September 14, 2002
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September 14:
Triumph of the Cross
and Death of
Princess Grace of Monaco
September 13 was the feast day of St. John Chrysostom.
From the Catholic Encyclopedia:
“St. John Chrysostom more than once in his writings makes allusion to the adoration of the cross; one citation will suffice: ‘Kings removing their diadems take up the cross, the symbol of their Saviour’s death; on the purple, the cross; in their prayers, the cross; on their armour, the cross; on the holy table, the cross; throughout the universe, the cross. The cross shines brighter than the sun.’”
Today, September 14, is the feast day of the Triumph of
“The primitive form of the cross seems to have been that of the so-called ‘gamma’ cross (crux gammata), better known to Orientalists and students of prehistoric archæology by its Sanskrit name, swastika.”
– The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IV
Copyright © 1908
by Robert Appleton Company
Online Edition Copyright © 1999
by Kevin Knight
Nihil Obstat.
Remy Lafort, Censor
Imprimatur.
+John M. Farley,
Archbishop of New York
Later writers might choose to omit the above sentence, published in 1908, but, as Pilate said, “Quod scripsi, scripsi.” For modern times, this quotation is perhaps best translated into German, the language of modern Pilates:
Was ich geschrieben habe,
habe ich geschrieben.
It might well be accompanied by another translation from the same website, which renders the “Ora et labora” of St. Benedict as
Bete und arbeite!
and, indeed, by a classic quotation from twentieth-century German Christian thought:
ARBEIT MACHT FREI.
