Seventh Session of the Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea.
" As the sacred and life-giving cross is everywhere set up as a symbol, so also should the images of
Jesus Christ, the
Virgin Mary, the holy
angels, as well as those of the
saints and other pious and holy men be embodied in the manufacture of sacred vessels, tapestries, vestments, etc., and exhibited on the walls of churches, in the homes, and in all conspicuous places, by the roadside and everywhere, to be revered by all who might see them. For the more they are contemplated, the more they move to fervent memory of their prototypes.
Therefore, it is proper to accord to them a fervent and reverent adoration, not, however, the veritable worship which, according to our faith, belongs to the Divine Being alone –
for the honor accorded to the image passes over to its prototype, and whoever venerate the image venerate in it the reality of what is there represented."
The strict distinction between ‘veneration’ and ‘adoration’ (i.e.
dulia and
latria) wasn’t likely hammered home back then as it is today, evident in the fact that the part I quoted uses both words in reference to the respect shown to the cross. It follows though that if what is shown to an image transfers to its prototype, and Christ is to be
adored, then the crucifix is too to be
adored.
Furthermore, it is actually said in the liturgy of Church that we
adore the cross. The antiphon itself for the Adoration of the Cross is:
Crucem tuam * adoramus, Domine: et sanctam resurrectionem tuam laudamus, et glorificamus: ecce enim propter lignum venit gaudium in universo mundo.
We adore Thy Cross, O Lord: and we praise and glorify Thy holy Resurrection: for behold by the wood of the Cross joy has come into the whole world.
St. Thomas Aquinas fleshes it out even further in the Summa in
Question 25 Article 4: Whether Christ’s cross should be worshipped with the adoration of “latria”?
I realize the Latin is “Venite adoremus” which translates as “Adoration of the Cross” but it has always been my understanding that we venerate the cross. We do not worship the cross itself, as an object.
As I understand it we do in fact
worship (i.e. ‘adore’, or give
latria) to the cross for the very reasons mentioned above, but you are right in that the cross
itself is not worshiped
as an object.
When we venerate a crucifix it is understood we are worshipping Jesus who is hanging on it.
Yes, although I’d be very careful with the terminology here. If we understand ‘veneration’ as strictly meaning
dulia then no, we do not venerate the cross. We
adore it. We give actual latria directly to the cross which indirectly passes on to the God-Man who hung on it.
