September 14 is traditionally celebrated as The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the Catholic Church.
This year, parishioners at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Powassan celebrated this feast with greater solemnity as the 2020 Easter celebrations had been curtailed due to COVID restrictions.
The evening started with Mass, celebrated by Father Eric Mason, followed by a procession outside of the church.
The cross used in the procession was several decades old, commissioned by former pastor Father Lynch, and given back to the church this past summer by the family of recently deceased parishioner Joseph Giesler.
Latin prayers concluded the evening with a blessing from the relic of the true cross of Jesus.
According to the Catholic News Agency, "The feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross celebrates two historical events: the discovery of the True Cross by Saint Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, in 320 under the temple of Venus in Jerusalem, and the dedication in 335 of the basilica and shrine built on Calvary by Constantine, which mark the site of the Crucifixion.
"The basilica, named the Martyrium, and the shrine, named the Calvarium, were destroyed by the Persians in 614. The Church of the Holy sepulcher which now stands on the site was built by the crusaders in 1149.
"However, the feast, more than anything else, is a celebration and commemoration of God's greatest work: his salvific death on the Cross and His Resurrection, through which death was defeated and the doors to Heaven opened."
