Veneration Of The Cross

Isaac kissing the cross

This is simply amazing. At such a young age, Isaac already knows how to venerate the cross! I did not teach him at all. As soon as he is able to stand, I brought him to the altar place. Putting him near the altar, he is able to tip-toe and kiss the cross (St Benedict Cross). The St Benedict Cross is such a powerful cross that I had experienced….

I had lost previous photographs of Isaac ‘venerating’ the holy cross of St Benedict. However, I can remember vividly the image of it. Isaac wore a white shirt and pants that night when he venerated the cross (cannot remember if that was the first time). He is not as tall as now. Today, he can walk all over the house, without crawling anymore. His head would knock the dinning table if he walked near it. In the past, his head is underneath the dining table when he walked near it. Some people said that Isaac looks tall!

Anyway, I would like to mention about what happened in the church this Sunday at St Anthony Church, the Woodlands church that we go every weekends. Due to ‘unfavourable’ experiences, I don’t like to sit at the back of the church. But because the crying room is noisy and also sometimes Isaac might make noise, I thought it is still better to sit somewhere behind the church. So sometimes, we sat at the far end side of the church. Little did I know that on this day, 8 August 2010, a day before the National Day of Singapore, this ‘fateful warden’ ‘served’ our pews unexpectedly…. This lady warden was so rude. She was never courteous nor ‘see people in the eye’. It was offering time and she came to our pew, hit Isaac’s head with the money bag. She did not utter any apologies nor any kind of remark. No smiling face. Ricsson said that she had hit him as well. What a rude warden…. In the midst of Mass, I am often interrupted (disrupted) with these wardens ‘ushering’ the parishioners to the church. These are all the late comers to the Mass.

Angry with this church warden, I looked at other wardens still serving the church members, sitting in the pews, giving the church donations. The pretty warden is so courteous. She smiles and said “thank you” each time the church members put money into the money bag. This is a great consolation and a great sight to see than this woman who had ‘offended’ (not really offend, but don’t know the right word to use) me time and again…

First time, it is really first time that such thing happened — this lady warden serving at this ‘unusual’ pew which we had always been sitting there. And first time, out of so many times attending Mass, there is no such thing as Money Bag hitting anybody’s head…. but first time, money bag hit Isaac’s head and Ricsson’s head (I did not see this, but Ricsson told me). And after the Holy Communion ended, Isaac fell on the floor, hitting the chair/seats of the church…. It was such a huge impact. Isaac cried loudly for the first time in the church. Everybody turned their head to see what happened.

I quickly carried Isaac out of the nearest side door of the church, but it was locked. The many church wardens all standing at the main entrance of the church, ‘guarding’ the entrance. As the door was locked, I had to turn to the main entrance. One of the usual church warden walked to me, and unlocked the side door for me. This warden has a kind look and looks quiet type of people. I thanked her and comforted Isaac outside the church for sometime. After a while, Richard came to see Isaac. He is worried about his head.

After mass, he asked if I had prayed for ‘Isaac’s head’. He said that he had prayed…. I pondered over this matter….

About Benedict Cross:
Medals, crosses, rosaries, statues, paintings and other religious articles have long been used as a means of fostering and expressing our religious devotion to God and the saints. Icons, or painted images of Christ and the saints, are especially popular among Eastern Christians as an aid to Christian piety and devotion.

The use of any religious article is therefore intended as a means of reminding us of God and of stirring up in us a ready willingness and desire to serve God and our neighbor. With this understanding we reject any use of religious articles as if they were mere charms or had some magic power to bring us good luck or better health. Such is not the Christian attitude.