BLESSING OF CROSSES & CRUCIFIXES
BY FATHER ROCK, FSSP
FATHER ROCK HAS RELEASED THE BELOW ARTICLE ON BLESSING OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CROSSES FOR THE FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS
On 14 September, the Roman tradition celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross which commemorates the recovery of the Relic of the True Cross from the Persians. Such a time is, no doubt, a fitting one to examine the blessings found in the Roman books which can be used to bless crosses and crucifixes, an examine which will be undertaken, at least in a cursory manner, in what follows.
The Roman Ritual has two blessings specifically intended for crosses which can be used at any time. The first blessing listed, the “Solemn Blessing of a Cross” (Solemnis Benedictio Crucis), is intended to be used “for a cross without the image of the Crucified.”1 The following is a translation of this blessing:2
If a cross is to be exposed for public veneration, it should be solemnly blessed. This blessing is reserved to the Ordinary who may delegate any priest to perform it.
If the cross is for private use, it may be blessed by any priest without the Ordinary’s permission:℣. Our help is in the Name of the Lord.
℟. Who made heaven and earth.
℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with your spirit.Let us pray. O Holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, be pleased to bless ✠ this cross, that it may be a saving help to mankind. Let it be the support of faith, an encouragement to good works, the redemption of souls; and let it be consolation, protection, and a shield against the cruel darts of the enemy; through Christ our Lord.
℟. Amen.Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, bless ✠ this cross by which Thou snatched the world from Satan’s grasp, and on which Thou overcame by Thy suffering the tempter to sin, who rejoiced in the first man’s fall in eating of the forbidden tree. Here it is sprinkled with holy water. May this cross be hallowed in the Name of the Father, ✠ and of the Son, ✠ and of the Holy ✠ Ghost; and may all who kneel and pray before this cross in honor of our Lord find health in body and soul. Through the same Christ our Lord.
℟. Amen.After this the priest, kneeling before the Cross, devoutly venerates and kisses it, and others may do likewise.
It is interesting to note that the text of the prayer associates, even more, identifies, the cross being blessed with the cross on which Christ was actually crucified. Later regulations would modify the printed rubric allowing any priest to use the above blessing without needing permission from the local Ordinary.3
The second blessing, “intended for a crucifix of more than ordinary size that has been erected as an indoor or outdoor shrine,“4 is titled “Another, more Solemn Blessing of a Cross” (Alia Benedictio Solemnior Crucis). The same blessing, with more extensive rubrics, can also be found in the Roman Pontifical as the Blessing of a New Cross (“de Benedictione Novæ Crucis,” II, 17). This more solemn blessing begins with a truncated version of the second prayer of the previous blessing followed by the first prayer of the preceding leading into a preface. The following is a translation with commentary in brackets:5
At hand are a thurible and holy water. The priest, vested in surplice, red stole [the color of Masses and Offices of the mysteries and instruments of the Lord’s Passion] and cope, says:
℣. Our help is in the Name of the Lord.
℟. Who made heaven and earth.
℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with your spirit.Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, bless ✠ this cross by which Thou snatched the world from Satan’s grasp, and overcame by Thy suffering the tempter to sin, who rejoiced in the first man’s fall in eating of the forbidden tree [Gen 3]. We ask this of Thee Who live and reign with God the Father and the Holy Ghost forever and ever.
℟. Amen.Let us pray. O Holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, be pleased, we beg Thee, to bless ✠ this cross, so that it may be a saving help to mankind. Let it be the support of faith, an encouragement to good works, the redemption of souls; and let it be consolation, protection, and a shield against the cruel darts of the enemy [Eph 6:16]. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God
Then with hands outstretched before his breast he says the following preface in a moderately loud voice:
℣. Forever and ever.
℟. Amen.
℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with your spirit.
℣. Lift up your hearts.
℟. We have lifted them up to the Lord.
℣. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
℟. It is right and just.It is indeed fitting and right, worthy and salutary that we should always and everywhere give thanks to Thee, O holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God; for among Thy visible creatures even fruitful trees never cease to praise and bless Thine holy and awesome Name. In figure of Thine only-begotten Wisdom Thou beautified in the beginning the Garden of Eden with the tree of life, and by its fruit, as by a holy sign, Thou admonished our first parents to beware of death and to seek everlasting life [Gen 2-3; note that the Tree of Life is identified as a sign of Christ for Adam and Eve]. Condemned as we were to a just death by the touch of the forbidden tree, Thou mercifully recalled us from death to life by the selfsame co-eternal Wisdom, Jesus Christ, our Lord and God. Therefore, we Thy suppliants pray that Thou may hallow with a blessing ✠ from on high this singular sign, wrought and raised up for the faithful’s devotion in remembrance of that first holy standard on which Thou conquered by the precious Blood of Thy Son. May all who kneel before it, imploring Thy sovereignty, experience true compunction and obtain forgiveness of their transgressions; and by the merits of the victorious suffering and death of Thine only-begotten Son may they seek only what pleases Thee, and speedily obtain what they request. Grant, we pray, O most loving Father in Whom we live, and move, and have our being [Act 17:28], that as often as we gaze upon and call to mind the triumphant sign of divine humility, which crushed the pride of our foe, we may be filled with hope and be strengthened against the wiles of that same foe, and receive greater grace to live humbly and devoutly in Thy sight. And on that dreadful judgment day, in that tremendous issuing forth of Thy majesty, when the elements shall quake and the powers of heaven be moved [see 2 Pet 3:12 and Mat 24:29, Mar 13:25, Luk 21:26], and this glorified sign of our redemption shall appear in the heavens [Mat 24:30], may we pass from death to life, and deserve to see the everlasting joys of a blessed resurrection. What follows is said in a subdued tone, loud enough, however, to be heard by the bystanders: Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ…
℟. Amen.Let us pray. O God, Who by the gibbet of the holy cross, a onetime instrument of punishment for criminals, restored life to the redeemed, grant that Thy faithful people may find in it a strong support, who see in it their standard of battle. Let the cross be for them a foundation of faith, a pillar of hope, a safeguard in adversity, an aid in prosperity; let it be victory amid enemies, a guard in cities, a shield in the country, a prop in their homes. By it may the Good Shepherd keep His flock unharmed, for on it did the Lamb ✠ Who has conquered win our salvation [see Apo 5:5-6, 17:14]; through the same our Lord…
℟. Amen.Let us pray. Sanctify, ✠ O Lord Jesus Christ, this sign of Thy passion; that it might be an obstacle to Thine enemies, and to those who believe in Thee may it be prove to be a perpetual banner of victory: Who live and reign with God the Father and the Holy Ghost forever and ever.
℟. Amen.Then incense in a boat is brought before the priest, who blesses it saying: [Blessing the incense in the boat and not while imposing it in the thurible is unique.]
Let us pray. O Lord God almighty, before Whom the host of angels stands in awe, and renders Thee a spiritual service glowing with love [symbolized by the coals of the thurible], be pleased to look with favor on this creature, incense, to bless ✠ and to hallow ✠ it. May all weakness, all infirmity, and all assaults of the enemy, sensing its fragrance, flee and be kept far from Thy creature, man, that he, whom Thou redeemed by the precious Blood of Thy Son, may never again suffer from the sting of the ancient serpent; through the same Christ our Lord.
℟. Amen[The production of the sacramental effects by means of fragrance is rare.]
After this the priest puts incense into the thurible, and then sprinkles the cross with holy water and incenses it.
If the cross is made of wood he adds the prayer indicated by 1; if of metal or stone, the prayer indicated by 2:
(1): May this wood be sanctified, in the Name of the Father, ✠ and of the Son, ✠ and of the Holy ✠ Ghost. And may the blessing of this wood, on which were hung the sacred members of our Savior, remain ever in it, so that all who kneel in prayer before this cross in God’s honor may have health in body and soul; through the same our Lord…in the unity of the same Holy Spirit…
℟. Amen.Then the priest, kneeling before the cross, devoutly venerates it and kisses it, and others who wish may do likewise.
(2): O God of glory, God of hosts, the mighty Emmanuel, God, Father of truth, Father of wisdom, Father of holiness. O Father, Thou enlighten us and keep watch over us. Thou rule the world and reign over all kingdoms. Thou are the giver of all grace and the dispenser of all gifts [see Jam 1:17]. All nations, peoples, tribes, and tongues serve Thee [see Dan 7:14]. All legions of angels minister before Thee [see Heb 1:7, 14]. Thou bestow on Thy servants the power to believe and to praise Thy Name, enabling them to offer due worship to Thee. Thou desire first of all faith in those who offer sacrifice to Thee, even before the gift is sacrificed. We appeal, then, to Thy tender-hearted mercy, asking that Thou hallow ✠ and consecrate ✠ this cross made by Thy servants in a spirit of total faith and devotion, to serve as a reminder of Thy victory and our redemption, a victorious and glorious sign of Christ’s love. Behold this unconquerable sign of the cross by which diabolical power was destroyed and human liberty restored, which once was a symbol of shame, but now by Thy grace has been turned into a symbol of honor; which once punished the guilty with death, but now absolves criminals from their debt. And how can it please Thee, except that by it Thou were pleased to redeem us? And now no gift can any longer give Thee due honor except that which onetime had the sacred Body nailed to it; nor is there an offering more familiar to Thee than the one consecrated by the familiar extension of Thine own hands. Therefore, accept this cross with those hands that once embraced the first cross, and by the holiness of that cross make holy ✠ this one. And as the world’s guilt was expiated by that cross, so may Thy servants merit deliverance from sin by this one, as they honor it in praise of Thee. Under the protection of the true cross may they advance step by step as victors. Here on the cross may the splendor of Thy only-begotten Son, our Lord, sparkle in the gold of Thy glance; may the renown of His death on the wood shine out; may our redemption from death, the purification of our life, be reflected in the effulgent crystal of the cross. Let the cross be a safeguard and assurance to its followers; let it unite them in faith with the people of all nations, bringing them together in peace and in hope, advancing them in victories, increasing their good fortunes, helping them for all time to advance toward everlasting life, thus assuring their happiness in this life, and leading them by its mighty power to the glory of the heavenly kingdom. May you grant this by the appeasing Blood of Thy Son, by Him Who is the giver of all gifts [see Jam 1:17], Who gave Himself for the redemption of many [see Mat 20:28], Who offered Himself as a holocaust for sin, Who in being exalted on the wood of the cross humbled the principalities and powers [see Col 2:15], Who with Thee, in the undivided unity of the Holy Ghost, sits on the heavenly throne forevermore.
℟. Amen.Then the priest, kneeling before the cross, devoutly venerates and kisses it, and others who wish may do likewise.
This blessing is much grander than the previous, having the priest vested in cope, using incense, even including a preface, and views the cross as a “battle standard / vexillum,” similar to the hymn Vexilla regis prodeunt, a word which is also used to denote a processional banner. It also, notably, differentiates between crucifixes made of wood and those made of metal. As with the previous, a priest no longer needs delegation from the Ordinary to use this blessing.
Themes common in both of these blessings, especially as the majority of the first is also present in the second, are references to the Trees in Eden, Christ suffering on the wood of the Cross and His victory, by means of the cross, over Satan, sin, and death. In this, they are expanding on themes present in the Preface of the Holy Cross:6
It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God; Who did establish the salvation of mankind on the tree of the Cross; that whence death came, thence also life might arise again, and that he, who overcame by the tree, by the tree also might be overcome: Through Christ our Lord. Through Whom…
In addition to the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Roman tradition also celebrated a feast of the Cross on 3 May, the Finding of the Holy Cross, commemorating when St. Helen, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, unearthed the True Cross of Our Lord which had been buried. Possibly motivated by this feast falling near when warm-season crops are planted, on 10 February 1888, the Sacred Congregation of Rites approved a blessing for crosses which will be placed in cultivated fields, vineyards, and the like (Benedictio Crucium in agris, vineis, etc., plantandarum) which is to be used on 3 May or on the following Sunday (Dominica proxima):7
℣. Our help is in the Name of the Lord
℟. Who made heaven and earth.
℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with your spirit.Let us pray. Almighty everlasting God, merciful Father and our unalloyed comfort, in virtue of the bitter suffering which Thine only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, endured for us sinners on the wood of the cross, bless ✠ these crosses which Thy faithful will set up in their vineyards, gardens, fields, and other places. Shield the land where they are placed from hail, tornado, storm, and every onslaught of the enemy, so that the produce, ripened for the harvest, may be gathered to Thine honor by those who put their trust in the holy cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who lives and reigns with Thee forever and ever.
℟. Amen.They are sprinkled with holy water.
It would appear that this blessing is intended for wooden crosses without a corpus as they will be subject to the weather. While this Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross was removed from universal observance under Pope John XXIII, later permission allowed for the Mass of the Finding of the True Cross to be celebrated on 3 May.8 As these crosses are to be placed in “vineyards, gardens, fields, and other places,” there is a fitting request to protect crops from the ravages of the weather and for there to be a good harvest.
The blessings above are used for large wooden crosses, large shrine crucifixes, and crosses to be placed in fields and the like respectively, but what about crucifixes which are to be placed on church altars or used at home? Such crucifixes are blessed using the Solemn Blessing of an Image (Solemnis Benedictio Imaginis),9 which can be used at any time and reads as follows in translation:10
Solemn Blessing of an Image
of Our Lord Jesus Christ, or the Blessed Virgin Mary, or another SaintImages intended for public veneration should be solemnly blessed. This solemn blessing is reserved to the Ordinary, who however can grant this faculty to any priest.
This blessing can be conferred privately by any priest without the Ordinary’s permission.
The appropriate expression should be used, as indicated in the text below.℣. Our help is in the Name of the Lord.
℟. Who made heaven and earth.
℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with your spirit.Let us pray. O Almighty everlasting God, Who do not forbid us to carve or paint images (or likenesses) of Thy saints, in order that whenever we look at them with our bodily eyes we may call to mind their holy lives, and resolve to follow in their footsteps; may it please Thee to bless and to hallow this image (or statue), which has been made in memory and honor of Thine only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ (or the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, or blessed N., Thy Apostle, or Martyr, or Bishop, or Confessor, or Virgin). And grant that all who in its presence pay devout homage to Thine only-begotten Son (or the blessed Virgin, or the glorious Apostle, or Martyr, or Bishop, or Confessor, or Virgin) may by His (or her or his) merits both obtain Thy grace in this life and everlasting glory in the life to come; through (the same) Christ our Lord.
℟. AmenThe priest then sprinkles it with holy water.
Again, the restriction indicated in the printed rubrics was modified by later directives. This blessing succinctly presents the Church’s teaching on the use and veneration of images, namely that their production and use is not forbidden by God; that the faithful are reminded of the lives and merits of those whose images they view; that the faithful be motived by the example of those whose images they view to live a more holy and Christian life; and that, by the intercession of the those whose images they view, they may receive supernatural benefits.
The blessings in the Roman tradition for crosses and crucifixes, along with that for images of the saints, are rich and varied, expressing in vivid and beautiful terms the mind of the Church regarding these items and their uses by the faithful.
May what have been presented above aid the faithful in keeping the upcoming feast of the Holy Cross, and indeed even the rest of the days of their lives, with a more profound appreciation for the crosses, crucifixes, and images which adorn, or should adorn, their churches, their shrines, their houses, and even their fields.
Rev. Cav. William Rock, FSSP, SMOCSG was ordained in the fall of 2019 and was invested as an Ecclesiastical Knight of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George in the summer of 2025. He currently resides at the FSSP Canonical House of St. Casimir in Nashua, NH, and ministers at St. Stanislaus parish.
In support of the causes of Blessed Maria Cristina, Queen, and Servant of God Francesco II, King
- Matters Liturgical [1959], n. 152.c.
- Rituale Romanum [1957], Titulus IX – Caput 9, 13; English rubrics taken from the translation provided in the Parish Ritual – Designed to Aid Parish Priests in the Regular Exercise of the Pastoral Ministry – Supplemented by Lawful Customary Usages Proper to the United States. Ed. McManus, Fredrick R. in association with Babo, Bede. (New York: Benziger Brothers, Inc., 1962), p. 15*; English translation modified from the translation of the Ritual, Complete Edition done by Philip T. Weller (Chicago: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1964), Blessing of Things Designated for Sacred Functions of Purposes, n. 14.
- Inter Oecumenici Instruction on Implementing Liturgical Norms, 26 September 1964, 77.
- Matters Liturgical [1959], n. 152.b.
- Rituale Romanum [1957], Titulus IX – Caput 9, 14; translation adopted from Weller, Complete Edition, Blessing of Things Designated for Sacred Functions of Purposes, n. 14.
- Translation taken from Divinum Officium.
- Rituale Romanum [1957], Titulus IX – Caput 3, 12; English adapted from the Weller translation provided online by EWTN (2, XI, II, 15).
- See the entry for 3 May in the 2021 CDF Ordo Divini Officii Recitandi Sacrique Peragendi.
- See Matters Liturgical [1959], n. 152.a.
- Rituale Romanum [1957], Titulus IX – Caput 9, 15; English rubrics taken from the translation provided in the Parish Ritual – Designed to Aid Parish Priests in the Regular Exercise of the Pastoral Ministry – Supplemented by Lawful Customary Usages Proper to the United States. Ed. McManus, Fredrick R. in association with Babo, Bede. (New York: Benziger Brothers, Inc., 1962), p. 15*; English translation adopted from Weller, Complete Edition, Blessing of Things Designated for Sacred Functions of Purposes, n. 15.
this new fire, and grant that after the darkness of this life we may come unsullied to you who are light eternal; through Christ our Lord.