Holy Cross Day commemorates the Cross of Christ as the instrument of salvation — not a symbol of defeat but of triumph. The feast originates in the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (September 13-14, 335), when the relic of the True Cross was venerated publicly. The September 14 date became the annual commemoration of this veneration. The feast proclaims the paradox at the heart of Christianity: what the world sees as shame and weakness, God reveals as glory and power.