Sacred Liturgy & Sacraments: September 2012 Archives

I am giving emphasis these days on knowing what we believe as Catholics by looking at the liturgical sources. We first go to the sacred Liturgy to study and pray the prayers prayed by the priest for Mass, Lauds, Vespers, or those smaller rites such as the Blessing of Basil that you would find on today's feast of the Holy Cross, also called the Roodmas. Ours is a richly endowed sacramental faith.


"The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which, the day after the dedication of the Basilica of the Resurrection raised over the tomb of Christ, is exalted and honored, in the manner of a memorial of His paschal victory and the sign which is to appear in the sky, already announcing in advance His second coming" (from the Roman Martyrology)


basil3.jpg

The Blessing of Basil

V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.

R. Who made heaven and earth.

Let us pray.

Almighty and merciful God, deign, we beseech You, to bless Your creature, this aromatic basil leaf. + Even as it delights our senses, may it recall for us the triumph of Christ, our Crucified King and the power of His Precious Blood to purify and preserve us from evil so that, planted beneath His Cross, we may flourish to Your glory and spread abroad the fragrance of His sacrifice. Who is Lord forever and ever.

R. Amen.

The bouquets of basil leaf are sprinkled with Holy Water.

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

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Today's liturgical observance of the Holy Cross is a fitting day to ask what we understand it to mean. Because the Cross is the key that unlocks the door of our salvation, Christians ought to ask themselves what they believe the Cross to mean. When you encounter the Cross, what does it really mean for the Church, for you, for those who see the Cross on your person? With the proliferation of the image of the Cross in various places it's power is not diminished as much as our recognition of the meaning of may have. The Cross in any media is not a decoration for a building, a body, a cake or a book, the Cross is not merely one symbol among others; the Cross is not a talisman that can be summoned upon demand. As Saint Paul says, the Cross is our glory. Catholics learn the meaning of things in the Faith by looking at what is prayed at the sacred Liturgy. Hence, taking time with the antiphons, the Collect and the Preface of a given Mass will indicate what we believe.

We believe....

Christ on cross.jpgWe should glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection, through whom we are saved and delivered. (antiphon)



O God, who willed that your Only Begotten Son should undergo the Cross to save the human race, grant, we pray, that we, who have known his mystery on earth, may merit the grace of his redemption in heaven.


For you placed the salvation of the human race on the wood of the Cross, so that, where death arose, life might again spring forth and the evil one, who conquered on a tree, might likewise on a tree be conquered through Christ. (excerpted from the Preface)


We adore you Christ and we praise you, for by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world. 

About the author

Paul A. Zalonski is from New Haven, CT. He is a member of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, a Catholic ecclesial movement and an Oblate of Saint Benedict. Contact Paul at paulzalonski[at]yahoo.com.

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This page is a archive of entries in the Sacred Liturgy & Sacraments category from September 2012.

Sacred Liturgy & Sacraments: June 2012 is the previous archive.

Sacred Liturgy & Sacraments: October 2012 is the next archive.

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