In the Christian liturgical calendar, there are several different feasts known as Feast of the Cross, all of which commemorate the cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus. While Good Friday is dedicated to the Passion of Christ and the Crucifixion, these days celebrate the cross itself, as the instrument of salvation.
The feast commemorates the finding of the True Cross in 326 by Saint Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine during a pilgrimage she made to Jerusalem,. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was then built at the site of the discovery, by order of Helena and Constantine. The church was dedicated nine years later, with a portion of the cross placed inside it. In 614, that portion of the cross was carried away from the church by the Persians, and remained missing until it was recaptured by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius in 628. The cross was returned to the church the following year after initially having been taken to Constantinople by Heraclius.
The date used for the feast marks the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 335. This was a two-day festival: although the actual Consecration of the church was on September 13, the cross itself was brought outside the church on September 14 so that the clergy and faithful could pray before the True Cross, and all could come forward to venerate it.
Spiritually, Christians honor in a special way the Cross, which God himself made and which he chose to be the altar of his redeeming sacrifice. IN today’s gospel, Jesus, who will speak to us about his elevation on the Cross of Calvary, first directs our thoughts to Heaven: he associates his elevation on the cross with his elevation into Heaven. Thus, he unites, in his discourse, the day of his death and that of his Ascension into Heaven. He does not want us to separate the entry of his soul into eternal bliss from the entry of his body into endless glory. He also does not want his voluntary humbling of himself on the Cross to be dissociated from his elevation to glory at the time of his victorious entry into Heaven.
Jesus was lifted up on the Cross in order that we might obtain eternal life. Now, we who believe in Christ and who follow him are the members of his Body7, as St. Paul wrote: “That is, through faith, and to the extent that we believe in Christ, we are united with Him: we are one body, of which he is the Head. So if the Head, he who walks ahead of the others and who leads them, underwent the trial of the Cross, how could those who are the members, and who follows the Head, avoid undergoing the Cross themselves?
It is impossible. We too much undergo the way of the Cross! The question we must ask ourselves is “Am I willing to do that?” Is that what we desire? Do we fully understand what was done by Jesus, who freely offered himself to undergo this infamous death? Does this not seem folly to us, the folly of the Cross of which St. Paul speaks? Certainly, all of this surpasses us, for it is a Mystery! So the Lord asks us to simply believe that this is the way that saves, that this is the door to Heaven.