Introduction
In AD 326 Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, went to the Holy Land to search for the cross on which Jesus Christ had been crucified. The story is told in one of the oldest pieces of English literature, the epic Anglo-Saxon poem ‘Helen’ by Cynewulf.
EMPEROR Constantine the Great secured his crown by displaying the sign of the Cross in battle, and soon afterwards, in 326, he encouraged his Christian mother, Helen, to go to Jerusalem to find Christ’s original, true Cross.
When Helen angrily accused the Jews of Jerusalem of Christ’s murder, they held an anxious conference: they quite genuinely knew nothing about it. But they discovered that one of them, Judas, had heard about Christ from his father, a secret believer, and handed him over to Helen.
Judas was mortally afraid of what Helen might do to those she blamed for Christ’s death, but love for his father, and a week in prison without food, convinced him to co-operate. He took Helen to Calvary, and there he prayed to be guided, as God had guided Moses to the burial-place of Jacob.
As he prayed, a mist silently gathered about a small, sweet-scented basil flower.* When Judas saw it, he clapped his hands in wonder and began digging, furiously.
Celebrations of the feast of the Cross in the Eastern Churches use sweet basil in memory of this. The feast is held on September 14th, marking the day following the consecration of the church in Jerusalem, when the cross was brought out for the people and clergy to see and venerate.
Précis
Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, went to Jerusalem in 326 to find the cross on which Christ died. She found that nobody knew anything about it, except a Jew named Judas who was unwilling to speak. A week in jail and his own native honesty persuaded him to co-operate, however, and he showed Helen the site of Calvary. (60 / 60 words)
Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, went to Jerusalem in 326 to find the cross on which Christ died. She found that nobody knew anything about it, except a Jew named Judas who was unwilling to speak. A week in jail and his own native honesty persuaded him to co-operate, however, and he showed Helen the site of Calvary.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, besides, just, must, or, otherwise, until, whether.
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
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