the cross, it may be convenient to allude briefly to the superscription placed over the Saviour's head, and the nails, which it is said that she found with the cross. The earlier tradition as to the superscription is obscure, but it would seem that it ought to be considered part of the relic which Constantine sent to Rome. By some means it was entirely lost sight of until the year 1492, when it is said that it was accidentally found in a vault in the church of S. Croce in Gerusalemme at Rome. Pope Alexander III. published a bull certifying to the truth of this rediscovery of the relic, and authenticated its character.