Commemorative masses will be celebrated on Thursday, Sept. 14, in solemn observance of the Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross, the universal symbol of the Christian faith, by which Jesus Christ redeemed the world.
At the Triumph of the Cross Parish in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Bacolod Bishop Patricio A. Buzon will preside over a high mass at 9 a.m.
A mass baptism will be held at 11 a.m. Novena masses were offered from Sept. 5 to 13. This year’s feast marks the 29th parochial fiesta.
Special masses will also be celebrated in parishes with the titular name of the Holy Cross such as at the Holy Cross Parish in Krus na Ligas, Diliman, Quezon City, in Tejeros, Makati City; Carigara, Leyte; Sincaban, Misamis Occidental; Maribojoc, Bohol; and at the Diocese of Butuan.
At the Monasterio de Tarlac (Church of the Risen Christ) in Barangay Lubigan, San Jose in Tarlac City, it has been a tradition to display for public veneration a silver reliquary containing a part of the Holy Cross, known as the only one of its kind in Asia.
The reliquary is venerated daily after the holy mass at 10 a.m. by the monastic congregation of the Risen Christ.
The monasterio is the most revered pilgrimage site in the region, said the Tourism Bureau in Central Luzon
Also known as the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, Sept.14 also marks the titular feast of the Congregation of the Holy Cross and the Episcopal Church’s Order of the Holy Cross.
Unlike on Good Friday, which is dedicated to the passion of Christ and the crucifixion, the feast celebrates the cross itself, as the sign of salvation.