Course 4, Chapter 49: Christianity visible. — Finding and Exaltation of the Holy Cross

1. What is the first festival established in honor of the cross V

That which Constantino caused to be established in memory of the miraculous cross which had appeared to him.

2. Was this a solemn festival?

From the commencement it was very solemn, but it became still more so when, in 326, St. Helena, the mother of Constantino, had found the cross of the Saviour. These two circumstances form but one feast, which we call the Finding of the Holy Cross, and is celebrated on the 3d of May.

(^. What is the second feast in honor of the cross?

406 CATECHISM OF PERSEVERANCE.

A . It is the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, established in the eighth century, to return thanks to God for the restoration of the true cross, which the Persians had carried away from Jerusalem.

3. How should we honor the cross?

We should honor it by meditating often on the lesson which it teaches us; placing it conspicuously in our houses; carrying it on our persons; saluting ft whenever we pass it, ahd making the sign of the cross with devotion on ourselves.

4. What is the Way of the Cross?

Literally speaking, it is the space over which the Saviour bore the burden of the cross, and which extended from Pilate's hall to the place of Calvary, where he was crucified. We here understand, by the way of the cross, a representation of that trodden by our Lord; and to render the representation more striking, pictures representing the stages of his passion are placed at short distances from one another.

5. Who established the Way of the Cross?

The Sovereign Pontiffs established it to afford Christians an opportunity of traveling in spirit that way which the Saviour traveled in reality, and to excite in their souls deep sentiments of love and compunction.

6. What are the fruits of this devotion?

1st, to dissipate the darkness of our understand ing; 2d, to touch our hearts; 3d, to aid us in meditating on the mysteries of the Passion.