CROSS
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CROSS
rite is of great antiquity, and many of the prayers oc-
cur in identical terms in pontificals of the tenth cen-
tury or earlier, e. g. in the Benedictional of Archbishop
Robert (Henry Bradshaw Soc). But in the ancient
ceremony the cross was first washed with holy water
and then anointed with chrism precisely as in the form
for the blessing of bells (see Bells). For cemetery
crosses in this comiexion, see Cemetery.
(2) D. Blessings of Crosses in the Ritual. — The "Rituale Romanum" (tit. VIII, cap. xxiv) supplies an ordinary blessing for a cross which may be used by any priest. It consists only of a short prayer, with a sec- ond prayer whose use is optional, and only holy water is used; but the same rubric directing the priest to kneel and "devoutly adore and kiss the cross" is added, which we have just noticed in the solemn epis- copal benediction. Furthermore, the Ritual, in an appendix, reprints the longer form from the Pontifi- cal under the heading: " Benedictiones reservats, ab episcopo vel sacerdotibus facultatem habentibus faci- ends. ' It may be noted that St. Louis, King of France, regarded it as unseemly that crosses and stat- ues should be set up for veneration without being pre- viously blessed. He accordingly ordered search to be made for a form of blessing in the ancient episcopal ceremonials. The form was found and duly used first of all in St. Louis' own private chapel; but the in- cident seems to suggest that the practice of blessing such objects had partly fallen into desuetude. (See Galfridus, De Bello Loco, cap. xxxvi.)
(2) E. Blessings of Crosses for Indulgences, etc. — The indulgences most commonly attached to crosses, cruci- fixes, etc., are: first, the so-called "Apostolic Indul- gences", which are the same as those attached to objects blessed by the Holy Father in person. These are numerous and, amongst other things, entitle the possessor who has habitually worn or used such a cross to a plenary indulgence at the hour of death; secondly, tlie indulgences of the Stations of the Cross, which under certain conditions may be gained by the sick and others unable to visit a church upon the reci- tation of twenty Paters, Aves, and Glorias before the indulgenced cross which they must hold in their hand; thirdly, the so-called "Bona Mors" indulgence for the use of priests, enabling the priest by the use of this cross to communicate a plenary indulgence to any dying person who is in the requisite dispositions to receive it. Special faculties are needed to com- municate such indulgences to crosses, etc., though in the case of the ".\postolic Indulgences" these facul- ties are easily obtained. The only blessing required is the making of a simple sign of the cross over the crucifi.x or other object with the intention of imparting the indulgence. For further details, the reader must be referred to the article Indulgences and to such treatises upon indulgences as those of Beringer, "Les Indulgences", or of Mocchegiani, "Collectio Indulgentiarum " (Quaracchi, 1897). (See also Bless- ings.)
(3) Festivals of the Holy Cross. — A. The Invention of the Holy Cross. — This is now kept by the Western Church upon 3 May, but so far as our somewhat un- certain data allow us to judge, the real date of St. Helena's discovery was 14 September, 326. Upon this same day, 14 September, took place the dedica- tion of Constantine's two churches, that of the Ana- stasis and that of Golgotha Ad Crucem, both upon Calvary, within the precincts of the present church of the Holy Sepu'chre. The portion of the Holy ( 'ross preserved in Jerusalem afterwards fell into thr hands of the Persians, but was recovered by the Ijiipcror Heraclius, and, if we may trust our authorities, wius solemnly brought back to Jerusalem on 3 May, 029. This day, strangely enough, .seems to have altractetl special attention among Celtic liturgists in the West and, tho\igh disregarded in the E.ast, has pa.'ised through Celtic channels (we meet it first in the Lec-
tionary of Silos and in the Bobbio Missal) into general
recognition under the mistaken title of " Invention of
the Cross". Curiously enough the Greek Church
keeps a feast of the apparition of the Cross to St. Cj'ril
of Jerusalem on 7 May, though that of 3 May is un-
known in the East.
(3) B. The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, 14 September, though apparently introduced into the West somewhat later than the so-called "Invention", on 3 May, seems to preserve the true date of the dis- covery of the Cross by St. Helena. This festival has always been kept in the East, and especially at Jeru- salem, on that day, under the name of C^wirii, i. e. "elevation", which probably meant originally the "bringing to light".
(3) C. Other Feasts of the Cross. — ^We might in some sense regard such a festival as that of the Holy Lance and Nails as a festival of the Cross, but it should perhaps rather be grouped with feasts of the Passion. In the East, however, we find other celebrations strictly connected with the Cross. For example, on 1 August the Greeks commemorate the taking of the relic of the Holy Cross from the palace in Constanti- nople to the church of St. Sophia, and on 7 May, as we have seen, they recall an apparition of the Cross to St. Cyril of Jerusalem. The Armenians, on the other hand, observe one principal feast of the Cross, under the name Chatz, which occurs in autimin almost immediately after the feast of the Assimiption. It is counted as one of the seven principal feasts of the year, is preceded by a week's fast, and followed by an octave or its Armenian equivalent. See also above under I.
(4). The "Adoration". — From a theological stand- point this is treated above under Section II. (Sec also L.VTRLV.) As a liturgical function the veneration of the Cross on Good Friday must no doubt be traced back, as Amalarius already in the ninth century cor- rectly divined, to the practice of honouring the relic of the True Cross at Jerusalem which is described in detail in the " Pilgrimage of Etheria", c. 380 (see Sec- tion II of this article). The ceremony came to prevail everywhere where relics of the True Cross existed, and by a very natural development, where relics failed any ordinary cross supplied their place as an object of cultus. As Amalarius again sensibly remarks, "although every church cannot have such a relic, still the virtue of the Holy True Cross is not wanting in those crosses which are made in imitation of it." Neither was this veneration, in the case, at any rate, of relics of the True Cross, confined to Good Friday. St. Gregory of Tours uses language which may pos- sibly imply that in Jerusalem the True Cross was honoured every Wednesday and Friday. It is cer- tain that at Constantinople a Sunday in Mid-Lent, the first of August, and the 14th of September were similarly privileged. Even from early times there | was no hesitation about using the word adoratio. 1 Thus, St. Paulinus of Nola, writing of the great Jeru- } salem relic (c. 410), declares that the bishop offered it to the people for worship (crucem quotaimis ado- \ randam populo promit), and first adored it himself. (See P. L., LXI, 325.) A curious practice was also introduced of anointing the cross, or, on occasion, any image or picture, with balm (balsanw) before presenting it for the veneration of the faithful. This custom was transferretl to Rome, anil we hear much of it in connexion with the veiy ancient reliquarj' of the True Cross and also the suppo.scd miraculous por- trait of Our Saviour (acln-irojioictn, i. e. not made by the hand of man') preserved in tlie Sancta Sanctorum of the Lateral!, both of which recently, together with a nuiltiliide of other objects, have been examined and reported on by papal permission (see Grisar, Die romischc Kapi'llr S;iiicta Sanctorum uiul ihr Schatz, Freiburg, I'.IOS, ',)!, VI). The objects mentioned were completely covered in jiart with solidified balm. Pope
