The Exaltation of The Holy Cross!

The Exaltation of The Holy Cross!

On September 14th, we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. This year it falls on Sunday, so we all get the opportunity to celebrate this beautiful feast. The early Christians faced persecution. The Edict of Milan,  issued in 313, granted religious freedom across the Roman Empire. This was a mutual agreement between Roman Emperors Constantine I in the West and Licinius in the East.

In 326, Constantine’s mother, Saint Helena, a devout Christian, embarked on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to identify significant sites from Christ’s life and establish churches at those locations. Until then, there was little established in the way of shrines and churches at the places where Jesus had lived, walked, preached, performed miracles, and especially where he suffered his Passion, Death, and Resurrection. When Saint Helena identified Mount Calvary and the empty tomb, she discovered three discarded and buried crosses. After an investigation, the local bishop confirmed they were the crosses used to crucify Jesus and the two thieves. Since Helena did not know which cross was Christ’s, she arranged for a sick woman to touch all three. The woman was immediately healed upon touching one of them, indicating that it was the True Cross. Then she built a church over the sites of Mount Calvary and Jesus’ tomb, known as the Holy Sepulchre. In 2014, I had the opportunity to go on a pilgrimage and visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. There is a small church located inside the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus' tomb is believed to be.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was erected and dedicated on September 13, 335. As the legend goes, the following day, Christ’s Cross was brought outside the newly built church for the faithful to venerate. Thus, the first showing, or Exaltation of the Holy Cross, might have occurred on September 14, 335. Over the next three centuries, because liturgical celebrations were not widely centralized, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was likely celebrated annually in Jerusalem, and its observance varied in other ecclesiastical jurisdictions.

In 614, the Persians invaded Jerusalem and took the True Cross as a trophy. The Persians, primarily followers of the ancient Zoroastrian religion, were not Christians. Eight years later, in 622, Eastern Roman Emperor Heraclius initiated military campaigns to recapture Jerusalem and the True Cross. Finally, in 628, he triumphed, and the following year, Emperor Heraclius entered Jerusalem with the True Cross, restoring it to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. After that, the Feast of the Holy Cross became a universal celebration within the Church, starting in Rome and subsequently spreading throughout the entire empire, and has been celebrated annually on September 14 ever since.

The first reading from the Book of Numbers (21:4-9) describes how God healed the complaining Israelites by means of the brazen serpent. In this event, the Israelites were bitten by serpents in the desert after having challenged Moses and complained to God. Once they recognized their sin, God instructed Moses to hang a bronze serpent on a pole, and those who looked at it received healing. This snake on a pole is “raised up”, like Jesus will be raised up in the future.

In the Gospel passage from John (3:13-17), Jesus refers back to the book of Numbers as answering the question raised by Nicodemus. Jesus cites the example of how, when the Israelites were in the desert, the impaled brazen serpent (representing the healing power of God), which God commanded Moses to raise, saved from death the Israelites bitten by serpents who looked at it (Nm 21:4-9). Then Jesus explains how He will save the world by dying on the cross. The second reading (Phil 2:6-11) reminds us that Jesus, “… humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” St. Andrew of Crete wrote, “The cross stands for his suffering because on it he freely suffered unto death. But also his trophy because it was the means by which the devil was wounded and death conquered: the barred gates of hell were smashed and the cross became the one common salvation of the whole world.”

The Cross of Christ reminds us of God’s love for us. It transforms us and makes us new. First and foremost, this happens when we open ourselves to the infinite mercy of God flowing from that selfless Sacrifice. It also occurs when we allow every one of our sufferings, the injustices we endure, the crosses, hardships, and most undesirable aspects of our lives to share in the redemptive power of Christ. Last Sunday, we meditated on the Gospel of Luke. Jesus said, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple” (14:27). When we  embrace Jesus’ commands to share in His sufferings, unite them with His own, and allow Him to bear an abundance of good fruit through us.

Note: Please remember to register for the Parish Mission on September 21st and 22nd. Also, could you consider inviting your friends and family to join you?