On the old liturgical calendar today we find the feast of the Discovery of the True Cross by Saint Helena. A few years ago I had the privilege of spending a month at the Abbey of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem in Rome where the relics of the True Cross and Passion are preserved. How beautiful and holy it was to be a part of a worshipping community that had the presence of such items connected with the oblation of Our Lord and Savior! Every day I spent time in prayer in the chapel holding the these relics. So, that the revised liturgical calendar deleted this feast is a sad state of affairs. It is, after all, the cross of Christ that gives new life! As part of the rites for the day we find the Blessed of Crosses.
P: Our help
is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: The Lord be with
you.
All: And with your spirit.
Let us pray.
Almighty everlasting God, merciful
Father and our unalloyed comfort, in virtue of the bitter suffering that your
only- begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, endured for us sinners on the wood
of the cross, bless + these crosses which your faithful will set up in their
vineyards, gardens, fields, and other places. Shield the land where they are
placed from hail, tornado, storm, and every onslaught of the enemy, so that the
produce, ripened for the harvest, may be gathered to your honor by those who
put their trust in the holy cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives
and reigns with you forever and ever.
All: Amen.