If a cross is to be exposed for public veneration, it should be solemnly blessed.

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord. All:Who made heaven and earth. P:The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.
Holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, be pleased to bless + this cross, that it may be a saving help to mankind. Let it be the support of faith, an encouragement to good works, the redemption of souls; and let it be consolation, protection, and a shield against the cruel darts of the enemy; through Christ our Lord.

All:Amen.
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus Christ, bless + this cross by which you snatched the world from Satan’s grasp, and on which you overcame by your suffering the tempter to sin, who rejoiced in the first man’s fall in eating of the forbidden tree. Here it is sprinkled with holy water. May this cross be hallowed in the name of the Father, + and of the Son, + and of the Holy + Spirit; and may all who kneel and pray before this cross in honor of our Lord find health in body and soul; through Christ our Lord.

All:Amen.

After this the priest, kneeling before the cross, devoutly venerates and kisses it, and others may do likewise.