Exaltation of the Holy Cross
It is celebrated on September 14.
The Church, on the day of the exaltation of the Holy Cross, celebrates the veneration of the relics of the Cross of Christ in Jerusalem, after being recovered from the hands of the Persians by Emperor Heraclitus.
According to history, upon recovering the precious wood, the emperor wanted to carry a cross, as Christ had done through the city, but as soon as he put the wood on his shoulder and tried to enter a sacred precinct, he was unable to do so and was paralyzed. . Patriarch Zacharias, who was at his side, told him that all that imperial splendor was at odds with the humble and sorrowful appearance of Christ when he was carrying the cross through the streets of Jerusalem. Then the emperor stripped off his imperial attire, and with simple clothes, he advanced without difficulty followed by all the people until he left the cross in the place where it was previously venerated.
The fragments of the Holy Cross were found in the silver chest in which the Persians had taken them, and when the patriarch and the clerics opened the chest, all the faithful venerated the relics with great fervor, even producing many miracles. .
The largest fragment of the Cross of Christ is found in the Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana (Cantabria, Spain), where it is venerated by tens of thousands of faithful each year.
We remember the Holy Cross with great affection and veneration because our Redeemer Jesus Christ died on it, and with the five wounds that he suffered there, Christ paid our immense debts to God and obtained our salvation.
It happened to San Antonio Abad (year 300, feast on January 17) that the devil attacked him with terrible temptations and they say that one day, anguished by so many attacks, it occurred to him to make the sign of the Cross, and the devil walked away . From then on, every time diabolical attacks came to him, the saint made the sign of the cross and the enemy fled. And they say that then began the custom of making the sign of the cross to get rid of evil.
Of a great saint it is narrated that frightful temptations of sadness began to reach her. She was disgusted by everything. She consulted with her spiritual director and he told her: “If you are not sick in the body, this sadness is a temptation from the devil.” She recommended the phrase from the book of Ecclesiasticus in the Holy Bible: “Sorrow does not produce any good fruit.” And she advised him: “Whenever sadness comes to you, make the sign of the cross very devoutly.” The saint herself began to notice that with her sign of the cross the spirit of sadness was being removed from her.
When Our Lady appeared for the first time to Saint Bernadette in Lourdes (Year 1859), when the girl saw the Virgin she wanted to make the sign of the cross. But when she reached out with her fingers in front of her face, she froze her hand. The Virgin then made of her She the sign of the cross very slowly from her forehead to her chest, and from her left shoulder to her right. And as soon as the Mother of God finished making the sign of the cross, the girl let go of her hand and she was able to do it too. And with this she understood that Our Lady had wanted to teach her a lesson: that it is necessary to cross ourselves more slowly and with more devotion.
Look at the people when they make the sign of the Cross. Observe, for example, the few soccer players who cross themselves on the field. How do you think that cross they make? Isn’t it true that it looks more like a doodle than a sign of the Cross? How will we make the sign of the Cross from now on?
As a reminder of this date of the exaltation of the Holy Cross, remember to make your sign of the Cross with more devotion and more slowly.
Below is a text by Rafael López-Melús, OCD, on the celebration of the exaltation of the Holy Cross.
Christianity is a message of love. Why then exalt the Cross? Furthermore, the Resurrection gives meaning to our lives, more than the Cross.
But there is the Cross, the scandal of the Cross, of Saint Paul. We would not have introduced the Cross. But God’s ways are different. The apostles rejected it. And so are we. When Clovodeo read the Passion he exclaimed: Ah, if only I had been there, with my Franks!
The Cross is the fruit of the freedom and love of Jesus. It wasn’t necessary. Jesus wanted her to show us his love and his solidarity with human suffering. To share our pain and make redeemer.
Jesus has not come to eliminate suffering: suffering will continue to be present among us. He has not come to explain it either: it will remain a mystery. He has come to accompany you with his presence.
In the presence of the pain and death of Jesus, the Holy, the Innocent, the Lamb of God, we cannot rebel against our suffering or against the suffering of the innocent, even though it remains a tremendous mystery.
Jesus, in full youth, is eliminated and accepts it to open paradise for us with the strength of his goodness: “In fullness of life and path he took the step towards death because he wanted it. Look, wide open, paradise, opened by the force of a Lamb” (Hymn of Lauds).
Throughout his life, Jesus did nothing but come down: in the Incarnation, in Bethlehem, in exile. Persecuted, humiliated, condemned. He only goes up to go to the Cross. And in it he is elevated, like the serpent in the desert, so that we can see him better, to attract us and give us hope. For Jesus does not save us from the outside, as if by magic, but by sharing our problems. Jesus is not on the Cross to indoctrinate us wildly, with words, but to share our pain in solidarity.
But the disciple is not of a better condition than the teacher, says Jesus. And he adds: “Whoever wants to come with me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” It is easy to follow Jesus in Bethlehem, on Tabor. How good we are here!, said Pedro. In Gethsemane he falls asleep, and then denies him.
”You don’t go to heaven today or twenty years from now. One leaves when one is poor and one is crucified” (Leon Bloy). “Climb to my Cross. I have not come down from it yet” (The Lord to John of the Cross). Let us not be afraid. The Cross is a plus sign, it enriches, it is not a minus sign. Suffering passes, having suffered-maturity acquired in the pain-never passes. The Cross is two sticks that intersect: if we accommodate our will to God’s, it weighs less. If we kiss the Cross of Jesus, let us kiss ours, a splinter of his.
The accepted Cross-not the one sought-has a great value… An oyster said to another oyster: “I feel a great pain inside me. It is heavy and round and it hurts me”. And the other oyster arrogantly replied: “Praised be the heavens and the sea. I feel no pain inside me. I feel good and intact.” A passing crab heard them and said to the one that was fine and intact: “Yes, you feel fine, but the pain of the other is a beautiful pearl.”
It is the ambiguity of pain. He who does not suffer, remains immature. He who accepts it, it is sanctified. Who rejects it, embitters and rebels.
How few are those who love the Cross of Christ.
By Thomas a Kempis, from the book Imitation of Christ
Second book: Of interior conversion
From Love to the Holy Cross of Christ.
1. Jesus Christ now has many lovers of his heavenly kingdom, but very few who carry his cross.
It has many who want consolation, and very few who want tribulation.
Many companions find for the table, and few for abstinence.
Everyone wants to enjoy with Him, but few want to suffer something for Him.
Many follow Jesus until the breaking of the bread, but few until drinking the chalice of the passion.
Many honor his miracles, but few follow the reproach of the cross.
Many love Jesus when there are no adversities.
Many praise and bless him in the time that they receive from him some consolations: but if Jesus hid himself and left them a little, then they would complain or despair a lot.
2. But those who love Jesus, for Jesus himself, and not for any consolation of his own, bless him in all tribulation and anguish of heart, as well as in consolation.
And even if he never wanted to console them again, they would always praise him and want to thank him.
3. Oh! How much can the pure love of Jesus without the mixture of his own benefit or love!
Can’t those who are always looking for consolations properly be called mercenaries?
Do they not love themselves more than Christ, who continually think of their profits and gains?
Where can one find such, who wants to serve God for nothing?
4. Rarely is anyone so spiritual, who is naked of all things.
For who will find the truly poor in spirit and naked from every creature?
It is priceless treasure and from distant lands.
If a man gives up his entire estate, it is still nothing.
If he did great penance, it is still little.
Even if he has all the knowledge, he is still far away: and if he has great virtue and very fervent devotion, he still has a long way to go; He lacks something that is most necessary to him.
And this, what is it? Let him leave all things, leave himself and go out of himself altogether, and have nothing left of self-love.
And when you have done everything you know you should do, still think you have done nothing.
5. Don’t take for granted that they may esteem you as great, but call yourself in truth a worthless servant, as Jesus Christ says.
When you have done everything that is commanded you, still say: We are servants without profit.
And so you can be poor and naked in spirit, and say with the prophet: Because I am only one and poor.
There is still none richer, none more powerful, none more free, than the one who knows how to leave himself and everything, and put himself in the lowest place.
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