Tonight is the Eve of Holy Cross Day and tomorrow is Holy Cross Day. Holy Cross Day is where Christians around the world celebrate the cross of Christ.
The cross is pivotal to the Christian faith. It is the instrument of Christ’s redemption for the whole world. It is such a holy object to us and the saving acts of God through the cross of Christ are reason to celebrate!
Holy Cross Day is an ancient feast day that celebrates the cross and all that it means for our lives. It is the day that we discover not only the cross itself but its rediscovery after it was lost in the fall of Jerusalem.
The earliest Christians considered the tomb where Jesus was buried to be a holy site. However, after the siege of Jerusalem in AD 70, the city was reduced to ruins. Later, in AD 130, Emperor Hadrian built a Roman colony over its ruins. He ordered the tomb of Christ filled to create a flat foundation for a temple dedicated to Venus.
In the 4th century, the Emperor Constantine and his mother, Helena Augusta, converted to Christianity and set about finding and restoring Christianity’s holy sites and objects. Constantine sent his mother to have the pagan temple over the tomb destroyed and the old ruins of the tomb excavated. During the excavation, three crosses were uncovered believed to be the cross of Christ and the two thieves. This was the cause of much celebration and a feast day was created to commemorate it.
Ways to Celebrate:
Make a dessert in the shape of the cross. I am sharing a super easy dessert to make with your kids. Your kids will have so much fun making it! Also, whipped cream and crisp dark chocolate wafers…what’s not to love about that?
Make a cross out of toothpicks. This is a fun and easy activity for your kids. Break up toothpicks and glue them in the shape of a cross on black construction paper. Punch holes in the corners of the paper, thread twine through and hang or process through your house.
Make something with basil. Tradition says that basil was growing all over the hill where St. Helena found the cross of Christ buried. Because of this, in Greece, priests hand out sprigs of basil to the parishioners. Have your children gather up bundles of basil and tie with a ribbon. Place the basil bundles on the table as decorations for your feast. For dinner, make homemade pesto and add to hot pasta.
Show your children how to make the sign of the cross over themselves. People often believe that making the sign of the cross over ourselves is superstitious or weird but that was never how it was intended to be used. Making the sign of the cross is just a way that we remind ourselves that we are set apart for Christ.
Holy Cross Day Whipped Cream and Chocolate Dessert
1 to 2 boxes of Nabisco chocolate wafers, these are found in the ice cream toppings section of your grocery store or in the cookie section (reserve four cookies and finely grind them up)
1 quart heavy whipping cream
1 cup sugar
Whip the whipped cream on high until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Add a layer of whipped cream between layers of chocolate wafers and arrange on their side on a platter. Stack the wafer layers on their sides and in the shape of a cross. When you are satisfied with the shape, cover the whole cross in the remaining whipped cream. Place the ground wafers in a sifter and sift over the cake. Serve immediately or refrigerate and serve.
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