Heraclius then went to Chosroes, and told him what he had done, offering him his life if he too would embrace Christianity,55 but the Persian monarch refused, and Heraclius smote off his head.56 He then crowned a son of Chosroes, and caused him to be baptized,57 himself standing sponsor, and buried the slain king with befitting honours.58 Then, taking possession of the holy relic,59 he set out with it for Jerusalem. But, as he was bearing it in great state, he came to that gate of the City through which Jesus went to His passion, worn, buffeted, scorned, and weary, carrying the heavy burden of His cross. And suddenly the gateway became solid masonry, so that he could not pass through, and an angel appeared in the heavens, and reproved him for his ostentatious display in a place which his Saviour had previously trodden in such deep humility.60 Heraclius dismounted from his horse, and, stripping himself of all the trappings of royalty, barefoot, and in his shirt,61 he meekly bore the Cross to its appointed place,62 the masonry disappearing as soon as he had humbled himself.