A blessed and happy Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
“We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your cross you have redeemed the world.” (St. Francis of Assisi)
O God, who willed that your Only Begotten Son should undergo the Cross to save the human race, grant, we pray, that we, who have known his mystery on earth, may merit the grace of his redemption in heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(Collect prayer of today’s Mass)
“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:14-17)
The Exaltation of the Cross stems from the truth that “apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven” (Saint Rose of Lima). Christ won our salvation on the cross, redeeming us from sin and meriting all the graces we continue to receive through the sacraments. Exalting the holy cross each year encourages us in the midst of our own sufferings, assuring us that suffering is a sign not that God has abandoned us but that we are being invited into closer union with our Savior. This is why “Christians see themselves as a people under the sign of the cross. It is the sign of their salvation; it is their ensign, their banner, their cover, their plea, and their glory” (Thomas Howard). (Magnificat, September 14, 2024)