From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   On the Love of Solitude and Silence (II)   
      
   The security of the Saints was grounded in the fear of God, nor were   
   they less careful and humble because they were resplendent in great   
   virtues and graces. But the security of the wicked springs from pride   
   and presumption, and ends in self-deception. Never promise yourself   
   security in this life, even though you seem to be a good monk or a   
   devout hermit.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Book 1, Ch 20   
      
   ============   
   September 14th - Exaltation of the Holy Cross   
      
   This feast was observed in Rome before the end of the 7th century. It   
   commemorates the recovery of the Holy Cross, which had been placed on   
   Mount Calvary by St Helena and preserved in Jerusalem but then had   
   fallen into the hands of Chosroas, King of the Persians. The precious   
   relic was recovered and returned to Jerusalem by Emperor Heralius in   
   629.   
      
   The lessons from the Breviary tell us that Emperor Heraclius carried   
   the Cross back to Jerusalem on his shoulders.  He was clothed with   
   costly garments and with ornaments of precious stones. But at the   
   entrance to Mount Calvary a strange incident occurred. Try as hard as   
   he would, he could not go forward. Zacharias, the Bishop of Jerusalem,   
   then said to the astonished monarch:  “Consider, O Emperor, that with   
   these triumphal ornaments you are far from resembling Jesus carrying   
   His Cross.” The Emperor then put on a penitential garb and continued   
   the journey.   
      
   In celebration of the discovery of the Holy Cross, Constantine ordered   
   the construction of churches at the site of the Holy Sepulchre and on   
   Mount Calvary. Those churches were dedicated on September 13 and 14,   
   335 and shortly thereafter the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy   
   Cross began to be celebrated on the latter date.   
   The feast slowly spread from Jerusalem to other churches, until, by   
   the year 720, the celebration was universal.   
      
   The liturgy of the Cross is a triumphant liturgy.  When Moses lifted   
   up the bronze serpent over the people, it was a foreshadowing of the   
   salvation through Jesus when He was lifted up on the Cross. Our Mother   
   Church sings of the triumph of the Cross, the instrument of our   
   redemption. To follow Christ we must take up His cross, follow Him and   
   become obedient until death, even if it means death on the cross. We   
   identify with Christ on the Cross and become co-redeemers, sharing in   
   His suffering and Cross.   
      
   We make the Sign of the Cross before prayer which helps to fix our   
   minds and hearts to God. After prayer we make the Sign of the Cross to   
   keep close to God.  During trials and temptations our strength and   
   protection is the Sign of the Cross. At Baptism we are sealed with the   
   Sign of the Cross, signifying the fullness of redemption and that we   
   belong to Christ. Let us look to the cross frequently, and realize   
   that when we make the Sign of the Cross we give our entire self to   
   God--mind, soul, heart, body, will, thoughts.   
      
   WHY DO WE CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF THE HOLY CROSS?   
   It’s easy to understand that the Cross is special because Christ used   
   it as the instrument of our salvation. But after His Resurrection, why   
   would Christians continue to look to the Cross? Christ Himself offered   
   us the answer:  “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,   
   and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). The point of   
   taking up our own cross is not simply self-sacrifice;  in doing so, we   
   unite ourselves to the sacrifice of Christ on His Cross.   
      
   When we participate in the Mass, the Cross is there, too.  The   
   “unbloody sacrifice” offered on the altar is the re-presentation of   
   Christ’s Sacrifice on the Cross. When we receive the Sacrament of Holy   
   Communion, we do not simply unite ourselves to Christ; we nail   
   ourselves to the Cross, dying with Christ so that we might rise with   
   Him.   
      
   “For the Jews require signs, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:  but we   
   preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumbling block and   
   unto the Gentiles foolishness . . . ” (1 Corinthians 1:22-23). Today,   
   more than ever, non-Christians see the Cross as foolishness. What kind   
   of Saviour triumphs through death?   
      
   For Christians, however, the Cross is the crossroads of history and   
   the Tree of Life. Christianity without the Cross is meaningless:  only   
   by uniting ourselves to Christ’s Sacrifice on the Cross can we enter   
   into eternal life.   
      
      
   REFLECTION   
       “We are celebrating the feast of the cross which drove away   
   darkness and brought in the light… Had there been no cross, Christ   
   could not have been crucified. Had there been no cross, Life Itself   
   could not have been nailed to the tree. And if Life had not been   
   nailed to it, they would be no streams of immortality pouring from   
   Christ’s side, blood and water for the world’s cleansing. The legal   
   bond of our sin would not be canceled, we should not have obtained our   
   freedom, we should not have enjoyed the fruit of the tree of life and   
   the gates of paradise would not stand open. Had there been no cross,   
   death would not have been trodden underfoot, nor hell despoiled… The   
   cross is called Christ’s glory; it is saluted as his triumph.”   
   --St Andrew of Crete (650-740)   
      
   PRAYER   
     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.  O cross, you are the glorious sign of   
   victory. Through your power may we share in the triumph of Christ   
   Jesus.   
   We adore you Christ and we praise you, for by your holy Cross you have   
   redeemed the world. Amen   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)