The Catholic Church, many Protestant churches and the Orthodox Church celebrate the liturgical holiday ofExaltation of the Holy Crosson September 14, the anniversary of the finding of the true cross by Sant’Elena (14 September 320), mother of Emperor Constantine, and of the consecration of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem (335). According to tradition, Sant’Elena would bring a part of the cross to Rome, in what will become the Basilica of Santa Croce in Jerusalem, and a part remained in Jerusalem. Bottino dei Persiani in 614, it was later reported triumphantly in the Holy City.
In the Eucharistic celebration of this day The liturgical color is red, the color of the passion of Jesus which recalls precisely the Holy Cross and which is also used on Good Friday day during which the Catholic faithful perform the adoration of the cross. In the East this party, in importance, is compared to that of Easter.
Vasiliy Sazonov, Emperor Costantino and Sant’Elena present the Holy Cross
What is the meaning of this celebration?
The cross, already a sign of the most terrible among the torture, is for the Christian the tree of life, the thalamus, the throne, the altar of the new alliance. From Christ, new Adam asleep on the cross, the admirable sacrament of the whole church has arisen. The cross is the sign of the Lordship of Christ on those who in baptism are configured to him in death and glory. In the tradition of fathers the cross is the sign of the son of the man who will appear at the end of the time. The feast of the exaltation of the cross, which in the East is compared to that of Easter, connects with the dedication of the Constantinian basilicas built on the Golgotha and the sepulcher of Christ (Roman Missal).
The same evangelization, made by the apostles, is the simple presentation of “Christ Crucifix”. The Christian, accepting this truth, “is crucified with Christ”, that is, he must bring his cross daily, enduring insults and suffering, like Christ, burdened by the weight of the “patibulum” (the transverse arm of the cross, which the condemned led to the shoulders until the place of the torture where the vertical pole was stable permanently), was forced to expose himself to the insults of the people on the way to the way to the way to the way to the way to the way to the way to the way to the way to the way to the way to the way to the way to the way to the way to the way to the way to the way to the way to the way Golgota. The suffering they reproduce in the mystical body of the Church the state of death of Christ are a contribution to the redemption of men, and ensure participation in the glory of the Risen One.
history
Over the centuries, this holiday also included the commemoration of recovery by the Emperor Heraclius of the true cross from the hands of the Persians in 628. In the Welsh custom, starting from the seventh century, the feast of the cross was held on May 3. When the Welsh and Roman practices combined, the September date took on the official name of Triumph of the cross In 1963, and was used to commemorate the conquest of the Cross by the Persians, and the date in May was maintained as Discovery of the Holy Cross, commonly called Invention of the cross.
In the West we often refer to September 14 as the day of the Holy Cross; The holiday in May was removed from the liturgical calendar of the Roman rite following the reforms of the Missale Romanum operated under Giovanni XXIII in 1960/1962.
The Orthodox Church still commemorates both events, one on September 14, representing one of the twelve great holidays of the liturgical year, and the other on August 1st in which the Procession of the venerable wood of the crossthe day when the relics of the true cross were transported to the streets of Constantinople to bless the city. In addition to the celebrations on fixed days, there are a few days of the mobile holidays in which the particular memory of the Holy Cross is done.
The Catholic Church performs the liturgical adoration of the cross during the celebrations of Good Fridaywhile the Orthodox Church celebrates a further veneration of the cross on the third Sunday of the great Lent. In all Greek Orthodox churches, during Holy Thursday, a copy of the cross is brought to procession so that people can venerate it.
Popular traditions in Italy. From the holy nail of Milan to Lucca
Many popular celebrations in Italy including the Nivola rite and the procession of Holy Chiodo, preserved in the Cathedral of Milan, e Luminara of Lucca.
The particular emphasis with which the party is celebrated in this city is due to the millennial cult of the Holy face of Lucca, the great wooden crucifix revered in the cathedral who ended up dirtying the official patrons of the city, San Martino and San Paolino di Lucca. Such occasions did not provide, as in traditional processions, the transport of the venerated image, but a real procession of tribute that went ceremonially in front of the image.
The current procession is therefore the last testimony of an ancient custom widespread in all the major cities of the Middle Ages in which the subjects subject committed themselves, at the time of submission, to bring a tribute of wax, in times when beeswax was a luxury article; The amount of wax was also generally established in the dedication pacts, depending on the possibilities of the offerer. This offer was presented in a solemn form, once a year, to the feast of the patron saint of the Aegemone city. However, this wax was not immediately turned on, but preserved to provide for the lighting of the simulacrum for the following year.
