FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS (HOLYROOD AND ROODMAS)

 FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS (HOLYROOD AND ROODMAS)

The feast of Rood Mas (Cross+ Mass) was the celebration on the 3 rd May, of the finding of the True Cross by St Helena in Jerusalem in 355 AD. The Feast is now combined in Catholic and Orthodox rites with the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross - a commemoration of the day, (14 September), when a piece of the Cross taken by the Persians was recovered by the Byzantine Emperor. The legend of the finding by St Helena is related by a priest in the short video below.
The remembrance of the Lord's Passion by fasting, prayer and other exercises (including the avoidance of worldly pursuits and gainful enterprises as much as possible), is practiced during Lent and was practised by the ancient and medieval Catholics each Friday; Francis X Weiser, Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs, at p. 25. The Ember days of Roodmas fall on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday next week, on which days, traditionally, one should abstain from meat and fast to the degree that the total amount of food during the day amounts to one small meal; the discipline of fasting and abstinence is something that brings the memorial of His Passion, reminding us to pick up and carry our own crosses in our lives, uniting ourselves to Him.
The Introit presents this beautiful image (Gal 6.14);
"But it behoves us to glory in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ: in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection: by whom we are saved and delivered.
Ps. 66. 2. May God have mercy on us and bless us: may He cause the light of His countenance to shine upon us, and may He have mercy on us. Glory be ...."

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