Feast of Exaltation of the Holy Cross:

14 September

"For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The feast commemorates two events pertaining to the True Cross since its discovery in the year 326 by St. Helena. According to legend, in the year 326, St. Helena, mother of the emperor Constantine visited the Holy Land in the hope of finding the Holy Cross on which Jesus was crucified. She discovered three crosses at the crucifixion site. A gravely ill woman was brought to the site and when the woman touched the third cross, she was instantly healed. It was taken as a Divine confirmation that it was indeed the Cross on which Jesus was crucified. She built a church called the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at the very site where Jesus was crucified and it was dedicated by Emperor Constantine on September 14 in the year 335. The Holy Cross was put in a silver reliquary and entrusted to Marcarius, the then Bishop of Jerusalem. From then on as a practice, the relic was periodically exhibited to the faithful.

In the year 627, the Persians conquered the city of Jerusalem and took the True Cross alongwith them. The Emperor Heraclius I of Constantinople resolved to win back the True Cross and went into battle with the Persians and won back the Holy Cross. As a mark of thanksgiving for the victory in the battle, he decided to personally go to Jerusalem and return the Holy Cross. Legend has it that when he reached the Holy City, he placed the relic on his shoulders and as an act of penance decided to carry it right up to Calvary. But when he came to the gate leading out to Calvary, he couldn’t move forward. Just then, he was reminded by the Patriach of Jerusalem Zacharias of how inappropriate his attire of royal clothing adorned in gold and precious jewels were. He quickly abandoned his imperial clothing and wore a poor man’s tunic and that very instant he was able to move forward. Several miraculous healings were reported as he walked up to Calvary and handed over his most precious burden, the True Cross back to where it belonged. The memory of the reinstallation of the True Cross in Jerusalem is celebrated in the Church as the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

Thus there are two incidents that are commemorated on September 14, both pertaining to the Holy Cross on which Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was crucified.