Why we celebrate this central feast
By Roy Rasmussen | For On Mission
On September 14, American Catholics celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, honoring the instrument of our salvation. This annual feast commemorates events associated with the discovery of the True Cross, recalling the historical reality of Christ’s Crucifixion. Celebrating this feast gives us an opportunity to deepen our understanding of why and how we honor the Cross and to grow in our devotion to our Savior, who died upon it out of love for us.
Honoring the Cross dates back to Apostolic times (Gal 6:14), but the present feast emerged after St. Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, visited the Holy Land in 326. Earlier emperors had persecuted the Church and built a pagan temple over Christ’s tomb. Constantine authorized the bishop of Jerusalem, St. Macarius I, to replace the temple with a church, dedicated as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on September 14, 335, during Embertide.
In 351, St. Cyril of Jerusalem wrote to Constantine’s son, Constantius II, about how his father’s excavations had uncovered the original Cross, known as the True Cross. Cyril’s nephew, Gelasius of Caesarea, later described how St. Helena had discovered the Cross beneath the pagan temple.
The True Cross was divided between Jerusalem and Constantine, who also received the nails from the Crucifixion. Around 380, a pilgrim to the Holy Land named Egeria recorded that the bishop of Jerusalem brought the Cross out on Good Friday for worshipers to bow to, touch with their forehead and eyes, and kiss.
Deacons guarded the True Cross because someone had bitten off a piece to keep. St. Cyril recorded in 348 that pieces were already distributed throughout the known world, a trend perpetuated by relic collectors and wars. After recapturing the Jerusalem relic of the True Cross from the Sassanid Empire in 628, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius began elevating it at Constantinople on September 14. Honoring the Cross on September 14 (or September 13 or 27 on some calendars) has continued throughout Christendom to this day.
Why we honor the Cross
Catholic tradition honors the Cross as the instrument God used to save us from sin through Christ’s Passion. St. Thomas Aquinas identifies three ways Christ’s death brought forgiveness of sins:
- Through his death, Jesus demonstrated God’s merciful love for us, inspiring our love for him.
- By enduring death as a human being, Jesus took upon himself the punishment for sin humanity owed, paying the price to redeem us.
- By uniting his divine nature with human flesh and submitting to suffering and death, Jesus deployed his divine power to expel sin and its effects.
By doing this, the Cross became God’s means not only to forgive our sins but also to extend us grace to start earning eternal rewards for good deeds, or merit, as theologians call it. In a state of sin, we can’t earn anything but punishment, but because Christ’s Incarnation and Passion unite us with him in a state of grace, we can share in the merits he earned for humanity by doing the will of God.
We receive these gifts through the sacraments. Baptism unites us with Christ’s death and Resurrection, giving us new life free from sin. The Eucharist nourishes our life in Christ with his body that he sacrificed on the Cross and the blood he bled upon it.
Finally, the Cross shows us how to live in charity towards God and man. When we suffer by denying ourselves to do God’s will, we follow Jesus in taking up our personal cross to love God (Mt 16:24). And when we suffer for those we love, we imitate Jesus in laying down his life for his friends (Jn 15:13).
Adoration of True Cross vs. veneration of crosses
Some have wondered, when Catholics honor the Cross, how is this not idolatry? This question was addressed by the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 and later explored by St. Thomas Aquinas.
As St. Thomas explained, echoing St. Augustine, Catholic teaching distinguishes between worship reserved for God (adoration or latria) and lesser veneration given to saints (dulia, or hyperdulia in Mary’s case). Catholic tradition draws a further distinction between revering an image as a physical object and revering the reality the image represents, emphasizing that honor is directed to the reality behind the image. When we honor images of saints, we are actually directing veneration (dulia) toward the saint they represent. But the Cross is special in two ways, says St. Thomas:
- Images representing the Cross indirectly point our worship (latria) toward Jesus.
- Jesus bled upon the Cross, so we directly worship his Precious Blood upon the Cross.
This latter distinction informs how Catholics approach the Cross. In the presence of crosses which are merely representations of the True Cross, it is appropriate merely to bow or make another sign of devotion expressing latria toward Jesus through his representation. However, in the presence of a relic of the True Cross, it is appropriate to genuflect just as you would before the Eucharist, because the True Cross was soaked in the Precious Blood of Jesus. Similarly, priests incense True Cross relics three times, versus twice for other relics.
How to celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Ways to honor Christ on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross include:
- Attending Mass
- Honoring a Cross
- Meditating on the Cross during adoration
- Reading Scriptures about the Passion during lectio divina
- Praying the Sorrowful Mysteries
- Praying the Stations of the Cross
- Fasting
- Performing corporal or spiritual works of mercy
The Diocese of Green Bay hosts a relic of the True Cross on display in the Apparition Oratory at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion. The relic will be brought out before the 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday, September 14, 2025.