Feast Days of the Order
The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
14 September
On 14 September the Catholic and the Orthodox Churches celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
From the Discourses of Saint Andrew of Crete, Bishop: Discourse 10 on the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
The Bishop of Jerusalem, Macarius, was ordered by the Emperor Constantine and his mother Saint Helena to build two basilicas in Jerusalem, one on Golgotha and the other on the Holy Sepulchre. The mother of the Emperor had ordered excavations on Golgotha and it was there they found the cross that was identified as the true cross of Christ.
On 14 September, therefore, it is not the commemoration of the dedication of the two basilicas, which took place in the year 335, which we celebrate, but rather the triumph of the Cross, sign and instrument of salvation.
All the feasts of the Order
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Feast Days of the Order