✠ IN HOC SIGNO VINCES ✠

Annual Procession for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Friday, September 13th – Vigil of the Feast
9:00 AM – Old St. Mary’s Church → Holy Cross Immaculata (Mt. Adams, OH)

Why We March

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is central to our identity as Catholics. It is through the Cross that Our Lord conquered sin and death, and it is by the Cross that the devil is vanquished in our lives. To carry the Cross is to accept our duty as Catholic men. This is our opportunity to publicly bear the Standard of God’s armies—the Holy Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

In hoc signo vinces. In this sign you shall conquer. By the Cross our Blessed Mother crushed the head of the serpent, shedding her tears at Calvary and uniting her sorrow with Christ’s sacrifice, so that she is rightly called Mother of Sorrows and Mediatrix of All Grace.

Why Now

This event is not a reaction to a single provocation, but to the ongoing cultural collapse around us. Every day in Cincinnati is a pride parade of filth and degeneracy. The enemies of God grow bolder.

But we are Catholics. We must not be merely “reactionary.” We live our Faith according to the liturgical year. In June we make reparation to the Sacred Heart. In September we conquer under the sign of the Cross and make reparation to the Sorrowful Heart of Mary.

We march to send a message to Heaven and to the tri-state area: Catholic men are taking up their Cross, embracing their duty as heads of families and sons of the Church, and boldly professing the Kingship of Christ.

The Procession

9:00 AM – Begin at Old St. Mary’s Church (Cincinnati, OH)

Process to Holy Cross Immaculata Church (Mt. Adams)

At arrival: Veneration at the church doors, then entry for Veneration of the True Relic of the Cross while praying the Litany of the Holy Cross

During the march we will:

Pray the Rosary

Chant the St. Benedict prayer in Latin

Carry crosses, flags, statues, relics, and other sacramentals

Bring: Crucifix, rosary, flags, holy water, blessed salt, statues, and all sacramentals.

This is a public act of faith and a spiritual battle for the heart and soul of Cincinnati—once a Catholic city known for its great processions and rosary rallies. Those days must return.

Dom Prosper Guéranger on the Cross

“Thou, O cross, wert the rallying-standard of all Europe in those sacred expeditions which borrowed from thee their beautiful title of crusades, and which exalted the Christian name in the east. While on the one hand thou wert thus warding off degradation and ruin, on the other thou wert preparing the conquest of new continents; so that it is by thee that our west remains at the head of nations. Through thee, the warriors in those glorious campaigns are inscribed on the first pages of the golden book of nobility. And now the new orders of chivalry, which claim to hold among their ranks the élite of the human race, look upon thee as the highest mark of merit and honor. It is the continuation of to-day’s mystery, the exaltation, even in our times of decadence, of the holy cross, which in past ages was the standard of the legions, and glittered on the diadems of emperors and kings.

“It is true, men have appeared in France, who have made it their aim to overthrow the sacred sign, wheresoever our fathers had honoured it. This invasion of the servants of Pilate into the country of the crusaders was inexplicable, until it was discovered that they were in Jewish pay. These, as St. Leo says of the Jews in to-day’s Office, see in the instrument of salvation nothing but their own crime; and their guilty conscience makes them hire, to pull down the holy cross, the very men whom they formerly paid to set it up. The coalition of such enemies is but one more homage to thee! O adorable cross, our glory and our love here on earth, save us on the day when thou shalt appear in the heavens, when the Son of Man, seated in His majesty, is to judge the world!”

Prayer of St. Benedict (to be memorized and chanted)

Latin:
Crux sacra sit mihi lux!
Non draco sit mihi dux!
Vade retro Satana!
Nunquam suade mihi vana!
Sunt mala quae libas.
Ipse venena bibas!

English:
The Holy Cross be my light;
Never the dragon be my guide.
Get behind me, Satan!
Never suggest vanities to me!
Evil are the things you offer;
Drink your own poison!

✠ We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
✠ Because, by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.