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Sermon on May 3rd by the Monastery of the Faith and Rosary in Brazil.

A Resistance Monastery. 



Amen. My beloved brothers, praised be our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are setting aside, brothers, today's universal liturgical day, the fourth
Sunday after Easter, to celebrate a feast proper to Brazil: the Invention of the
Holy Cross on the 3rd of May.

We know that when Cabral arrived, the first Mass celebrated in the Brazilian
land was on an ilhéu, on a small island. They called it Coroa Vermelha. Friar
Henrique Soares de Coimbra, the superior of the Franciscans who were coming with
Cabral to go and preach the holy doctrine in India. A painting often appears
around here, if I am not mistaken by Debret, of the first Mass of Brazil before
a large cross on May 3rd in Porto Seguro. No, it is not the first, it is the
second. But that first one was celebrated before an iron cross, of which we have
here in Bahia, in Salvador, at Conceição da Praia, a copy made of Brazilian
wood; this second Mass [said by] Friar Henrique. That was before not only the
Portuguese who were there, but also many Indians who watched that unknown
ceremony peacefully. Thus, today, on the Feast of the Invention of the Holy
Cross, we have the remembrance of this admirable fact of Sunday, May 3rd.


However, we must take this cross, the Invention of the Holy Cross, as the
primary fact we are celebrating. What does "invention" mean in Latin? Invenire
is finding, discovery. During the earliest times, the exact place of the cross
of Jesus was unknown. Because the pagans, wanting to root out every memory of
Jesus, covered the region of the Holy Sepulcher with gravel, with earth in great
quantity, leaving the sepulcher underneath, etc. They built, to drive people
even further away from Jesus, a temple in honor of the corrupt goddess Venus. At
the holy site, a statue of the false god Jupiter was also made. Two false gods.

Everything was unknown in the early times of Constantine, who was facing the
violent and powerful combat of Maxentius, with more than 180,000 warriors.
Constantine knew that he could not face that formidable army with the material
resources available in his army. He knew he needed higher, loftier forces. And
then he remembered the God of the Christians, whose power he had, of whose power
he had heard news, so that a general confidence in the army and the result of
victory could be spread.

One day, Constantine saw in the middle of the sky at high noon, an enormous,
most beautiful cross, on which was inscribed: In hoc signo vinces [By this sign
you shall conquer], oh Emperor Maxentius [sic - speaker means Constantine was
addressed against Maxentius], by means of this sign, through the cross. When
night came, Jesus appeared to him with the same sign in His hands and commanding
that he build a standard in that likeness to accompany the army. And so it was
done. He summoned the most important goldsmiths, specialists in working with
precious stones and gold. And explaining what he had seen, he ordered them to
make a similar sign, with all possible beauty, with all possible richness of
precious stones. Which these specialists in the art of goldsmithing executed
without delay.

As our Lord had determined for him, [snoring sound/heavy breathing] he placed
this glorious symbol of the cross of Jesus at the front of the army and ordered
copies to be made and placed at the front of each legion, and he faced the
battle against Maxentius, frequently invoking the King of the Christians, and
emerged victorious. Maxentius ended up dying drowned in the Tiber in the most
resounding defeat that the history of Rome had known until then.

Constantine's mother, Saint Helena, was a great saint, an admirable woman, who
dressed very simply, very modestly, but spent everything she could to honor the
holy religion of Jesus Christ, our Catholic Church. Constantine elevated her to
the condition of Empress, granted her powers to use his riches for the pious
works she performed. Saint Helena, who was 80 years old, was not young at all,
went to Jerusalem desirous of finding the true cross of Jesus. She went up to
Calvary and, following ancient traditions, where the temple of Venus and the
statue of Jupiter stood, she ordered everything to be torn down, all the gravel
removed, all the earth that was covering the region, until she found the Holy
Sepulcher and next to it, she also found three exact same crosses.

The tablet that Pilate ordered to be placed on the cross of Jesus, "Jesus the
Nazarene, the King of the Jews," was not attached to the cross; it was separate,
which made it difficult to discover which was the true cross. Saint Helena,
desirous of recognizing it, ordered that the holy Bishop of Jerusalem, Saint
Macarius, be consulted. This saint told her to take a gravely ill person to
touch the crosses, because the sick person would certainly be cured by the true
one. Thus, they took a lady of high society who was agonizing, and she touched
the first, the second. Upon touching the third, she became entirely healthy.
Before a multitude that watched that ceremony.

And it didn't stop there. They had the idea to bring three bodies of the dead
and lay them on top of each of the crosses. And on the cross where the lady had
been cured, the dead man came back to life. And thus it became known which was
the true cross of Jesus.

Saint Helena, with the consent and enthusiasm of Constantine, ordered a
magnificent temple built on the site, and arranged for the cross to be used for
the honor and glory of our Savior. She gave a piece of the cross to Constantine,
the other remained in Jerusalem. Twenty years later, Saint Cyril, also Bishop of
Jerusalem, attests that he saw the phenomenon of the multiplication of the wood
of the cross. Because the bishops of Jerusalem had the custom of offering a
precious gift with a piece of the cross. But what happened is that the cross, as
had occurred with the loaves in the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves,
instead of diminishing, continued [to grow]. Wood added itself, and it remained
large as it was.

The nails were found by Saint Helena. There were many nails, certainly from
where the two thieves and Jesus had been crucified. Except the difference is
that the nails that had crucified Jesus seemed to have been manufactured at that
hour. The iron, the metal was perfect, without any rust. Furthermore, the crown
of thorns was found, which mysteriously remained green. The wood of the crown of
thorns remained green.

The cross was later divided further and taken to some places in Europe. One part
taken by Constantine to Rome, where a great basilica was built which is called
Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (Holy Cross in Jerusalem). The nails were given to a
holy bishop, one to whom Saint Helena had great devotion; another taken to
Milan. Another nail was thrown into the Asiatic sea to stop a violent storm.
However, that iron nail, right? It did not stay at the bottom of the sea, but
floated up. Years later, centuries later, Saint Louis walked to those regions,
received... he who had built a church in honor of the Lord's Passion in Paris.
He received one of those nails in addition to the crown of thorns. It remained
guarded.

Larger and smaller pieces of the true cross are scattered all over the world.
Therefore, we must have a very special cult of adoration for the cross, because
in it the divine blood of our Lord was impregnated. Of the pieces of the cross
of great importance, there was one that remained in Constantinople with
Constantine's dedication in its honor, because Constantine, after that vision of
the cross and the apparition of Jesus, sought out bishops and instructed himself
in the true religion. And he promoted the practice of Catholicism throughout the
entire region under his dominion, not only with the intention of making the true
religion victorious but also so that paganism would disappear.

Arriving in Brazil, close to the feast of the Holy Cross, first thinking it was
an island, the news that reached the King of Portugal made him call the land
first the Island of Vera Cruz, the True Cross. Later, seeing that it was not a
simple island, Land of Santa Cruz [Holy Cross], which is the name that Brazil
should have. Brazil is the name linked to the commerce of Brazilwood.
"Brasileiros" were what the sellers of this wood were called. That was the name
that Brazil should have had: Land of Santa Cruz. Land of Santa Cruz.

So, when contemplating, celebrating the feast of the Holy Cross, today we first
remember the true cross. We adore that cross, we venerate that cross, we love
that cross on which Jesus Christ, God made man, paid harshly for our sins. To
think on the cross. It is towards that cross first that we think. It is to it
that we must direct ourselves in a cult of profound respect and adoration, in
supplication for mercy. The crosses copied throughout the world would be, right,
the symbol of that first one. No church is made without placing the cross. [You
must] place that cross for worship. And when we pray, right? We usually begin
our prayer with the sign of the cross, at least with the general cross, in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Or making the sign
of the cross on oneself, right? The left hand on the chest, the right hand open
flat, with the thumb facing up; the cross on the forehead, by the sign of the
Holy Cross; the cross on the lips, deliver us, God our Lord; the cross on the
heart, from our enemies.


After we meditate a little on this grandiose thing that is the saving cross of
our Lord, we must also meditate on the relation of our life with the cross. With
the suffering that accompanies us here and there with needs, with illnesses,
with combats, with calumnies, with a thousand forms of suffering that accompany
us. Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort, in his admirable book, the "Treatise on True
Devotion to the Holy Cross" [Note: likely referring to "The Love of Eternal
Wisdom" or "The Secret of Mary" where this theme is present, or specifically his
"Letter to the Friends of the Cross"], says: "[Unintelligible French phrase
regarding the necessity of the cross]." The cross is necessary, as he himself
says in the book, it is necessary to suffer always, either to climb Calvary or
to be eternally condemned.

Many times we complain about the sufferings of life without remembering that
this is the way one walks towards God. It is this way. And sometimes we witness
terrible, terrible spectacles of sufferings of a thousand forms. And those who
detest suffering, those who revolt against God because they suffer, these pay
dearly, these surely end up badly, surely badly.

In the history of Saint Francis Borgia, it is recounted that a man from a
Catholic family, who had not confessed for a long time and did not want to
confess, fell seriously ill, and the afflicted family called Father Francis
Borgia, the great saint of the Jesuit order. And the saint, after trying in a
thousand ways to lead that unhappy man to repentance, presented the cross to
him. With all effort, he, turned towards the side where the cross was, turned
his back. The saint went around the bed and he turned his back again. A few
times he insisted on detesting the cross, and then a miracle occurred upon which
we must meditate seriously. The image of the cross became alive. The right arm
detached itself from the nail. Blood began to gush from the chest of the image.
And the living image caught the blood and said: "This blood shed for your
salvation, which you reject, unhappy one, be for your condemnation." And it
threw the blood upon him, and he died in that terrible state.

It is important that we think of our sufferings, in our difficulties, and
uniting these sufferings and these difficulties to the cross of Jesus Christ,
let us draw profit by living a pure Catholicism, a Catholicism in which one does
not commit sin, principally mortal sin. If by misfortune in the past we have a
conscience aching for having sinned, but we seek forgiveness in a well-made
confession, let us move on to live holily, loftily, a true union with our Lord
for our good and our eternal salvation.

Let us go holily. The first step of all is humility. Not to presume anything of
ourselves, not to think we are all that, but precisely to be small so that God
reigns in us, so that the greatness of God may mark our behavior, our word, our
life. Let us have an ardent zeal to win souls: the souls of atheists, the souls
of heretics, Protestants, Spiritists, [unclear word for sect practitioners], who
live without God. The souls of those who live Catholicism in a cold manner, the
indifferent, who do not care about religion, who do not practice it, because
they easily yield to sin, principally to mortal sin. To develop in us a lively,
firm faith, a concrete hope, and a charity that leads us to serve others for the
love of God, doing good, without holding grudges against anyone, without
vengeance, without slander. To think on the day of the Holy Cross about living
Catholicly is to live in perfect union with this cross of Jesus.


In every step we take in life, in every attitude we practice. Yes, my brothers.
Yes. You wish to save yourselves. Do you really wish to save yourselves? Life
passes. Life passes. The day before yesterday I suffered tremendous anguish when
passing by the beltway to come home, a horrible traffic jam. A motorcyclist had
been hit by a truck that he imprudently passed in front of; it shattered the
man. There were pieces of flesh here and there. Terrible death. But what about
the soul? What about his soul? Since the following day, along with the
intentions I have for the Holy Mass, I place his soul, I ask God for mercy. Oh
my God, [snoring/breathing sound] what what life did this man have before? How
was he as a son? How was he as a brother? How was he as a husband, father? Work
colleague? What life did he lead to encounter such a terrible death? But if he
found a terrible, terrible death, purified of his mortal sin, ah, nothing else
is needed. Nothing else is needed, because we were born for Heaven. Each one of
us was born for Heaven. But each one of us can go to Hell. Yes, we can. Yes, we
can.

I remind you of that episode in the life of Saint Francis di Girolamo in Naples,
preaching in the street to the people in front of [the house of] a woman, a
prostitute who, irritated with the preaching she heard from inside her house
from the saint, began to open the window and say insults. However, merciful God,
certainly in attention to that saint, made the saint say to her—he knew her name
was Catarina: "Catarina, you have one week to convert." Then she became even
more furious. The following week, the saint returned to preach right there. And
upon arriving they said: "Father, Catarina died." Then the saint said: "Let's
ask her where she is." And they entered the house of the deceased, whose body
was lying on the table. And he, lifting the cloth from her face that was
covered, asked: "Catarina, where are you?" And she answered from Hell. "I am in
Hell."

Let us open our eyes. The day of the Holy Cross, the day of elevation, the day
of purification, to ask to pray for a Brazil torn to pieces in the hands of
thieves, to pray for our own, for our own, starting with those who do not have
time to praise God, to pray, to seek the Holy Mass, to confess, to make a
well-made communion. While we are alive, we have some task to do for the good of
souls, in profit of the blood shed on that blessed cross, on which our Savior
was nailed for love of us. We pray to You, Lord Jesus Christ, and we bless You.
We adore You, most holy Jesus Christ, and we bless You. We adore You, most holy
Lord Jesus Christ, and we bless You.

Translated using google.