Feast Day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. 

September 14th, 2024

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My good and dear Jesus, I kneel before you, asking You most earnestly to engrave upon my heart a deep and lively faith, hope, and charity, with true repentance for my sins, and a firm resolve to make amends. As I reflect upon your five wounds, and dwell upon them with deep compassion and grief, I recall, good Jesus, the words the prophet David spoke long ago concerning yourself: "They have pierced my hands and my feet; they have counted all my bones!"

“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. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son, who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever. Amen.”

Let us pray:

Jesus, you willingly accepted unthinkable humiliation because you love our heavenly Father, and because you love us. Help us to be more like you, ready to make sacrifices for those we love. Accept our sacrifices, small and great, as signs of our gratitude to you.

Jesus, your faith in our heavenly Father led to the cross. Help us to stand up for our faith, knowing that our salvation was won by your unimaginable suffering. Don’t ever let us be embarrassed or ashamed of our faith in you, our Lord, who was so courageous in facing torture and death. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

                            Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, from the height of Your throne of suffering You reveal the depth of Your love for us. Lifted up from the world on the Cross, You draw everyone to Yourself.

The Cross is both the symbol and the act by which You raised up the world from all its sin and weakness. But You also ask for our cooperation.

Help us to die to self so that we may live for You and our fellow human beings. Set us free from the slavery of our passions, our prejudices, and our selfishness. Enable us to endure the pains and trials of this life and really help to change the world in our own small way. . . .

Let us take up our cross, and follow You through earthly sor- row into eternal happiness in heaven. Amen. 

(“The Holy Cross Prayer”)

Let us pray:

(Please repeat each line of John 3:16)

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.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.