The story of how the life-giving Cross was brought back from Babylon to Jerusalem.

In the 15th year after the capture of Jerusalem, in the 19th year of the reign of Heraclius, the 10th indiction, Khosro the Persian king was slain by his son, Siron by name, in the month of March. Now about that time King Heraclius with his forces had already reached Persia, and took possession of many of his cities and of the royal palaces, slew thousands of the Persian soldiers, and led back again the Greeks ⁷¹ who had been carried into captivity and liberated the Christians from slavery by force. But the King Siron who had taken possession of his father's kingdom died in the month of September ; and his son Artasir took the kingdom. He was only a child, and his reign lasted three months. Between the Greeks and the Persians was then concluded a written peace through the mediation of Rasmi-Ozan, who was the Persian commander-in-chief. But before this King Heraclius sent a eunuch whose name was Nerses, his principal chamberlain.⁷² He advanced with a numerous army to fight the Persians. The multitude of the Persians drawn up in battle was defeated, and they fled in terror before the face of the eunuch : so that the Persians in great sorrow exclaimed once more : 'How has this happened to us? For we have been worsted by a eunuch who is despised among women and is not reckoned a man. And this piques our spirits all the more, that we flee before a woman.'

But in the 17th year however after the capture of Jerusalem, in the 3rd year after the murder of Khosro, in the 21st year after the accession of Heraclius, the 3rd indiction, the Persian general Rasmi-Ozan slew the Persian king Artasir, whom we mentioned above. He seized the kingdom, became an ally of the Greeks, and bestowed on the King Heraclius the life-giving tree, the Cross of Christ, as the treasure of the whole world, and as the richest of gifts, and he gave it him. But King Heraclius took it to Jerusalem on the occasion of his going there with Martina, who was daughter of his father's brother ; and he had married her against the law, and therefore was very much afraid that the high priests would rebuke him on the score of that indecent action. And when he had entered Jerusalem, he on the 21st of the month of March re-established in its own place the glorious and precious tree of the Cross, sealed as before in a chest, just as it had been carried away. And it was set up altogether unopened ; for just as the ark of the covenant was left unopened among strangers, so was left the life-giving tree of the Cross, which had vanquished death and trampled on Hell. Then King Heraclius, seeing the glorious event—namely, the restoration of the holy places, which had been rebuilt by the blessed Modestus, was much rejoiced and ordered him to be consecrated patriarch over Jerusalem; for the blessed Zachariah had died in Persia, and the church was widowed.

But in the 4th indiction, in the 21st year of the reign of Heraclius, the blessed Modestus assumed the patriarchate of Jerusalem. Not long ^[517] time afterwards the blessed Modestus set off to go to the king about certain advantages conducive to the administration of the churches, to ask Heraclius the king for his gracious sanction. Having reached a town called Sozos, which is on the borders of Palestine, he died on September 17. Some say that he was poisoned by malignant people who were with him. From that city they brought the holy body of Modestus and laid it side by side with the holy patriarchs in the Martyrium, with chanting on the part of the crowd, with incense and candles in the hands of the faithful folk, who carried his body to the tomb.

Let us with all them give glory to God extolled in the Trinity and glorified as Unity, to whom is due reverence and prostrations to Father together with Son and Holy Ghost now and ever.