We have St. Helena, the mother of Roman emperor Constantine the Great, to indirectly thank for this tradition. She journeyed to Jerusalem in the fourth century to find the sites associated with Christ’s passion, with the primary goal of finding the true cross. What made this task more challenging was that over the centuries, the Romans had built over the places where Jesus was tried, sentenced and crucified. Helena excavated many sites before finding three crosses. According to legend, she touched a woman who was near death with parts of each of the crosses, and one – the true cross – healed her completely. Helena split that cross, leaving part in Jerusalem and taking part to Constantinople. Later, she took several pieces to Rome, where they were enshrined in the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem.