On Tuesday and Wednesday, the 6th and 7th of May Vespers, vigil, mass and processions took place at the Holy Sepulchre, devoted to the Holy Cross. In the rupestrian Chapel of the Discovery of the Holy Cross, the Custos of the Holy Land, with several of his brothers and many of the faithful recalled the meaning of this discovery. The word “invention” (this feast is sometimes called the Invention of the Holy Cross) comes from the Latin invenire, which has the sense of discovery rather than of creation something new.
According to historical sources, it was Helena, the mother of the emperor Constantine I who discovered the Jesus’ cross during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 326. The importance of the discovery gave rise to the feast day. Later, by order of Constantine an annual celebration was declared to be called the Exaltation of the Cross; it is still celebrated today on September 14th. This latter holiday is the one that has endured in Europe, eclipsing the solemnity of the Discovery of the Holy Cross. In the Holy Land, however, at the site of the discovery, the feast has not fallen from attention. “Even during the Ottoman period in the 15th century, when the Holy Sepulchre was closed, the doors were exceptionally opened for this feast of the Holy Cross,” explains Fra Stéphane. In commemoration of that solemn opening, the doors of the basilica were opened on Tuesday afternoon for the Franciscans.
With so many pilgrims trying to trace the history of the cross being faced with many, many relics throughout the world, the Custos of the Holy Land directed his Wednesday morning homily to the meaning of this search. He invited us to look at the example of Saint Helena’s tenacity and faith. Before a large, silent crowd of people sitting on the stairs that lead to the chapel, he explained, “This celebration reminds us that the mystery of God must always be sought and found. The disciple of Christ is the person who agrees to enter into this dynamic of seeking, finding, losing… losing oneself and beginning again.”
“The verb to seek is often used in the Bible,” he added. “It refers to a double movement: man who seeks God, but also God who never stops calling for man. In fact, mankind would still be hidden in the Garden of Eden, if God had not called to Adam, saying, ‘Where are you?’ In this way, the Christian is someone who accepts that the mystery of God is not reduced to man only, but surpasses his size and his limits.”
The Custos looked again at the meaning of this seeking the Cross today. First he warned against the danger of reducing “Christian spirituality to a life of sacrifice”. Although on Good Friday the Christ’s Cross is a cross of tears, afterwards it is celebrated in the light of the resurrection. As the friars intoned several times during the mass, Crucem sanctam subiit, qui internum confregit: accinctus est potentia; that is, “He bore the Holy Cross that broke the power of hell, he was girded with power.”
“This is a new understanding of the meaning of the Cross, inviting us to make Easter the determining element of our history and universal history,” the Custos concluded, once again inviting the faithful to let themselves be found
According to historical sources, it was Helena, the mother of the emperor Constantine I who discovered the Jesus’ cross during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 326. The importance of the discovery gave rise to the feast day. Later, by order of Constantine an annual celebration was declared to be called the Exaltation of the Cross; it is still celebrated today on September 14th. This latter holiday is the one that has endured in Europe, eclipsing the solemnity of the Discovery of the Holy Cross. In the Holy Land, however, at the site of the discovery, the feast has not fallen from attention. “Even during the Ottoman period in the 15th century, when the Holy Sepulchre was closed, the doors were exceptionally opened for this feast of the Holy Cross,” explains Fra Stéphane. In commemoration of that solemn opening, the doors of the basilica were opened on Tuesday afternoon for the Franciscans.
With so many pilgrims trying to trace the history of the cross being faced with many, many relics throughout the world, the Custos of the Holy Land directed his Wednesday morning homily to the meaning of this search. He invited us to look at the example of Saint Helena’s tenacity and faith. Before a large, silent crowd of people sitting on the stairs that lead to the chapel, he explained, “This celebration reminds us that the mystery of God must always be sought and found. The disciple of Christ is the person who agrees to enter into this dynamic of seeking, finding, losing… losing oneself and beginning again.”
“The verb to seek is often used in the Bible,” he added. “It refers to a double movement: man who seeks God, but also God who never stops calling for man. In fact, mankind would still be hidden in the Garden of Eden, if God had not called to Adam, saying, ‘Where are you?’ In this way, the Christian is someone who accepts that the mystery of God is not reduced to man only, but surpasses his size and his limits.”
The Custos looked again at the meaning of this seeking the Cross today. First he warned against the danger of reducing “Christian spirituality to a life of sacrifice”. Although on Good Friday the Christ’s Cross is a cross of tears, afterwards it is celebrated in the light of the resurrection. As the friars intoned several times during the mass, Crucem sanctam subiit, qui internum confregit: accinctus est potentia; that is, “He bore the Holy Cross that broke the power of hell, he was girded with power.”
“This is a new understanding of the meaning of the Cross, inviting us to make Easter the determining element of our history and universal history,” the Custos concluded, once again inviting the faithful to let themselves be found