Today September 14

Today is the feast of the exaltation of the Holy Cross, commonly called "Holy Cross Day." This commemorates several events, depending on whether you are primarily Eastern or Western. In the East, we are told, it actually commemorates the finding of the Cross itself (traditionally by St. Helena), and the dedication (by Constantine) of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the 2nd century. In the West, it commemorates the return of the Holy Cross from the Persians (who stole it) by Emperor Heraclius in 629. They (the pieces of the Cross) were still locked up tight in the (valuable) silver cross-shaped case. Heraclius unlocked them and tried to carry them back into Jerusalem and was surprisingly unable. His holy man, Zachary, said the pomp of his dress was hardly in keeping with Our Lord's original carrying of the Cross. So, the emperor stripped off his robes and his shoes, his crown and his jewelry, put on a simple peasant's outfit and carried the Cross barefoot to the church. The relics were then lifted up (exalted) for the people, who looked on them with devotion and thanksgiving, and many were cured.

We adore you O Christ and we bless you /
Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

And just a note on the True Cross. Some wags have said that if all the pieces of the Cross that were merely claimed to be the True one were collected, it would be larger than the original! Not true. As Frank Sheed has documented, if all the slivers of the True Cross that we know about (and are claimed) were put together, we'd have a cube of wood no bigger than about 6 inches square. So, no, nowhere NEAR bigger than the original.