“The cross is not only an event, it is our way of life and above all of our life here, in this land. It is our way of life, our way of loving, of giving life, of obeying and of being poor; it is the secret of our peace, it is our forgiveness, it is our freedom and it is our joy. And if this is missing then we fall back into slavery, which is the slavery of obeying ourselves.”
What does the solemnity of Inventio Crucis tell us here today?
In the words of the Father Custos of the Holy Land, Brother Pierbattista Pizzaballa, this is the reminder to find the cross again, to let Christ reign over the lives of each one of us. The Rediscovery of the Cross, which is commemorated in Jerusalem on 7th May every year, is traditionally attributed to St. Helena. In the first half of the 4th century, the mother of the Emperor Constantine came to the Holy Places as a pilgrim. Not far from Calvary, legend has it that she found three crosses and asked the Lord for a sign so that she could recognize the one on which Christ had been crucified. Next to one of them, the miracle of a dead man who came back to life was the answer that Helena was looking for.
Today, many centuries later, this land continues to remember the Rediscovery of that Cross which had been lost and which had to be sought and found again.
Friday afternoon, solemn procession and Vespers
The place of the Rediscovery of the Cross is at the lowest point of the old stone quarry where the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre now stands. It is reached by going down steps from the Chapel dedicated to St. Helena. There is a small altar, with on its right a gate that marks the place of the inventio.
In this land, where “here” is so important because every stone is cloaked in memory, the place marked by tradition as that where the Cross of Christ was found becomes the centre of celebration for these two days. In the crypt, the Friday afternoon procession – which followed the solemn entrance of the Custos and was concluded by going round the Empty Tomb three times – stopped for Solemn Vespers.
The procession of this vigil was distinguished by the verses of “Vexilla Regis”, the hymn that is sung on Calvary, in the place of the Crucifixion. It is only on the commemoration of the Inventio, that some of the words addressing the Holy Cross change, “electa digno stipite, tam sancta membra tangere”, chosen to bear such a holy body.
Saturday morning the Solemn Mass presided by the Father Custos
The place of the Inventio Crucis, just before 9.30 a.m. on this solemn Saturday, welcomes the arrival of the friars of the Custody with the celebrants in red vestments. They make their way in the crypt through the pilgrims crowding the stone steps. All eyes are on the relic of the Cross, which later – at the close of the celebration he presided – the Custos will take in the triple procession around the place of the Anàstasis and then offer it to the kiss of devotion of all those present.
In his homily, Father Pizzaballa recalls the symbolic value of this feast-day - the cross as a “way of life”, the cross that “opens up all the mystery of man, without leaving anything outside” and must be rediscovered to rediscover oneself – but also the historical mystery. The miracle that allowed the True Cross to be recognized and which tells us that “where death was overcome, only life can flourish.” And that woman who came to the Holy Places many centuries ago, to whom tradition attributes the gift of the Rediscovery.
“In every event linked to salvation there is something similar to a woman’s heart. Or, more in general, it has something similar to the heart: the door to enter it is that of love, passion and the audacity to follow not the path of calculation and reasoning, but that of compassion and sentiment. The cross cannot be understood; it is something to become fond of, to fall in love with, to be amazed by, to be moved by, to be attracted by and to contemplate.”
By Serena Picariello
Photos by Marco Gavasso
Celebration of the night vigil
In the middle of the night, the friars of St. Saviour went to the Basilica of the Resurrection accompanying the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa for the pontifical celebration of the vigil. Other religious and faithful were waiting in the chapel of the Apparition. The procession with the relic of the Holy Cross started from here and reached the place where it was rediscovered to the singing of “Vexilla regis”.
The “Oremus” of this liturgy shows the spiritual and poetic composition of the great solemnities: “Do not allow evil to invade the whole earth; as all the weight of human nature has been given as an inheritance to Christ your Son who has taken it with his humanity into the breast of the Virgin Mary. Allow us to live in him, because we are, each for his part, his limbs. Make us serve him with fear, God Our Father, and allow us to obtain the reward of beatitude.”
The account of the rediscovery of the Holy Cross by St. Helena, taken from the History of the Church by St. Rufinus, was read during the officiation. As at other important vigils, it was the Father Custos himself who presided the liturgy, reading the Holy Gospel.
Whilst the “Te Deum” was being sung, the celebrant burned incense on the spot of the rediscovery, marked by a simple stone placed below the lowest rock of the stone quarry holding the chapel.
By Riccardo Ceriani
In the words of the Father Custos of the Holy Land, Brother Pierbattista Pizzaballa, this is the reminder to find the cross again, to let Christ reign over the lives of each one of us. The Rediscovery of the Cross, which is commemorated in Jerusalem on 7th May every year, is traditionally attributed to St. Helena. In the first half of the 4th century, the mother of the Emperor Constantine came to the Holy Places as a pilgrim. Not far from Calvary, legend has it that she found three crosses and asked the Lord for a sign so that she could recognize the one on which Christ had been crucified. Next to one of them, the miracle of a dead man who came back to life was the answer that Helena was looking for.
Today, many centuries later, this land continues to remember the Rediscovery of that Cross which had been lost and which had to be sought and found again.
Friday afternoon, solemn procession and Vespers
The place of the Rediscovery of the Cross is at the lowest point of the old stone quarry where the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre now stands. It is reached by going down steps from the Chapel dedicated to St. Helena. There is a small altar, with on its right a gate that marks the place of the inventio.
In this land, where “here” is so important because every stone is cloaked in memory, the place marked by tradition as that where the Cross of Christ was found becomes the centre of celebration for these two days. In the crypt, the Friday afternoon procession – which followed the solemn entrance of the Custos and was concluded by going round the Empty Tomb three times – stopped for Solemn Vespers.
The procession of this vigil was distinguished by the verses of “Vexilla Regis”, the hymn that is sung on Calvary, in the place of the Crucifixion. It is only on the commemoration of the Inventio, that some of the words addressing the Holy Cross change, “electa digno stipite, tam sancta membra tangere”, chosen to bear such a holy body.
Saturday morning the Solemn Mass presided by the Father Custos
The place of the Inventio Crucis, just before 9.30 a.m. on this solemn Saturday, welcomes the arrival of the friars of the Custody with the celebrants in red vestments. They make their way in the crypt through the pilgrims crowding the stone steps. All eyes are on the relic of the Cross, which later – at the close of the celebration he presided – the Custos will take in the triple procession around the place of the Anàstasis and then offer it to the kiss of devotion of all those present.
In his homily, Father Pizzaballa recalls the symbolic value of this feast-day - the cross as a “way of life”, the cross that “opens up all the mystery of man, without leaving anything outside” and must be rediscovered to rediscover oneself – but also the historical mystery. The miracle that allowed the True Cross to be recognized and which tells us that “where death was overcome, only life can flourish.” And that woman who came to the Holy Places many centuries ago, to whom tradition attributes the gift of the Rediscovery.
“In every event linked to salvation there is something similar to a woman’s heart. Or, more in general, it has something similar to the heart: the door to enter it is that of love, passion and the audacity to follow not the path of calculation and reasoning, but that of compassion and sentiment. The cross cannot be understood; it is something to become fond of, to fall in love with, to be amazed by, to be moved by, to be attracted by and to contemplate.”
By Serena Picariello
Photos by Marco Gavasso
Celebration of the night vigil
In the middle of the night, the friars of St. Saviour went to the Basilica of the Resurrection accompanying the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa for the pontifical celebration of the vigil. Other religious and faithful were waiting in the chapel of the Apparition. The procession with the relic of the Holy Cross started from here and reached the place where it was rediscovered to the singing of “Vexilla regis”.
The “Oremus” of this liturgy shows the spiritual and poetic composition of the great solemnities: “Do not allow evil to invade the whole earth; as all the weight of human nature has been given as an inheritance to Christ your Son who has taken it with his humanity into the breast of the Virgin Mary. Allow us to live in him, because we are, each for his part, his limbs. Make us serve him with fear, God Our Father, and allow us to obtain the reward of beatitude.”
The account of the rediscovery of the Holy Cross by St. Helena, taken from the History of the Church by St. Rufinus, was read during the officiation. As at other important vigils, it was the Father Custos himself who presided the liturgy, reading the Holy Gospel.
Whilst the “Te Deum” was being sung, the celebrant burned incense on the spot of the rediscovery, marked by a simple stone placed below the lowest rock of the stone quarry holding the chapel.
By Riccardo Ceriani