Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Today we celebrate the cross, and it’s a very ancient feast. The name says two things at once: exaltation means both lifting up and showing. It comes from a rite performed in Jerusalem — the cross was raised before the people, who looked at it and venerated it — and that rite is still performed exactly the same way in the Byzantine liturgy today. The date of September 14 is tied to two events. The first is Saint Helena’s finding of the cross, which tradition places on September 14, 327. The second is the dedication, in 335, of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre built by Constantine: the consecration lasted several days, and on September 14 the relic was shown to the people. Then there’s a third episode that tradition ties to this day: in 628 the emperor Heraclius brought back to Jerusalem the cross that the Persians had carried off fourteen years earlier. The story goes that, wanting to enter the city in imperial robes, he couldn’t take a single step until he took off his crown and his shoes. In today’s Mass the liturgical color is red, as for the Passion. According to tradition, it’s also the day Francis of Assisi received the stigmata on La Verna, in 1224. If your name is Croce or Santa, today is your name day.