Mangalore: Relic of Holy Cross of Jesus installed at Kulshekar Church
Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (VM)
Mangalore, Sep 15: Bishop of Mangalore diocese Dr Aloysius Paul D’souza on Sunday September 15 installed the relic of the Holy Cross of Jesus at Holy Cross Church, Cordel, Kulshekar here.
The bishop installed the relic at the newly-built Holy Cross Chapel of the church.
Prior to the installation, vicar generel of Mangalore Diocese Msgr Dennis Moras Prabhu inaugurated the Holy Cross Chapel.
The relic was brought to the altar of the church in a procession and after handing over the decree of the relic to the parish priest, the Bishop installed the relic in the Chapel.
The installation of the relic marks a new milestone in the history of the Kulshekar church which is celebrating its 100th year this year.
The relic is now open for visitors for Adoration and personal prayers.
The relic is in the form of a small cross basically taken from the Holy Cross of Jesus installed in Rome.
Historical background of the relic
In the year 312 AD, because of the faith in the Holy Cross of Jesus, the Roman King Constantine was victorious in one of the battles. Hence, in the year 326 AD, to find the Holy Cross of Jesus, he sent his mother St Helen to the city of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified. She could find various crosses of similar shapes and sizes. She was told that when a lady touched one of the crosses, she would be cured from her sickness. It was then confirmed as the Holy Cross of Jesus Christ.
The cross was installed in the Church of Sepulchre in Rome later.
Thereafter, in an attempt to demolish the monuments of Christianity, the Persians took the Holy Cross to their country and in the year 629 AD, King Heraclius regained the Holy Cross and it was re-installed in Rome.
Over the years, it led to widespread devotion to the Holy Cross among people and today a part of the Holy Cross (relic) has been installed in the Holy Cross chapel of Kulshekar church.
The church authorities started the process of getting the relic in 2008.
The Catholic Church accepts only three types of relics. The first type consists items directly associated with the events of Christ like manger, cross and physical remains of saint (bone, skull, hair, etc). The second type includes items used by the saint in his life which are clothes, rosary, crucifix, books etc.
The third type of relic includes any items touched by a first class or second class relic. None of the relics are allowed to be sold nor given to any person without the permission of Vatican management. A relic is connected to the Catholic Church and hence it is not meant to be sold.