Today we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross though this day is a commemoration of three events in the history of the Church (St. Helena finding the True Cross; the dedication of churches that St. Constantine build on the site of the Holy Sepulchre and Mount Calvary; and the restoration of the True Cross to Jerusalem by the emperor Heraclius II), we venerate the Cross because it is a visible sign of Christ’s love for His Church. On this day, let us take a few moments to reflect on the meaning of the Cross.
10 Quotes to Help You Meditate on the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
1. “Everything is a reminder of the Cross. We ourselves are made in the shape of a cross.” – St John Vianney
2. “Do you want to become a great saint? Ask God to send you many sufferings. The flame of Divine Love never rises higher than when fed with the wood of the Cross, which the infinite charity of the Savior used to finish His sacrifice.” – Saint Ignatius of Loyola
3. “In difficult moments, I will fix my gaze upon the silent Heart of Jesus stretched on the Cross, and from the exploding flames of His merciful Heart, will flow down upon me power and strength to keep fighting.” – St. Faustina
4. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
5.“The everlasting God has in His wisdom foreseen from eternity the cross He now presents to you as a gift from His inmost heart. The cross he now sends you he has considered with his all-knowing eyes, understood with his divine mind, tested with his wise justice, warmed with loving arms, and weighed with his own hands to see that it is not one inch too large nor one ounce too heavy for you. He has blessed it with his holy name, anointed it with his grace, perfumed it with his consolation, taken one last glance at you and your courage, and then sent it to you from heaven, a special greeting from God to you, an alms of the all-merciful love of God.”
-St. Francis de Sales
6. “If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross. Great patience occurs in two ways: either when one patiently suffers much, or when one suffers things which one is able to avoid and yet does not avoid. Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently, because when he suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth.” – St. Thomas Aquinas
8. “This is the “folly” of the cross: a folly capable of changing our sufferings into a declaration of love for God and mercy for our neighbor.” – Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI
9. “Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.“ – Saint Rose of Lima
10. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” – John 3:16-17
