Calendar Class of September 14, 2025
- Andrea Kirk Assaf
- Sep 14
- 5 min read
A Carpe Diem Snapshot:
Liturgical: Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Gospel Excerpt, John 3:13-17: Jesus said to Nicodemus: "No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was observed in Rome before the end of the seventh century. It commemorates the recovery of the Holy Cross, which had been placed on Mount Calvary by St. Helena and preserved in Jerusalem, but then had fallen into the hands of Chosroas, King of the Persians. The precious relic was recovered and returned to Jerusalem by Emperor Heralius in 629.
The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine describes Emperor Heraclius carrying the Cross back to Jerusalem on his shoulders. He was clothed with costly garments and with ornaments of precious stones. But at the entrance to Mt. Calvary a strange incident occurred. Try as hard as he would, he could not go forward. Zacharias, the Bishop of Jerusalem, then said to the astonished monarch: "Consider, O Emperor, that with these triumphal ornaments you are far from resembling Jesus carrying His Cross." The Emperor then put on a penitential garb and continued the journey.
The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross supersedes the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Pope Leo's Sunday Angelus.
Fr. Plant's Homily-Scripture Lesson: The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up
Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon: Christ, and Him Crucified
The earliest known Christian depiction of Christ's cross in art: Santa Sabina
Sanctoral: St. Notburga
St. Zita of Lucca, Italy, is the best-known patron of domestic servants. A less-known contemporary of Zita's was St. Notburga of Austria, who is venerated in the Austrian Tyrol, Bavaria, Istria, Croatia and Slovenia. Many a church in these lands bears her name.
Notburga was born at Rattenberg-on-the-Inn, a town in the Austrian Tyrol not far to the east of Innsbruck. At the age of 18, this devout young woman of peasant stock entered the employment of Count Henry of Rattenberg as a member of his kitchen staff.
Notburga was always very solicitous of the poor. She cut down on her own food, especially on Friday, so as to be able to give something to those who knocked on the kitchen door. Discovering that the staff were used to discarding the abundant food left over from the Count's table, she also began to hand this out, too. Count Henry's mother was apparently unopposed to the charitable practice. But after the mother's death Henry's wife, Countess Ottilia, ordered that all leftovers be fed to the pigs. Dismayed, Notburga obeyed for a time, but then renewed her former policy. Unfortunately, the bossy Ottilia caught her red-handed one day and saw to it that she was fired.
The young woman then found employment with a farmer at nearby Eben. Her new job involved fieldwork. A charming legend connecting her with harvesting has become a popular tale among the children of Tyrol. Notburga made a practice of going to church for Sunday's first vespers, and her employer had agreed not to interfere. One Saturday, however, when she was engaged in reaping, the vesper bell rang, indicating that Sunday had officially begun. The saint was getting ready to leave for church when the farmer ordered her to continue cutting the grain. She refused. With first vespers it was already Sunday, she said, and Christians do not work on Sunday. "But the weather might change and the crop be lost," he insisted. "All right," said the servant, "Let this sickle decide between us." Thereupon she threw the shiny crescent-shaped tool up into the air, and there it hung like a new moon! The farmer yielded, and she went off to church.
Meanwhile, Count Henry was in a dejected state of mind. Bossy Ottilia had died and he had been suffering all sorts of misfortunes, which he was inclined to blame on his dismissal of Notburga. When he remarried, therefore, he asked her to return to his castle as housekeeper. She did so, and lived the rest of her life happily in his employ.
When Notburga was dying, it is said, she urged him to continue taking care of the poor. Furthermore, she instructed him to place her corpse on a wagon drawn by two oxen, and to bury her wherever the oxen might stop in their tracks. Henry complied. The oxen stopped right in front of the chapel of St. Rupert at Eben, so there she was laid to rest.
Although long venerated in the western and Adriatic parts of the Austrian Empire, Notburga was never officially canonized. In March 1862, however, Pope Pius IX formally confirmed her ancient cult and her saintly title.
When St. Notburga is represented in paintings or sculptures, it is often with a sickle, either in her hand or hanging in the sky like a new moon.
—Excerpted from Saints Alive and All God's Children, Father Robert F. McNamara
Patronage: agricultural workers; farm workers; farmers; field hands; husbandmen; peasants; servants; servers; waiters; waitresses
Human: Happy 70th Birthday to his Holiness, Pope Leo XIV! Read about his Augustinian roots here.
9 BC – Drusus the Elder, Roman commander, stepson of Augustus, and the brother of Emperor Tiberius, died. Drusus was one of the most outstanding people of his time. His friendly manners, an attractive appearance and, above all, brilliant military talents, provided him with the recognition and attachment of the legionaries. He was an outstanding commander, which he confirmed with numerous victories over the Germans. His openly expressed sympathy for the republican principles won him recognition in wide circles. It was believed that he could contribute to the restoration of the republic. Apparently, while crossing the Elbe river, he was distracted by a vision in which the huge ghost of a woman told him that death was close. On the way back, the accident occurred, Drusus falling from the horse and breaking his leg. After 30 days, he died in the presence of his brother, Tiberius, who, at the news of the accident, quickly went to the camp. Drusus’ ashes lay in the Mausoleum of Augustus.
23 AD – Drusus the Younger, Roman general, died.
Natural: Tradition holds that sweet basil grew over the hill where St. Helena found the Holy Cross, so in Greece the faithful are given sprigs of basil by the priest. Cook a basil pesto, tomato basil salad (with the last of the summer tomatoes) or some other type of recipe that includes basil, and explain to the family.
Italian: Chi dorme non piglia pesci (you snooze, you lose)
Quote: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
–1 Corinthians 1:18
Comments