The Day of the Holy Cross

For centuries the Western Church kept May 3 as the feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross, recalling the tradition that Saint Helena, mother of the emperor Constantine, discovered the Cross of Christ in Jerusalem around 326. In 1960 the feast was removed from the general Roman calendar, and the Church now honors the Cross universally on September 14, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

In the Spanish-speaking world, however, May 3 never stopped being the Día de la Santa Cruz. The devotion arrived in the Americas with the first missionaries, who planted crosses in new towns, and it blended with springtime and harvest customs. For millions of families the day is a celebration of the Cross not as a sign of defeat but as the tree of life, blossoming with flowers.

In Mexico, May 3 is the day of the albañiles, the construction workers: they place crosses decorated with flowers and colored paper on top of buildings under construction, a priest may bless the site, and the owner offers food, music and fireworks. In Spain the Cruces de Mayo fill Córdoba, Granada and many Andalusian towns with crosses covered in flowers. In Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela and Paraguay there are processions, wakes of the cross and dances in its honor.