ORDER OF THE HOLY CROSS. – No certain information exists regarding the origin of the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross; however, it is commonly admitted that they were founded by Theodore of Celles around 1210 near Huy in Belgium. Regular life, begun in the church of St Theobald, was organized in 1248, when the statutes of the Fratres s. Crucis received canonical approval from Cardinal Peter Capocci, deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro, legate of Innocent IV in Belgium. From that time dates the spread of the Order in Belgium, France, Holland, Germany and England.
The religious lived an ascetic and contemplative life, with particular veneration for the Holy Cross and the Passion of Christ. Following a noticeable relaxation of interior life, in 1410 the Master General began an effective reform which brought the Order to great splendour and a wonderful flourishing of works.
With the advent of Protestantism in England under Henry VIII, the convents there were suppressed; with the French Revolution those of France and Belgium were suppressed; and under Napoleon even the flourishing provinces of the Rhineland disappeared. Only two convents remained in Holland, where, however, until 1840 the reception of new subjects was forbidden.
The energetic government of Master General Henry van den Wijmelenberg in the last century brought about a very promising revival, with a marked turn towards an active life in keeping with the needs of the times. The Order today has ten houses in Holland, five in Belgium, four in the United States, two in Brazil and two apostolic vicariates in the Belgian Congo and at Bandung in Indonesia.