Holy Cross Patrons
The Sacred Heart of Jesus
As Holy Cross Priests, we ground our model of priestly charity in the Sacred Heart of Jesus – that heart pierced by the soldier’s lance in the final proof that Jesus offered all, every last bit of His life, for us. In imitation of Him, we also seek to offer all in ministering the Sacraments and preaching the Good News.
Rev. David T. Tyson, C.S.C., former Provincial Superior of Holy Cross
On the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
There is a legend in the Catholic Church that the soldier who pierced the side of Christ (John 19:34), whom we know as Saint Longinus, experienced a sudden conversion when the blood of Jesus ran down the shaft of the spear onto the hands of Saint Longinus, who then touched his eyes with his hands. The truth of our Lord, that which was previously hidden from Longinus the soldier, became immediately clear.
From darkness to light, from duty to choice, from hatred to love, in an instant the hardened heart of the soldier became one with the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Saint Longinus’ conversion story provides a glimpse into our devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, a devotion to help us align our hearts (symbolically to mean our love) with His, to ponder the depth of His love for us, including His wounds, and to see the manifestations of His love in our lives, in His Church and in the world. This contemplation of the Most Sacred Heart compelled Saint Longinus to commit his life to Christ’s love, as it has inspired countless others to do the same, including Blessed Basil Moreau who in founding the Congregation of Holy Cross, named the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus as patron of his community of priests, a patronage that has guided and protected Holy Cross for 175 years.
“Surely in the eyes of faith, nothing more deserves our respect and adoration than does the Sacred Heart.”
Blessed Basil Moreau, Sermon on the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Our reflection on the love of Christ is not complete if our focus is exclusively as “recipients” of the great gift of this love for us. Certainly, we are the beneficiaries of the profound and infinite love of Jesus which we see, as did Longinus, in gazing upon the cross. But to engage more deeply in this love, we must understand not just the gift, but the Giver, and to know the Giver, we must touch His Most Sacred Heart.
Our commemoration of and devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus reminds us of the fullness of His love for us and calls us into a deeper Communion. As we come to know the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we come to know His virtues and His teachings, His inner life and His infinite love. We will find our lives transformed as did Saint Longinus, so with our eyes we will see His truth, with our hands we will hold His body and blood and with our hearts we will love as the Master has shown us love.
Holy Cross Patrons
From the earliest days, Blessed Basil Moreau envisioned his new Congregation being modeled after the Holy Family. Not surprisingly then, he entrusted each of the three branches of Holy Cross to an individual patron within the Holy Family. The priests of Holy Cross are consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The brothers of Holy Cross, drawing upon their beginnings with Fr. Jaques Dujarie as the Brothers of St. Joseph, are consecrated to St. Joseph. The sisters of Holy Cross are consecrated to Mary under the title of Our Lady of Sorrows.
The entire Congregation is also placed under the patronage of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Sacred Heart of Jesus
As Holy Cross Priests, we ground our model of priestly charity in the Sacred Heart of Jesus – that heart pierced by the soldier’s lance in the final proof that Jesus offered all, every last bit of His life, for us. In imitation of Him, we also seek to offer all in ministering the Sacraments and preaching the Good News.
Our Lady of Sorrows
Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, is both the patron of Holy Cross Sisters and the special patron of the whole family of Holy Cross. In selecting Mary under this title as our principal patron, Blessed Basil Moreau gave us a patron who, better than anyone else, could instruct us in our spirituality and mission to proclaim the Cross of Christ as our only hope.
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph embodies the virtues for which all Christians, but especially we religious, strive, including integrity, fortitude, fidelity, and sanctity. We seek to live our vocations as Holy Cross brothers with the same loyalty, faithfulness, and generosity that Joseph showed in his vocations as the husband of Mary and the foster-father of Jesus.