"We must all carry the cross like Jesus,
and our cross is the suffering we all encounter in life."
(St. John Bosco)
Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. This feast honours Christ’s Cross, an instrument made sacred by the Lord’s offering of Himself upon it for our salvation.
The feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross celebrates two historical events: the discovery of the True Cross by Saint Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, in 320 under the temple of Venus in Jerusalem, and the dedication in 335 of the basilica and shrine built on Calvary by Constantine, which mark the site of the Crucifixion.
The Persians destroyed the basilica, named the Martyrium, and the shrine, called the Calvarium, in 614. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher which now stands on the site was built by the Crusaders in 1149.
However, the feast, more than anything else, is a celebration and commemoration of God's most significant work: his salvific death on the Cross and His Resurrection, through which death was defeated and the doors to Heaven opened.
The entrance antiphon for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is: "We should glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, for he is our salvation, our life and our resurrection: through him we are saved and made free."
Wish you a happy feast of
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Have a great blessed day.
Fr. Nicholas Macedon OCD
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