Isle of Wight, September 2006. Abbot Cuthbert Johnson, OSB, of Quarr Abbey celebrated Mass on the occasion of the Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross on 14 September 2006 at Quarr Abbey, Isle of Wight.
Mr Peter Jennings, a Knight of Merit with Star of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George, represented the British and Irish Delegation on the occasion.
After Mass, Abbot Cuthbert Johnson, who worked as an official in the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, from 1983 until he was elected Abbot of Quarr in August 1996, said: “The celebration of this Feast unites the Church of the East and the West in honouring the sign of our salvation”.
“The decline in the love of the Cross is the cause of a loss of direction among many Christians. To embrace the Cross and follow our Lord Jesus Christ involves renunciation of self. St Paul has told us that the lack of the spirit of mortification leads to living ‘as enemies of the cross of Christ’ with ‘minds set on earthly things’ rather than having the courage to ‘glory in the Cross of Christ’.
“It is sad today that many Christian homes do not have the crucifix in a place of honour. We should take great care to make the sign of the Cross with devotion.”