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September 14: THE EXALTATION OF THE CROSS: Too Heavy for a Crown
Legend says the True Cross grew too heavy for an emperor to carry — until he traded his crown for bare feet. This feast remembers Emperor Heraclius's return of the recovered True Cross to Jerusalem in the 600s. Tradition holds that the Cross wouldn't budge, and the city gate wouldn't open, until Heraclius set aside his royal robes and crown and carried it in simple humility instead — a reminder of why the Church still lifts up the Cross every year. "It's a symbol that love, even suffering love, wins in the end." This feast's chal...
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cross of Jesus Christ.
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Is this episode right for you?
B2 · Upper-intermediate
Comfortable if you already follow TV news
- 88% of the words are B1 or easier.
- 127 words a minute: slow, clear speech.
- 20 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.
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Welcome back to the Catholic Sproust podcast, where we know that every day is a feast day. It's September 14th, so join us for the exaltation of the cross and too heavy for a crown. The Emperor rode towards the gates of Jerusalem dressed in gold with fine furs and his crown covered with jewels that gleamed in the sun.
He carried with him the most precious object in the entire Christian world, the actual cross of Jesus Christ. He had fought for years to win it back from enemy hands and now he wanted the whole city to see him bring it home in triumph.
But at the gate of the city, something stopped him. The cross suddenly grew impossibly heavy in his arms, as though invisible hands were holding it down. Then, as they approached the gate, they realized that it would not open.
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