The Exaltation of the Cross is a Christian feast day, celebrated on September 14, that honors the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. The term “exaltation” has a dual meaning: it refers to the adoration of the cross as the sacred instrument of salvation and also to the historical event of the 7th-century Emperor Heraclius’s recovery and return of the True Cross from the Persians. The feast commemorates Christ’s sacrificial death, his resurrection, and the cross’s enduring role as the central symbol of the Christian faith.