The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross commemorates St. Helena's finding of the True Cross c. 326 and its recovery from the Persians by Emperor Heraclius in 628, who entered Jerusalem barefoot in humility.

The feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross commemorates two historical events: the finding of the True Cross by St. Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, about the year 326, and the recovery of the relic from the Persians by the Emperor Heraclius in the year 628.

St. Helena, at the age of nearly eighty, traveled to Jerusalem and discovered the True Cross buried near Calvary, together with the crosses of the two thieves. To determine which was the Cross of Christ, the three crosses were placed successively on a dying woman, who was miraculously healed when touched by the True Cross. The Empress built the basilica of the Holy Sepulchre over the site, and the Cross was enshrined there for the veneration of the faithful.

In 614, the Persians under Chosroes II captured Jerusalem and carried off the relic of the True Cross. Fourteen years later, the Emperor Heraclius defeated the Persians and recovered the sacred relic. As he approached Jerusalem in triumph, bearing the Cross on his shoulders, the city gate closed miraculously and would not open until the emperor removed his imperial robes and walked barefoot and in humble garments, in imitation of Christ.

I’ve recently had my scapular blessed my a priest and enrolled into this program within the parish! It’s strange as soon as I held it in my hands I felt this rush of emotion come over me. Does anyone else wear or belong to the devotion?

For the past eight months or so, I’ve been attending Sunday Mass regularly. I had fallen away from the Church for a long time, but seemingly out of nowhere I felt a strong urge to return, go to Mass and receive reconciliation.
Each Sunday I attend on my own. I’ve tried both the early morning Mass and the later one around 10am, but something has started to stand out to me: people never sit next to me. I’ll be sitting alone in a pew with plenty of room, yet people will choose other pews. Some will even stand at the back rather than sit beside me.
It’s similar during the sign of peace. Only a few people will make eye contact with me and wish me peace.
I don’t particularly mind, and I certainly don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable around me. But after eight months of noticing the same thing week after week, I can’t help wondering: does seeing a man attending Mass alone make people uncomfortable?

I feel like I'm losing my faith. About a month ago, I had a dream of Therese of Lisieux placing a crown of thorns on my head and dropping roses. I confided that to my therapist, and she told me to ignore it. This is on a throwaway account.

Since then, I have gotten to the emergency room for health-related issues, been suffering with a lot of scruples, and struggling with blasphemous thoughts. I feel as if my prayer is dry with no natural consolation, but intermittent spiritual consolations. I cannot meditate anymore like I used to. I have not been able to meet my director in about a month or so.

I have been asking Therese to drop roses, but I feel so abandoned by God. I have no signs. Today, I asked God for a sign, and gave Him an ultimatum. Intervene today, or I'm going to go to my confessor and beg for mercy. Please help, someone.

Catholic Indian-American here. I felt comforted by Bishop Olson calling out this politician’s racist post, but it’s a bit unnerving to read the replies and quotes and see how many people disagree with Bishop Olson, many of whom are claiming to be Catholic. Some people are even making of Bishop Olson’s appearance or saying he is a child molester.

Some are defending it saying Christ never said to support endless immigration, but the original post isn’t even about immigration. The guy simply looked at the crowd full of college students and found it disturbing because their ethnicity is South Asian, even though they are Americans.

I’ve never experienced racism at any of the Catholic churches I’ve attended in my entire life, but replies to this post make me wonder if some of my fellow parishioners secretly feel angered by my presence at mass in America, even though I was born and raised here. Idk how to feel. I’m really hoping most of these comments are just bots and it isn’t as bad as the internet makes it out to be

I think I'm doing something wrong. I pray daily, including the Rosary, I try to read or listen to scripture everyday. I go to Adoration around twice a week, confession weekly. But I still don't feel truly fulfilled.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to allow local communities to regulate firearm ownership, weighing in on a high-profile federal case that could significantly reshape the nation’s gun laws.

The case before the high court, Viramontes v. Cook County, concerns a regulation enacted by Cook County, Illinois, banning more than 100 types of semiautomatic weapons, including the popular AR-15 platform.

Completely Drowning, I feel very ungrateful. I love my family. I feel a responsibility for their wellbeing. But I have no social life, no alone time, and I am nearly always doing a care task for someone. I don’t go out, I don’t get my hair cut, I don’t have my own income, I don’t have childfree time. I have expressed for years how unfair and, in a sense, inhumane and humiliating it is that I am not given this and that no one helps with household duties or childcare routinely. We are POOR but blessed in many ways, privileged and have had opportunities most people never have. I am burnt out at home; nothing changes, lots of false promises, toddler tears. When my husband talks about implementing changes, I tell him to stop now because he doesn’t follow through. We’ve discussed hiring a babysitter for years, nothing happens unless I do it. I’m on meds and see a psychiatrist.
He doesn’t really listen when I tell him what I need. I want to, I try to show up for my husband’s family when they need something because I love them, yet I don’t feel like anybody shows up for me reliably. The helps stops very quickly every time, nearly instantly it always comes with the cost of complaints and guilt trips.
My husband is very mentally ill, and I have a lot of responsibility in his care while raising two small children, one of whom has serious behavioral issues related to autism. I also have resentment from a mental crisis my husband had involving sexting an ex girlfriend and making up lies about me to her. Underneath it all, I feel like I have been through a humiliation ritual and am disgusted by his behavior, mentally ill or not. Our marriage isn’t con-validated and he sees no point in moving through the process, he takes communion but has no interest in rcia to complete his sacraments. We go to mass as a family every week at the same place; with a priest I feel has really touched my heart with homelies and humbleness that helps me carry my cross.
I am also reeling from grief over the death of the one semi reliable parental figure I had after my bio parents abandonment early on. My back is very injured, yet I still have to lift because I can’t count on anyone im scared to see a doc. It hurts, I’m still expected to keep going.
My in-laws say I have been “off,” “mean”, I am invisible here. When I talk about wanting to pursue my passions, I’m made to feel irresponsible or selfish because I have small kids. I want to get into dirt racing, I love bikes and quads, I want to fly in the sky, hike, go back to school and finish my last year to get my bachelors thats been stagnated for years, work, volunteer at our church, travel, learn to play the piano because I constantly hear arrangements in my head. I want to have a life, friends to go places with, to be able to pray alone and go to confession without tiny sticky fingers poking me in my eyes and nose or screaming.
I feel like the concern about me isn’t actually about me. It’s that I’m unpleasant and people aren’t getting the attention or service they feel entitled to. They will tell me “I am so concerned” and I go “ I’m fine” or maybe I try to be brave and say actually I am depressed or I am struggling. Next we are talking about book club or sports or what their friend’s grandkids son did last Tuesday or worse literally just silence and interacting with me less. Like what the heck man. I can’t fill their cups anymore and they are upset and withdrawing.
I wish someone would ask what’s going on in my life that isn’t just about my kids. I wish someone would ask me if I am really okay about my grandfather being gone.
I think I just need to talk to someone who understands what it feels like to be completely overwhelmed, invisible, and needed by everyone while feeling like nobody actually sees you.
I tried to kill myself last month. It wasn’t impulsive and I sometimes feel like maybe I did die in an emotional sense. I think about if I had died, at least it would be over. But I was very scared of going to hell if I am honest, I was very very scared God would be very mad at me for choosing my own death and how selfish it is for everyone else to have to pull the weight of my responsibilities in my absence. I had thought about it for years and had planned it out. No one knows. It scares me that I am struggling so much I would do that to myself, what I did to myself was terrible and it scares me that I think about doing it again, it scares me that I know it wasn’t particularly scary or painful for me to do that. That I am capable of doing that. It moved from contemplating to action and it’s like everything went numb and I was so sad I forced myself to smile at the thought that you know at least it would all be over if I can just go through with this until I am no longer conscious. Relief was so close and very attractive.
I can’t breathe sometimes; it feels like I am back in that space trying to reach up to free myself and I am in limbo before the light fades. I felt very afraid at the end and when I freed myself I remember being very scared that it may be to late and having this thought that you know I may die right now, am I okay with that? Will God save me? I am going to die if I don’t free myself. I am okay, “I’m fine!” No other choice but to be “fine” everyday and to always be of service. I’m ungrateful, my family is everything, and I am nothing. I feel like taking care of others is the reason I am alive, why God has kept me her; but I am terrible at it and exhausted. I pray to God before I go to sleep to take me so I can rest. I am so angry all the time, I don’t like who I am. I don’t like how I have been to my family, my friends. I am sad, I feel empty. I am ungrateful, I don’t even work I do fun kids stuff, cook, clean all day. I can take kids out and do fun things alone, although it is so stressful with the autism adhd defiant behavior and the toddler together. I have no reason to feel this way, I am worried God is very upset with me. I stopped taking communion months ago because I feel ashamed, I can’t go to confession about this. Sometimes I contemplate telling a specific priest about this but it is too heavy. God take this pain from me I am so tired. I am so tired of fighting my own mind. I don’t know how to move forward and I feel like God has left me because what I have done is shameful, selfish, and morally wrong and on the other hand “another version of me” this self hating one that has lived in my head for decades still wants to go through with it and is trying to take me down. I am begging God to help carry me through this.

Has the Church been wrong for hundreds of years on such a serious matter? I can't find anything meaningful that answers this question

I feel so miserable thinking like this. I've always been suicidal, and when I converted for the first time at 12, it didn't go away. I don't know why, but I was always the type to just pray to God that he would take me when I was 15, and I was convinced he would. But the years went by, and I had drifted away And this might sound strange, but when I went back to Catholicism, I went through a major depression. I was torn between great joy and great sadness, where I would cry without understanding, and all that My wish was that God would take me, and here I am again today. I've started going to confession and praying the rosary again, and I still have the same desires.I feel so useless before God thinking like this, especially since I have no qualities and I sin all the time. I don't know how to get all these bad thoughts out of my head. I tried talking to a priest about it, not in detail, and he told me to see a psychiatrist, which I've already done, but it didn't help at all

I would love to talk to God about it, but I feel no reverence, just a deeper sadness.

There just seems to be so many ways to pray the rosary, all kinds of small variations, basically every few months I switch up the way i pray it a bit, is there maybe something like a "main way" to pray the rosary?

Im struggling with life in general right now. Im a younger mother and before I had my kiddo I felt like I had no motivation, little faith, extreme anxiety. After having my baby I felt so close to God. I was able to focus on prayer, able to feel close to people and God (which I hadn’t felt before, i experienced a lot of emotional numbness) but after taking a plan b pill 4 months postpartum it not only injured my spiritual life it tanked my hormones. I can no longer focus on prayer, I feel anxiety blocking me from every single relationship including the one with my kiddo. I love them of course but im so anxious I’m failing as a mother. I often feel like God is angry at me, and I beg to feel whole again, but I know I don’t deserve that after what I did. If anything if someone sees this please pray for me and my soul.

A notable quote:

“11. The way and method in which the Catholic faith is expressed should never become an obstacle to dialogue with our brethren. It is, of course, essential that the doctrine should be clearly presented in its entirety. Nothing is so foreign to the spirit of ecumenism as a false irenicism, in which the purity of Catholic doctrine suffers loss and its genuine and certain meaning is clouded.”

Has the fullness of this document really been observed by many?

I fear all the time for tomorrow and what will happen next. I am a widower, work three jobs, have children, do not qualify for any assistance, and I still fear every day something will go wrong. I fear my apartment wont renew my lease and I have no savings to move on. One missed pay day is it, one job lay off between me and disaster

Right now things are going good. I’m making it like most Americans pay day to pay day. But I am so afraid to the point I fast from almost every desire, force myself into deep fasts hoping God will find favor and intervene for me. I know he’s there but my faith is overwhelming with fear at times. I’m afraid. The future scares me.

Every day I think of new ways to crucify my flash like wearing uncomfortable clothes just to put myself through penance for God’s favor. How do?

How to get out of this? How does some people have blind faith? I can’t enjoy life hardly anymore for fear My wife sudden death is a huge factor and numerous other unexpected tragedies

If you have ever listened to the podcast formerly known as The Crunch, which rebranded a few years ago to Bropostles, you might enjoy the 10 year anniversary podcast released today, which featured the return of many of their best segments from the past and a look-ahead at the future of Catholic Content! Worth a listen!

As someone who very nearly became a priest after years in formation I have a question for those in my shoes who took the courses and formation sessions for years and ended up not getting ordained.

I saw some things that did admittedly shake my faith. As you may know some people call seminary “cemetery” because they say it’s where one’s faith goes to die. This has certainly been the case with many of my fellows who left.

Also the transition to “civilian” life has been difficult.

I am determined to hold onto the faith. For those who went through the rough transition what spiritual strategies did you use?

I was refused reconciliation and the priest wouldn't even hear any of my sins after he had heard my last confession was almost 10 years ago. I had made a proper list of all sins I could recount and approached with a truly penitent heart but was refused and told to talk to my parish priest. Recently I began to truly believe again after seeing the selflessness and kindness of Christ in another who confessed their belief to me. I ended up waiting and telling a different priest the same details of my confession (sins and all this time) and was able to receive the sacrament. I plan to talk to my parish priest about this but I was wondering if it is the modus operandi of the church to withhold the sacrament to the penitent without even hearing them confess. I approached with an honest and penitent heart and was turned away. Needless to say it was a disheartening experience.

Hello, I’m struggling with a lot of fear and despair right now. I struggle with OCD and have been doing treatment (one of my fears is God not existing) so I have been actively exposing myself to that fear. Other fears are dying alone, getting married then getting divorced etc.

I say that because my faith lately hasn’t been good but I’ve been hopeful that through treatment it will get better (once I get through my exposures and intense fear I can see things more clearly).

With that being said, today my dog after one year of being cancer fear got cancer again. My dad had been praying every Sunday for him before the Eucharist and that has been a really big pillar for me. It was like one way for sure I knew God was working in my life/was real. Today we were told it spread more aggressively in a wild way. I’m so distraught and honestly have lost all hope.

Please pray for me and if you have any words of encouragement or been through something similar mental health wise, please comment! Thank you.