May 3 was historically the Feast of the Finding (or Invention) of the Holy Cross., commemorating the finding of the True Cross by St. Helena.
The feast was suppressed in 1960, but its memory lives on in Mexico, where the hierarchy was apparently able to win a concession from Rome to continue the observance of the Day of the Cross (see this as well); and in the Philippines, where the "Santacruzan", an elaborate procession of in honor of the Holy Cross has also survived (albeit in distorted and secularized form, as the custom has largely lost its liturgical moorings). Certainly, echoes of this feast have survived elsewhere in the Catholic world, and our readers are invited to share what they know of these survivals.
Curiously, the blessing of crosses to mark May 3 has survived even in post-1960 editions of the Roman Ritual. Here is the English translation of this blessing as it appears on the Sancta Missa website, with some minor changes.
BLESSING OF CROSSES which are to be set in vineyards, fields, etc., on or about May 3
(Approved by the Congregation of Sacred Rites, Feb. 10, 1888)
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: And with your spirit.
Let us pray.
Almighty everlasting God, merciful Father and our unalloyed comfort, in virtue of the bitter suffering that your only- begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, endured for us sinners on the wood of the cross, bless + these crosses which your faithful will set up in their vineyards, gardens, fields, and other places. Shield the land where they are placed from hail, tornado, storm, and every onslaught of the enemy, so that the produce, ripened for the harvest, may be gathered to your honor by those who put their trust in the holy cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you forever and ever.
All: Amen.
The picture is from the blog of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer.
The feast was suppressed in 1960, but its memory lives on in Mexico, where the hierarchy was apparently able to win a concession from Rome to continue the observance of the Day of the Cross (see this as well); and in the Philippines, where the "Santacruzan", an elaborate procession of in honor of the Holy Cross has also survived (albeit in distorted and secularized form, as the custom has largely lost its liturgical moorings). Certainly, echoes of this feast have survived elsewhere in the Catholic world, and our readers are invited to share what they know of these survivals.
Curiously, the blessing of crosses to mark May 3 has survived even in post-1960 editions of the Roman Ritual. Here is the English translation of this blessing as it appears on the Sancta Missa website, with some minor changes.
BLESSING OF CROSSES which are to be set in vineyards, fields, etc., on or about May 3
(Approved by the Congregation of Sacred Rites, Feb. 10, 1888)
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: And with your spirit.
Let us pray.
Almighty everlasting God, merciful Father and our unalloyed comfort, in virtue of the bitter suffering that your only- begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, endured for us sinners on the wood of the cross, bless + these crosses which your faithful will set up in their vineyards, gardens, fields, and other places. Shield the land where they are placed from hail, tornado, storm, and every onslaught of the enemy, so that the produce, ripened for the harvest, may be gathered to your honor by those who put their trust in the holy cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you forever and ever.
All: Amen.
The picture is from the blog of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer.
