Once upon a time there were two feasts in the calendar associated with the recovery of the true Cross.
The first, on May 3, celebrated St Helena's finding of the Cross in Jerusalem in 326.
The second, on September 14, celebrated the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulcre nine years later, and the placement of a portion of the Cross there for veneration by the faithful on this day.
In the 1962 calendar, the two were combined.
The first, on May 3, celebrated St Helena's finding of the Cross in Jerusalem in 326.
The second, on September 14, celebrated the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulcre nine years later, and the placement of a portion of the Cross there for veneration by the faithful on this day.
In the 1962 calendar, the two were combined.
There is a nice Benedictine connection to the veneration of the true Cross in the saints invocation of the Cross in many of the miracles that he worked. And this is carried forward today in the indult that allows the medal of St Benedict to be used in place of a fragment of the true cross in the blessing of St Maurus for the sick.
Traditionally, the Spring/Autumn (depending on which hemisphere you live in) Ember Days occur in the calendar week after September 14, and it is for this reason presumably that St Benedict uses the date as the changeover from the summer to the winter meal schedule in his Rule (ch 41).
It is also of course the anniversary of the coming into effect of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum by which Pope Benedict XVI freed access to the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.
The Vespers hymn is Vexilla Regis Prodeunt.
