Glorious Cross February 27
The living elements of our tradition include . . . a commitment to the life-giving Cross (Const. 4.1).
The Cross is the most significant emblem of our Order. Our name marks us: the Order of the Holy Cross, the Crosiers. In our history, many of our churches were named in honor of the Cross. Our habit shows the Cross. In our liturgy on Fridays, we give attention to the Cross. Our most important feast day is the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Our Constitutions propose the Cross as the symbol of our total service to the People of God. In many Crosier communities, there is a preference for the image of the Glorious Cross, of the Cross depicted with jewels. This jeweled image does not want to deny the suffering of Christ, nor that of his Body, the Church. But it proclaims the message of the Cross in its wholeness: the Cross leads always to life in abundance, to glory. The Cross, whatever its design, always evokes Gospel hope. Through the Cross, Jesus conquered death and all evil in the human world. The Crosier without the Cross is inconceivable.
Nobody hides his sickness from the doctor. (Bamileke)