The Holy Cross is a term often used in Catholic prayer. Every prayer begins with the “sign of the cross”. It is this sign that Christians have chosen - after that of the fish which signifies the resurrection of the dead - to emphasize the most astonishing Christian originality: Jesus Christ, God the Son (in the uniqueness of the One God Trinity) did not jealously retain the rank which equaled him to God, but he annihilated himself, taking the condition of a servant. Recognized as a man by his appearance, he humbled himself before obedience until death, and death on the Cross, which thus becomes "the Holy Cross".
Through the Holy Cross, God shows that he takes upon himself all our suffering. That He did not create them, and that He does not desire it for us. The question of suffering is treated on the Holy Cross, not in a rationalist way, but in a human, complete and initiatory way, revealing the depth of the human question, in all that is spiritual and paradoxical. Our ancestors meditated on this from generation to generation, and named certain churches "Holy Cross" as a sign of their faith and their boldness.