The Rev. Alberto P. Bondy of St. Mary Assumption Church in Bronson noted that the Feast of the Holy Cross is a double anniversary. 

The anniversary commemorates both the discovery of the Lord's cross by St. Helena and the dedication of the Constantinian basilicas, Bondy's column in the Sept. 20 church bulletin said. The church celebrated the double anniversary of the annual holiday on Sept. 14. He also noted that St. Helena was the empress-mother of Constantine, who was the one who gave freedom to Christians. 

"Well, the cross is surely one of the oldest and most widely-used symbols known to the human race," Bondy said in the bulletin. "Its origins have been traced back 4,000 years before the birth of Christ. The simplicity of cruciform shapes, easy to paint or carve into metal and rock, prompted the use of this figure among even the most ancient peoples."

That simple cross form also acquired religious symbolism apart from Christianity even among early pagan societies all over the world; and it then came to represent a monotheistic deity, which was a sophisticated concept in ancient times, Bondy continued. The horizontal crossbar of the cross represented the earth, and the marriage between the crossbar and the vertical beam symbolized how the deity and the earth become one.

"The Christian significance of the cross was born through the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ," Bondy said. "Because persecution of Christians was rampant in the early centuries, many disguised cross forms were developed. Some were associated with a particular person or event; later, a number of purely ecclesiastical cross designs were developed."

The cross form was secondary in the early church to other symbols; such as the vine, the fish, the lamb and the monogram.

That all changed in 312, Bondy said. When Constantine converted to Christianity and outlawed the use of the cross for torture and execution, he made it so that it held a sacred association with Christ's sacrifice. Because of that, no other symbol since has been so closely connected with Christianity.