The Cross of Christ and the crosses that we carry for Him are also symbols of our honour. This means receiving humiliation with our head held high, taking pride in it – and moreover, with a spirit of defiance. In face of those who insult us, let us proclaim the supreme symbol of our Faith with even greater gusto and jubilation. This is entirely in accord with the idea of exaltation: to manifest the glory of the Cross, with a dignity that quells the outrages that the adversaries seek to perpetrate against Christ. Our Faith needs to be defended with a combative spirit and, thus, if someone insults the Cross in our presence, we should respond fearlessly and courageously. Not as one who vindicates his own honour, but as one who responds for the infinitely more precious honour of Our Lord Jesus Christ and, in union with His, that of the Blessed Virgin. This is the lesson that the Cross gives us: to embrace suffering, sacrifice, holocaust, in an act of man’s fidelity to his own vocation. This fidelity not only signifies a life-long battle for the triumph of the Catholic Faith and the elevation of the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ above all things, but also victory in our interior combats.