Personal veneration is available in the Chapel during the hour before the 11:30 a.m. Mass, offering quiet time for prayer and reflection.

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is celebrated on September 14. In honor of this sacred feast, the National Shrine will bring the Relic of the True Cross from the Apparition Oratory to the Apparition Chapel for veneration that day.

All are welcome to attend and venerate this sacred relic on this holy feast day.

The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus Christ was crucified for the salvation of the world. Discovered in the fourth century by St. Helena during her pilgrimage to the Holy Land, relics of the True Cross have long been venerated by the faithful as a powerful reminder of Christ’s sacrifice and the victory of the Cross.