Veneration of the Cross

In a number of churches on Good Friday there is held a ceremony called the Veneration of the Cross.  A crucifix is brought in procession into the sanctuary and there the priest standing before the altar and facing the people, says or sings, “Behold the wood of the Cross on which was hung the Saviour of the world”.  The clergy and people kneel before the Cross and kiss the feet of the figure of our crucified Saviour as a sign of love and gratitude for all he did for us on that first Good Friday.

When we do this we are not adoring or worshipping the image on the crucifix.  Rather, we are expressing in a very practical way our adoration of Jesus: “We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee, because by thy Holy Cross, thou hast redeemed the world”.  This ceremony began in the fourth century in Jerusalem itself where an actual relic of the True Cross was venerated in this way each Good Friday, and from there the custom spread all over the world.

Thus the crucifix leads our minds and hearts to Jesus himself. 

Showing reverence

So it is with a statue or picture of a Saint.  We treat it with reverence because of the Saint it represents, and in so doing we do honour to that Saint.  And when we pray before a statue, we do not pray to the figure itself but to the Saint, and we use the figure to help us do that.

In some churches you will see a stand for candles, or a pricket as it is called, in front of a statue.  When we say our prayers there, we buy and light a candle and put it to burn on the stand.  This is partly in honour of the Saint, and partly because the lighted candle is a witness to our prayer after we have gone on our way.