CV NEWS FEED // The beautiful and dramatic veneration of the Cross that Catholics celebrate on Good Friday is a tradition the Church owes to St. Helena, Empress and mother of Constantine, to whom is attributed the discovery of the Cross of Jesus.
In the Liturgical Arts Journal, Prof. Shawn Tribe writes that the veneration of the Cross is a good occasion “to give some consideration to St. Helena, Empress and mother of Constantine, as well as to the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome.”
“The former because it is to her that tradition attaches the finding of the Cross and Santa Croce in Rome because it is there where we find the impressive relics of the Passion attributed to her discovery found on display,” Tribe writes.
The Roman basilica of Santa Croce, according to Tribe, “was said to have been consecrated in A.D. 325 specifically to house the relics of the Passion of Christ brought from the Holy Land by St. Helena. The floor of the basilica was, in fact, covered by her with soil that was brought from Jerusalem itself.”
Explaining how the presence of the Holy Cross in Rome evolved into Good Friday’s liturgical tradition, Fr. Daniel Cardo PhD, Benedict XVI Chair of Liturgical Studies at St John Vianney Seminary in Denver, told CatholicVote that “the ancient celebration of Good Friday was very different in the East than in the West: in the former it was marked with splendor, and in the latter, with simplicity. In Rome, around the middle of the fifth century, the Good Friday service consisted merely of readings and prayers.”
“During the sixth century, we still find the same structure of readings followed by the solemn prayers. The rest of the day was dedicated to silent prayer and mourning, without any other service other than the office prayed only by the clergy,” Fr. Cardo added.
He also explained that the most ancient description of the Roman celebration of Good Friday is found in the sixth century. By then, “the Papal celebration began with a procession and ended with a second one at the eighth hour, when the Pope and other ministers processed barefoot from the Lateran basilica to Santa Croce [Holy Cross], carrying the relic of the true Cross.”
“It is in the first half of the seventh century that the adoration of the Cross was introduced in Rome,” says Fr. Cardo, who added that by then the rites of Good Friday were “pervaded with unique signs of humility: the Pope walks barefoot through the streets of Rome and then, after prostrating himself before the Cross, he kisses it in veneration. After this, the bishops, priests, deacons, subdeacons, and then the remainder of the people also venerate the relic with a kiss.”
This rite was prescribed originally for the veneration of the relic of the true Cross. “However,” explains Fr. Cardo, “when the Roman liturgy extended its influence outside the city, any Cross became a representation of the true Cross,” as we celebrate it today, both in the Novus Ordo or the Traditional Latin celebration.