Novena in Exaltation of the Holy Cross ( Day 1 )

Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi,
quia per crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee,
for by Thy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.

Let us faithfully pray Novena in the Exaltation of the Holy Cross :

Jesus, Who because of Thy burning Love for us
willed to be crucified
and to shed Thy Most Precious Blood
for the Redemption and Salvation of our souls,
look down upon us and grant the petition we humbly ask for
(our prayer intention here...)
Lord we trust completely in Thy Mercy.
Cleanse us from sin by Thy Grace,
sanctify our work,
give us and all those who are dear to us our daily bread,
lighten the burden of our sufferings,
bless our families,
and grant to the nations,
so sorely afflicted,
Thy Peace, which is the only True Peace,
so that by obeying Thy Commandments
we may come at last to the Glory of Heaven. Amen

We Catholics have a great share in this Exaltation of the Cross. It is our special trust, our badge, our glory. Like the first Christians, it is ours to honor, to use, to be known by. Those who have fallen from the true faith have laid it aside as childish and not fit for the mature. But the Gospel was preached to the childlike, and the Kingdom of Heaven reserved for them. So we will keep our childlike ways, and loyally use the sacred sign. We will make it with reverence, with confidence, with joy. And the day will come when we who are signed with the Sign of the Cross upon our foreheads will go forth to meet our Redeemer, and He will acknowledge us to be His own. Like Constantine, by that sign we shall conquer.

On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (or Triumph of the Cross) we honor the Holy Cross by which Christ redeemed the world.
The public veneration of the Cross of Christ originated in the fourth century, according to early accounts, beginning with the miraculous discovery of the cross on September 14, 326, by Saint Helen, mother of Constantine, while she was on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem -- the same day that two churches built at the site of Calvary by Constantine were dedicated.
Christians "exalt" the Cross of Christ as the instrument of our salvation. Adoration of the Cross is, thus, adoration of Jesus Christ, the God Man, who suffered and died on this Roman instrument of torture for our redemption from sin and death. The Holy Cross represents the One Sacrifice by which Jesus, obedient even unto death, accomplished our salvation. The Holy Cross is a symbolic summary of the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ -- all in one image.
Christians "exalt" the Cross of Christ as the instrument of our salvation. 

Oremus/Let us pray :  

O God, Who, for the redemption of the world, wast pleased to be born in a stable, and to die upon a Cross; O Lord Jesus Christ, by Thy Holy Sufferings, which we, Thy unworthy servants, devoutly call to mind, by Thy Holy Cross, and by Thy Holy Passion and  Death, deliver us from the pains of hell, and vouchsafe to conduct us whither Thou didst conduct the thief who was crucified with Thee. 
Who livest and reignest eternally in Heaven.     Amen.