Mangaluru: Titular Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Celebrated at Cordel

Bellevision Media Network

Mangaluru, 16 Sep: Titular Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was celebrated at the Holy Cross Church, Cordel-Kulshekar on 14 and 15  September 2019. Vespers was observed on Saturday, 14 September at 5 pm with mass that was concelebrated by Fr. Vijay Machado, Director of Liturgy, Mangalajyothi, Mangalore Diocese as the chief celebrant along with Fr. Victor Machado, Parish Priest, Fr. Lawrence Cutinha-Assistant Parish Priest and Fr. Ashwin Cardoza-Resident Priest.

 

In his homily Fr. Vijay Machado highlighted the significance of the Word of God in the lives of every believer.

 

The solemn feast mass was celebrated on Sunday, 15 September. It was concelebrated by Fr. Valerian D’Souza-Resident of Senior Preists’ Home, Jeppu Mangaluru along with Fr. Alwyn Richard D’Souza-Assistant Director of St. Joseph’s Engineering College, Mangaluru,  Fr. Victor Machado, Fr. Lawrence Cutinha, Fr. Ashwin Cardoza and other priests.

 

Delivering the homily, Fr. Alwyn stressed on the importance of the Holy Cross.

 

The History of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Early in the fourth century, Saint Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem in search of the holy places of Christ’s life. She razed the second-century Temple of Aphrodite, which tradition held was built over the Savior’s tomb, and her son built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher on that spot. During the excavation, workers found three crosses. Legend has it that the one on which Jesus died was identified when its touch healed a dying woman.

 

The cross immediately became an object of veneration. At a Good Friday celebration in Jerusalem toward the end of the fourth century, according to an eyewitness, the wood was taken out of its silver container and placed on a table together with the inscription Pilate ordered placed above Jesus’ head: Then “all the people pass through one by one; all of them bow down, touching the cross and the inscription, first with their foreheads, then with their eyes; and, after kissing the cross, they move on.”

 

To this day, the Eastern Churches, Catholic and Orthodox alike, celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the September anniversary of the basilica’s dedication. The feast entered the Western calendar in the seventh century after Emperor Heraclius recovered the cross from the Persians, who had carried it off in 614, 15 years earlier. According to the story, the emperor intended to carry the cross back into Jerusalem himself, but was unable to move forward until he took off his imperial garb and became a barefoot pilgrim.