September
14
This
feast is a yearly commemoration of the erection, at Jerusalem, by
Constantine the Great, and his mother, Saint Helena, of the cross on
which Christ died. This took place under the Emperor Heraclius, by
whom the holy cross, which Khosroo, King of Persia, had carried into
his own conntry, was, after fourteen years, recovered, brought back
to Jerusalem, and borne by the emperor himself to the hill of
Calvary, whither it had been borne by the Saviour. Upon this occasion
a miracle occurred. As Heraclins was about to carry the cross to the
proper place on his shoulders, out of veneration for it, he found
that while wearing the imperial dress he could not move it, until, by
the advice of the patriarch Zachary, he laid aside his royal
ornaments, dressed himself plainly, took off his shoes, and in such
manner made himself like the humble Saviour. Introit of the Mass:
"But
it behooves us to glory in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, in
Whom is our salvation, life, and resurrection."
Prayer:
O God, Who on this day givest us joy by the annual solemnity of the
exaltation of the holy cross, grant, we beseech Thee, that we may
deserve the reward of His redemption in heaven Whose mystery we have
known upon earth. through the same Lord Jesus Christ, etc. Amen.
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