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ELENE.

in heart as she heard that the hellish enemy, the Prince of evil, was vanquished; she marveled at the wisdom of the man, how in so little time he was so filled with faith, and how he who had960 ever been so ignorant was imbued with knowledge. And she thanked God, the King of glory, that through the Son of God the joy of both these things was come unto her—on the one hand at the sight965 of the tree of victory, and on the other at this faith which she so clearly understood as a glorious gift in the breast of this man.

14. The Embassy to Constantine.

Then was the fair news of the morning manifest among the nation, spread far throughout the people, to the vexation of many who would keep secret the970 law of the Lord. It was heralded through the cities, as far as the sea embosoms the land, through every town, that the rood of Christ, buried of yore in the earth, had been found, best emblem of victory of them that were raised aloft before or since, holy975 beneath the heavens. Unto the Jews, men of misfortune, it was a most bitter grief and most hated of fates that they could change neither it nor the joy of the Christians in the world. Then the queen980 bade messengers from her noble company make them ready with haste, for they were to seek the lord of the Romans over the deep sea, and declare unto that warrior in person the best of glad tidings—how the tree of victory, that had been hidden a long985 time before to grieve the holy ones, the Christian people, had been discovered and found in the earth through the grace of the Creator.