Editing Church of the Holy Sepulchre (section)

===Constantine and Macarius: context for the first sanctuary===

After seeing a vision of a cross in the sky in 312,<ref name=bible>{{cite book|editor-last=Owen|editor-first=G. Frederick|title=The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible|publisher=B.B. Kirkbride Bible Co.|location=Indianapolis|edition=4th improved (updated)|year=1983|orig-year=1964|page=323 (appendix)|title-link=Thompson Chain-Reference Bible}}</ref> [[Constantine the Great]] began to favour [[Constantine the Great and Christianity|Christianity]] and signed the [[Edict of Milan]] legalizing the religion. The Bishop of Jerusalem [[Macarius of Jerusalem| Macarius]] asked Constantine for permission to dig for the tomb. With the help of [[Eusebius]] (a Bishop of Caesarea) and Macarius, three crosses were found near a tomb; one, which was said to have [[Helena, mother of Constantine I#True Cross|cured people of death]], was presumed to be the [[True Cross]], on which Jesus was [[Crucifixion of Jesus|crucified]], leading the Romans to believe that they had found [[Calvary]].<ref name=bible/><ref>From the [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04517a.htm ''Catholic Encyclopedia'': Archæology of the Cross and Crucifix] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100926175751/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04517a.htm |date=26 September 2010 }}: "Following an inspiration from on high, Macarius caused the three crosses to be carried, one after the other, to the bedside of a worthy woman who was at the point of death. The touch of the other two was of no avail; but on touching that upon which Christ had died the woman got suddenly well again. From a letter of St. Paulinus to Severus inserted in the Breviary of Paris it would appear that St. Helena herself had sought by means of a miracle to discover which was the True Cross and that she caused a man already dead and buried to be carried to the spot, whereupon, by contact with the third cross, he came to life. From yet another tradition, related by [[St. Ambrose]] following Rufinus, it would seem that the ''[[Titulus Crucis|titulus]]'', or inscription, had remained fastened to the Cross."</ref>

About 326, Constantine ordered that the temple to Jupiter or Venus be replaced by a church.<ref name=sacred/> After the temple was torn down and its ruins removed, the soil was removed from the cave, revealing a rock-cut tomb that Macarius identified as the burial site of Jesus.<ref name=mcmahon/><ref name=constantine>{{cite book| url=https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iv.vi.iii.xxviii.html| title=NPNF2-01. Eusebius Pamphilius: Church History, Life of Constantine, Oration in Praise of Constantine| publisher=Christian Classics Ethereal Library| date=2005| access-date=19 September 2014| quote=Then indeed did this most holy cave present a faithful similitude of his return to life, in that, after lying buried in darkness, it again emerged to light, and afforded to all who came to witness the sight, a clear and visible proof of the wonders of which that spot had once been the scene, a testimony to the resurrection of the Saviour clearer than any voice could give.| archive-date=2 June 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602095050/https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iv.vi.iii.xxviii.html| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1996-12-14-9612140058-story.html| title=Is it the Tomb of Christ? A Search for Evidence| last=Renner| first=Gerald| date=14 December 1996| journal=[[Hartford Courant]]| access-date=29 November 2018| archive-date=29 November 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129143607/https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1996-12-14-9612140058-story.html| url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=socrates>{{cite book |author=Socrates |author-link=Socrates of Constantinople |title=Historia Ecclesiastica |publisher=Christian Classics Ethereal Library |others=Revised and notes by A.C. Zenos, DD |url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.toc.html |date=c. 439 |access-date=29 November 2018 |pages=21–22 |archive-date=25 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225122102/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.toc.html |url-status=live }}</ref>