The Holy Cross Tree
Miracles in the Dominican church
For hundreds of years, the miraculous relics of the Tree of the Holy Cross were kept in St. Stanislaus the Bishop and Martyr. At that time, they were the cause of many miracles and fame of Lublin.
The largest piece of the Holy Cross Tree in the Catholic world, kept at the Dominican Church in Lublin triggered many extraordinary events linked together by golden links to form a precious chain.
Wonders started happening at the Dominicans, commemorated in church paintings. A severely ill Eufemia Walicka, having entrusted herself to the relic’s care, suddenly recovered. Jan Gryza who had limp legs, having said prayers at the miraculous chapel, threw away his crutches and came back home healthy. Notarial records contain a number of proven healings and other wonders. .
When Bohdan Chmielnicki arrived at Lublin with his army in 1649, the frightened residents prayed at the foot of the altar in the Dominican Church. The prior of the community ordered a procession with the Holy Cross Tree in the Town Hall. When the procession was coming to an end, a mighty, menacing sword appeared in the suddenly darkened skies, surrounded with strange brightness, and started floating over the town, casting rays of light like lightnings. And each of them formed a new sword until the whole sky was covered in signs of fighting, as if legions of angels had rushed against an enemy of peace.
Chmielnicki saw the signs in the skies and, overwhelmed by superstitious fear, he ordered a retreat and withdrew in panic.
In 1651, when Colonel Daniel Neczaj and his Cossacs moved against the Polish army, pious and lucky King John Casimir entrusted the fate of the battle to the care of the Holy Cross Tree. After his grand victory at Vinnytsia, Krzysztof Tyszkiewicz, the Chernihiv Voivode acting on the order of the King, deposited Neczaj’s baton and seven trophy standards with the Dominicans as votive offering.
In 1719, the great fire of Lublin* turned back and went out under the miraculous force of the Holy Tree emanated by the relic carried by a procession within the radius of the raging fire. That event was commemorated by a painter on the sacristy wall in the Dominican Church, and in the contemporary times a copy of the painting has been made.
In September 1939, during a ferocious German air raid on the Old Town, a procession of believers with the Holy Cross Tree also poured out and, having encircled the Tribunal, they went back to the church. The facts prove that this part of the Old Town was undamaged by the raid.
Unfortunately, in 1991 the relics were stolen from the Dominican basilica and have not been found to this day.
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