← Hours

Week 24 of Ordinary Time

Evening Prayer · The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Monday, September 14, 2026

Prayer Reading Mode: Prayer Space

Hours Depth: Medium

About today

The Church lifts up the Cross on 14 September, recalling both the instrument of shame and the sign of victory. What the world used to kill, God used to save. The feast is older than any one shrine: it is the Gospel in wood. Ask today not for a cross of our own inventing, but for the grace to glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world is crucified to us, and we to the world.

Original – Prayer on Fire.

The Exaltation of the Holy CrossChoose how you want to pray this hour:

Opening

God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me.

Hymn

Let my prayer rise like incense, Lord, Out of the depths I call. You have been bountiful this day; Teach my soul to rest in all. In the evening sacrifice of praise Receive my thanks and tears. Christ, unfailing light, remain As lesser brightness disappears.

Original – Prayer on Fire

Psalm I

Antiphon

By this holy wood, teach us to love as we have been loved.

Psalm 34 (33):2–4, 9

Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)

Psalm

I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise will be ever in my mouth. In the Lord, my soul will be praised. May the meek listen and rejoice. Magnify the Lord with me, and let us extol his name in itself. Taste and see that the Lord is sweet. Blessed is the man who hopes in him.

Glory Be

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Antiphon

By this holy wood, teach us to love as we have been loved.

Psalm II

Antiphon

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you — by your Cross you redeem the world.

Psalm 113 (112):1–3

Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)

Psalm

Praise the Lord, children. Praise the name of the Lord. Blessed is the name of the Lord, from this time forward and even forever. From the rising of the sun, even to its setting, praiseworthy is the name of the Lord.

Glory Be

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Antiphon

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you — by your Cross you redeem the world.

Silence

A moment of silence

Reading of the feast

Philippians 2:8–9

Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)

He humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, even the death of the Cross. Because of this, God has also exalted him and has given him a name which is above every name,

Responsory

This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Magnificat

Antiphon

He looks with favor on the lowly; let evening find us among them.

Luke 1:46–55

Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)

Canticle

And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord. And my spirit leaps for joy in God my Savior. For he has looked with favor on the humility of his handmaid. For behold, from this time, all generations shall call me blessed. For he who is great has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is from generation to generations for those who fear him. He has accomplished powerful deeds with his arm. He has scattered the arrogant in the intentions of their heart. He has deposed the powerful from their seat, and he has exalted the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has taken up his servant Israel, mindful of his mercy, just as he spoke to our fathers: to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

Glory Be

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Antiphon

He looks with favor on the lowly; let evening find us among them.

Intercessions

For the Church, that we may witness with courage and gentleness on this holy day.

R. Speak, Lord, we are listening.

For those who seek the Lord with tears, that they may hear their name spoken in love.

R. Speak, Lord, we are listening.

For the poor and the forgotten, that Christ’s friends may serve them with joy.

R. Speak, Lord, we are listening.

For our household and those we carry in prayer.

R. Speak, Lord, we are listening.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Closing prayer

God our Father, you give the Church this day of The Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Let the grace of this Hour stay with us in work and rest. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Save a journal note

Journal notes stay private on your account. Sign in if you would like to keep a reflection here.

An original Prayer on Fire offering for the hours of the day