The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
In Exaltatione Sanctae Crucis
This feast exalts the holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, the instrument of our redemption, and recalls the recovery and triumph of the sacred wood on which the Saviour of the world won our salvation.
On the fourteenth of September the Church keeps the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, lifting up for the veneration of the faithful that sacred sign by which we were redeemed. The Cross, once an instrument of shame and death, has become through the Passion of our Lord the throne of His triumph, the tree of life, and the glory of the Christian people; and on this day the Church bids us glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, our life, and our resurrection.
The triumph of the Cross
Two historical occasions are joined to this feast. The first is the finding of the true Cross at Jerusalem in the fourth century, in the time of the Emperor Constantine, and the dedication there of the great basilica raised over the holy places of the Lord’s Passion and Resurrection. The second, from which the title of the day is especially drawn, is the recovery of the sacred wood in the seventh century: the relic of the Cross, which had been carried off when Jerusalem was taken by a foreign power, was regained by the Emperor Heraclius and restored in solemn triumph to the holy city, where it was once more raised up — exalted — for the veneration of the faithful.
Yet the feast looks beyond these events to the mystery they enshrine. The Church exalts the Cross not for the sake of the wood alone, but because upon it hung the salvation of the world. By the Cross our Lord destroyed death and restored life; by the Cross the gates of heaven were opened; and the Cross, planted in the heart of the Christian, is the source of grace, the pledge of victory over sin, and the way by which the disciple follows his Master. As the Apostle teaches, the word of the Cross is the power of God; and the faithful are called to take up their cross daily and to find in it, paradoxically, not defeat but glory.
The feast
The keeping of this feast on the fourteenth of September is of great antiquity, rooted in the dedication of the Jerusalem basilica and the veneration of the holy Cross in that city. It is celebrated throughout the Church as a feast of our Lord, in the red vestments of the Passion, and it draws the faithful to adore the crucified Christ and to give thanks for the redemption wrought upon the tree.
The collect of the feast recalls that God willed His Only-begotten Son to undergo the Cross to save mankind from the power of the enemy, and prays that we who keep the mystery of the holy Cross may obtain the grace of His redemption. In exalting the Cross, the Church exalts the love of God made manifest in the suffering of His Son.
The Collect
O God, who on this day dost gladden us by the yearly solemnity of the Exaltation of the holy Cross: grant, we beseech thee, that we who have known its mystery upon earth may be found worthy to obtain the rewards of the redemption it wrought in heaven.
Deus, qui nos hódierna die Exaltátiónis sanctæ Crucis ánnua sollemnitáte lætíficas: præsta, quæsumus; ut, cuius mystérium in terra cognóvimus, eius redemptiónis præmia in cælo cónsequi mereámur.
Patronage
The feast honours the holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, the instrument of the world’s redemption.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar this feast is observed on the same day, 14 September.
Common Questions
When is the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross?
It is kept on 14 September in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Second Class feast, and likewise on 14 September in the modern calendar, where it is observed as a Feast of the Lord. The date is unchanged.
What does this feast celebrate?
It exalts the holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, the instrument of our redemption. The feast joins two historical occasions — the finding of the true Cross at Jerusalem in the fourth century and its recovery and solemn restoration by the Emperor Heraclius in the seventh — and looks beyond them to the mystery of the Cross by which Christ won our salvation.
Why does the Church venerate the Cross?
Once an instrument of shame and death, the Cross became through the Passion of Christ the throne of His triumph and the tree of life. The Church venerates it not for the wood alone but because upon it hung the salvation of the world: by the Cross death was destroyed, life was restored, and heaven was opened.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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