True Cross

According to Christian tradition, the True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was crucified. According to medieval legend, the True Cross was built from the Tree of Jesse (father of King David), which became identified with the Tree of Life that had grown in the Garden of Eden.

Veneration of the Cross

St John Chrysostom wrote homilies on the three crosses:

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:"Kings removing their diadems take up the cross, the symbol of their Saviour's death; on the purple, the cross; in their prayers, the cross; on their armour, the cross; on the holy table, the cross; throughout the universe, the cross. The cross shines brighter than the sun."

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The Roman Catholic Church, many Protestant denominations (most notably those with Anglican origins), and the Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14, the anniversary of the dedication of Constantine's Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In later centuries, these celebrations also included commemoration of the rescue of the True Cross from the Persians in 628. In the Gallician usage, beginning about the seventh century, the Feast of the Cross was celebrated on May 3. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, when the Gallician and Roman practices were combined, the September date, for which the Vatican adopted the official name "Triumph of the Cross" in 1963, was used to commemorate the rescue from the Persians and the May date was kept as the "Invention of the True Cross" to commemorate the finding. (Note: the term "Invention" is from the Latin invenire, to find, and should not be understood in the modern sense of creating something new.) The September date is often referred to in the West as Holy Cross Day; the May date was dropped from the liturgical calendar by the Second Vatican Council in 1970. (See also Roodmas.) The Orthodox still commemorate both events on September 14, one of the twelve Great Feasts of the liturgical year, and the Procession of the Venerable Wood of the Cross on August 1st, the day on which the relics of the True Cross would be carried through the streets of Constantinople to bless the city .

Related Topics:
Roman Catholic Church - Protestant - Anglican - Eastern Orthodox - Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross - September 14 - Persians - 628 - Gallician - May 3 - 1963 - Latin - Holy Cross Day - Second Vatican Council - 1970 - Roodmas - Liturgical year - August 1

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In addition to celebrations on fixed days, there are certain days of the variable cycle when the Cross in celebrated. The Roman Catholic Church has a formal Adoration of the Cross during the services for Good Friday, while the Orthodox celebrate an additional Veneration of the Cross on the third Sunday of Great Lent. In Greek Orthodox churches everywhere, a replica of the cross is brought out in procession on Holy Thursday for the people to venerate.

Related Topics:
Variable - Good Friday - Great Lent

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