The erection of the Holy Cross is associated with the end of the persecution of Christians, when the Roman Emperor Constantine appeared. On the eve of a very important battle, Constantine saw in the sky the sign of the cross with the inscription “Hereby conquer” (in Greek: NIKA). At night, Jesus Christ himself appeared to him with the Cross in his hand and said that with the cross he could defeat the enemy. Christ advised making a banner with the image of the Holy Cross.
Constantine did as he was asked and managed to defeat the enemy. After this, he declared the faith of Christ to be the main one. He instructed his mother, Queen Helen, to find the place where Jesus was crucified and the Cross was buried. They wanted to build a Temple on this site. Queen Helena made a lot of efforts to find right place. When she succeeded, after lengthy excavations, three crosses appeared at once. On the advice of the bishop, they began to bring each cross to a seriously ill woman. Nothing has changed from the two crosses. When they brought the third cross, the woman was instantly healed. In this way they recognized the Cross of the Lord.
Show congratulations
On a bright, quiet holiday
Exaltation of the Holy Cross,
We would like to remind everyone now:
God boldly defeated the underworld,
On the cross Jesus saved us.
Let life flow calmly,
Under the cover of an honest cross,
So that joy and love flow like a river,
To kind and pure hearts.
Life-giving Cross Lord's
Holy Exaltation today,
God's Cross always helps us in life,
Saves us from troubles and diseases!
I congratulate you on your Exaltation,
With all my heart I wish you salvation,
Live on earth with love for God,
Do not sow evil, but only do good!
Life-giving Cross of the Lord
He brings us blessings.
He who believes is free,
The Lord will always save him.
I wish you strength of spirit
Today, on a holiday, on any day,
And faith is not for show,
May God always be with you!
Orthodox blood flowed down him,
And the glorious body was driven into the cross of Jesus,
A year later they erected the cross again,
But only to recreate faith!
So that the cross stands to save us sinners,
On the body so that the sign of faith shines,
A sign of Orthodox strength and goodness,
So that the soul is saved...
The Holy Cross was erected on this day!
Let it be for you and me
Protection, amulet, talisman,
He will not give offense to sorcerers and shamans.
Will protect you from grief and misfortunes,
More will bring us happiness.
Let's pray on this holy day,
Remember forever, the Lord and I are with you.
On the great holiday of the Exaltation
This one is flying congratulations!
And it’s so beautiful, sublime -
Desires for a few lines,
So that the grievances melt in the heart,
Bitterness and anger have dissipated!
Having parted with old grievances,
Start the sowing fun!
Live in health and joy,
Trusting the blue skies,
Let there be sweets with sourness,
If you can do it, you will receive the cross!
When a sign comes to you,
Besides, it finds you itself,
Then you must believe him,
And he believes everything that is said.
There is such an example in history,
Constantine received the good news,
He managed to bravely defeat the enemy,
And completely succeed in everything here.
Queen, his mother, Elena,
Questioning every Jew here,
I was looking for a place for the Cross of the Lord,
Where the evil infidels buried him.
When they dug up that cross,
Which one they didn't know
They applied it to the patient,
Thus, they were quickly healed.
Just like that, believing only in a sign,
We can gain understanding.
That’s why I send my congratulations,
Let it be instructive, like a lesson.
You did not renounce the cross, Jesus,
And before you I pray for this,
May you give me the same strength,
May I become strong and right in my faith!
So that I also carry my cross with dignity,
I have grown to understand the truth,
So that I don’t cry, don’t moan, don’t whine,
And he lived righteously and honestly in the world.
To carry Your light and give it to people,
And you were proud of me and praised me,
So that the heart is soft with love,
Call me to serve, God!
On the Feast of the Exaltation we give a stream
Words wrapped in simple congratulations.
We wish you happiness, goodness and victories,
Many long and joyful years!
May grace come on this holiday
Subjugate the earth and sky!
We wish you a lot more patience,
To get enough of ordinary borscht,
So as not to grumble about your harsh fate,
Believe: a considerable period of time awaits you in life.
September twenty-seventh,
We will celebrate the holiday again.
Life-Giving Cross,
Big and Gentle.
Feast of the Exaltation,
Considered Divine.
It is like Holy Week,
Everyone wanted to elevate him.
He healed diseases
He atoned for the sins of people.
We honor Him now from now on,
Like the greatest shrine.
And we congratulate you on the holiday,
And we wish you joy.
May the Cross heal you again,
Please accept congratulations and love.
On September 26, Orthodox believers celebrate a great holiday - the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord 2017. The holiday is dedicated to the finding of the Cross of the Lord, which occurred in 326 in Jerusalem. tells how to congratulate you on the great holiday.
Exaltation of the Holy Cross 2017: history of the holiday
The Cross of the Lord is the sacred cross on which Christ was crucified.
According to legend, the cross was discovered in Palestine. During excavations, they found the tomb of Christ, the place where he was buried after the crucifixion. And nearby are three crosses, on one of which the Savior was crucified. This was discovered when the deceased, who was carried past the relics, was resurrected. This is where the name came from - the Life-Giving Cross.
Exaltation 2017: main traditions
Christians have traditions associated with this great day. It is believed that on September 26 you need to go to church for the solemn liturgy. And place a candle near the icon of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
On this day you need to pray for health, prosperity and happiness in the family.
According to beliefs, on this holiday it is forbidden to engage in hard work, such as repairs. It is also not recommended to quarrel on a holiday, because all the negative energy will definitely come back.
Exaltation of the Holy Cross 2017: best congratulations
Life-giving Cross of the Lord
Holy Exaltation today.
God's Cross always helps us in life,
Saves us from troubles and diseases!
I congratulate you on your Exaltation,
I wish you salvation with all my heart.
Live on earth with love for God,
Do not sow evil, but only do good!
Congratulations on your Exaltation
I want it from the bottom of my heart now.
May the Lord always help,
Let everything be within your reach.
Don't lose faith in your heart
After all, she will always save.
May my sincere prayer
It will bring relief.
Ask on a glorious holiday
Deliverance from troubles
And hear with your soul
You are the answer to your question.
The enemies crucified Jesus on the Cross,
The cross absorbed his blood and pain,
And by the divine holy power
Became the Life-Giving Honest Cross.
Congratulations to all Christians today
With the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord,
I wish your trials
We walked through life with faith with dignity.
So that the Life-giving Cross protects us,
He became our salvation in our desperate moments,
The cross is on the chest, but God is in our hearts
And next to him are the Apostles and Saints.
The Holy Cross was erected on this day!
Let it be for you and me
Protection, amulet, talisman,
He will not give offense to sorcerers and shamans.
Will protect you from grief and misfortunes,
More will bring us happiness.
Let's pray on this holy day,
Remember forever, the Lord and I are with you.
Exaltation of the Holy Cross
We celebrate together today!
May the Almighty protect you
From troubles, worries, unnecessary anxiety!
Let faith sparkle in your heart
It always burns - both day and night,
Love your neighbors and appreciate them.
And live virtuously!
Exaltation of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord
The holiday that Orthodox Church celebrates September 27th. On this day, believers remember how in 326 the Cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified was miraculously found in Jerusalem. We will talk about the events, meaning and traditions of the Exaltation of the Cross.
What is the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
The full name of the holiday is the Exaltation of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. On this day, Orthodox Christians remember two events.
As Holy Tradition says, the Cross was found in 326 in Jerusalem. This happened near Mount Golgotha, where the Savior was crucified.
And the second event is the return of the Life-Giving Cross from Persia, where it was in captivity. In the 7th century, it was returned to Jerusalem by the Greek Emperor Heraclius.
Both events were united by the fact that the Cross was erected in front of the people, that is, raised. At the same time, they turned it to all directions of the world in turn, so that people could bow to it and share with each other the joy of finding a shrine.
The Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord is the twelfth holiday. The twelfth holidays are dogmatically closely connected with the events of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Mother of God and are divided into the Lord's (dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ) and the Theotokos (dedicated to the Mother of God). The Exaltation of the Cross is the Lord's holiday.
When is the Exaltation of the Holy Cross celebrated?
The Russian Orthodox Church remembers the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 27 according to the new style (September 14 according to the old style).
This holiday has one day of pre-feast and seven days of post-feast. Forefeast - one or several days before a major holiday, the services of which already include prayers dedicated to the upcoming celebrated event. Accordingly, after-feasts are the same days after the holiday.
The holiday is celebrated on October 4th. Giving holiday - the last day of some important Orthodox holidays, celebrated with a special service, more solemn than on ordinary days of post-feast.
What can you eat on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross?
On this day, Orthodox Christians observe strict fasting. You cannot eat meat, fish, eggs and dairy products. Food can only be seasoned with vegetable oil.
Events of the Exaltation of the Cross
We find a description of the events of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which occurred in the 4th century, in some Christian historians, for example, Eusebius and Theodoret.
In 326, Emperor Constantine the Great decided to find the lost shrine - the Cross of the Lord - at any cost. Together with his mother, Queen Helena, he went on a campaign to the Holy Land.
It was decided to carry out the excavations near Golgotha, since the Jews had a custom of burying the instruments of execution near the place where it was carried out. And, indeed, in the ground they found three crosses, nails and a board that was nailed above the head of the crucified Savior. As Tradition says, a sick man touched one of the crosses and was healed. This is how Emperor Constantine and Queen Helen found out which of the crosses was the one. They bowed to the shrine, and then Patriarch Macarius of Jerusalem began to show it to the people. To do this, he stood on a dais and raised (“erected”) the Cross. People worshiped the Cross and prayed: “Lord, have mercy!”
In the 7th century, the memory of the discovery of the Holy Cross was combined with another memory - the return of the Tree of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord from Persian captivity.
In 614, the Persian king conquered Jerusalem and plundered it. Among other treasures, he took to Persia the Tree of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. The shrine remained with foreigners for fourteen years. Only in 628 did Emperor Heraclius defeat the Persians, make peace with them and return the Cross to Jerusalem.
How it developed further fate shrines, historians do not know for sure. Some say that the Cross was in Jerusalem until 1245. Someone who was divided into pieces and carried around the world.
Now part of the Holy Cross rests in a reliquary in the altar of the Greek Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem.
History of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
As Tradition says, the Cross of the Lord was found before Easter, Easter Christ's Resurrection. Therefore, the Exaltation of the Cross was first celebrated on the second day of Easter.
In 335, the Church of the Resurrection of Christ was consecrated in Jerusalem. This happened on September 13th. In honor of this, the Feast of the Exaltation was moved to September 14 (old style; new style - September 27). The bishops who came to the consecration from all over the Roman Empire told about the new holiday to the entire Christian world.
Worship of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
On the day of the Exaltation of the Cross, it is necessary to celebrate the All-Night Vigil and Liturgy. But now they rarely serve all night long, so the central point is the festive divine service on the eve of the holiday - a vigil.
The Exaltation is the Twelfth Feast of the Lord (dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ). Therefore, its service does not connect to any other service. For example, the memory of John Chrysostom is postponed to another day.
It is interesting that during Matins for the Exaltation of the Cross the Gospel is read not in the middle of the church, but in the altar.
The climax of the holiday is when the leading priest or bishop, dressed in purple vestments, carries out the Cross. All those praying in the temple kiss the shrine, and the primate anoints them with holy oil. During the general veneration of the Cross, the troparion is sung: “We worship Your Cross, O Master, and we glorify Your holy resurrection.”
The cross lies on the lectern until October 4 - the day of the Exaltation. At the offering, the priest takes the cross to the altar.
Prayers for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Troparion of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Save, Lord, Your people and bless Your inheritance, victories Orthodox Christian granting to the resistance and preserving Your residence through Your Cross.
Translation:
Save, O Lord, Your people and bless Your inheritance, granting victories to the faithful over their enemies and preserving Your people through Your Cross.
Kontakion of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Having ascended to the Cross by will, grant Thy bounty to Thy new residence, O Christ our God, Thy faithful people rejoice in Thy power, giving us victories as counterparts, aid to those who have Thy weapon of peace, invincible victory.
Translation:
Ascended to the Cross voluntarily, grant Thy mercy to the new people named after You, O Christ God; Make your faithful people glad with Your power, giving us victories over our enemies, who have from You the weapon of peace, an invincible victory.
The Greatness of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
We magnify You, Life-Giving Christ, and honor Your Holy Cross, through which You saved us from the work of the enemy.
Prayers to the Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord
First prayer
Be the Honest Cross, guardian of soul and body: in your image, casting down demons, driving away enemies, exercising passions and bestowing reverence, life, and strength, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit and the honest prayers of the Most Pure Mother of God. Amen.
Second prayer
O Most Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord! In ancient times you were a shameful instrument of execution, but now you are a sign of our salvation, ever revered and glorified! How worthily can I, the unworthy, sing to You and how dare I bend the knees of my heart before my Redeemer, confessing my sins! But the mercy and ineffable love for mankind of the humble Boldness crucified upon you gives me, so that I may open my mouth to glorify You; For this reason I cry to Ti: Rejoice, Cross, the Church of Christ is the beauty and foundation, the whole universe is the affirmation, all Christians are the hope, kings are the power, the faithful are refuge, Angels are glory and praise, demons are fear, destruction and driving away, the wicked and infidels - shame, the righteous - pleasure, those burdened - weakness, those overwhelmed - refuge, those who are lost - a mentor, those possessed by passions - repentance, the poor - enrichment, those floating - a pilot, the weak - strength, in battle - victory and conquest, the orphans - faithful protection, widows - intercessor, virgins - protection of chastity, hopeless - hope, sick - a doctor and the dead - resurrection! You, typified by the miraculous rod of Moses, are a life-giving source, watering those thirsty for spiritual life and delighting our sorrows; You are the bed on which the Risen Conqueror of Hell rested royally for three days. For this reason, morning, evening, and noon, I glorify Thee, blessed Tree, and I pray by the will of the One who has been crucified on Thee, may He enlighten and strengthen my mind with Thee, may He open in my heart a source of more perfect love and may all my deeds and paths be overshadowed by Thee May I take out and magnify Him who is Nailed to You, for my sin, the Lord my Savior. Amen.
Icon of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
The most common plot of the icon of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross developed in Russian icon painting in the 15th-16th centuries. The icon painter depicts a large crowd of people against the backdrop of a single-domed temple. In the center on the pulpit stands the Patriarch with the Cross raised above his head. The deacons support him by the arms. The cross is decorated with plant branches. In the foreground are the saints and everyone who came to worship the shrine. On the right are the figures of Tsar Constantine and Queen Helena.
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh. Sermon on the Day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Today we worship the cross of the Lord with awe and gratitude. Just like two thousand years ago, the Cross of the Lord remains a temptation for some, and madness for others, but for us, who believe and are saved by the Cross of the Lord, it is power, it is the glory of the Lord.
The Cross of the Lord is trembling: it is an instrument of cruel, painful death. The very horror that grips us when we look at its instrument should teach us the measure of the Lord’s love. The Lord loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son to save the world. And this world, after the incarnation of the Word of God, after the life of Christ on earth, after He proclaimed the Divine teaching in the hearing of all nations, and after He confirmed and proved the preaching of love by death without malice, a death in which no one was mixed one moment of resistance, revenge, bitterness - after all this our world is no longer the same. His fate does not pass tragically, fearfully and painfully before God’s judgment, because God Himself entered into this fate of the world, because this fate of ours today has bound God and man together.
And the Cross tells us how dear man is to God and how expensive this love is. Love can only be answered with love; love cannot be repaid with anything else.
And now we are faced with a question, a question of conscience for now, which in due time will become a question that the Lord will pose to us at the Last Judgment, when He will stand before us not only in His glory, but will stand before us wounded for our sins. For the Judge who will stand before us is the same Lord who gave His life for each of us. What will we answer? Do we really have to answer the Lord that His death was in vain, that His Cross was not needed, that when we saw how much the Lord loves us, we did not have enough love in return, and we answered Him that we prefer to walk in darkness, that we prefer be guided by our passions, our lusts, that the broad road of the world is more valuable to us than the narrow path of the Lord?.. While we live on earth, we can deceive ourselves that there is still time. But this is not true - time is terribly short. Our life can be cut short in an instant, and then our standing before the judgment of the Lord will begin, then it will be too late. And now there is time: there is time only if we turn every moment of our life into love; only if we turn every moment of life into love for God and love for every person, whether we like him or not, whether he is close to us or not, only then will our soul have time to mature to meet the Lord.
Let's look at the Cross. If someone close to us died for us and because of us, wouldn’t our soul be shaken to its very depths? Wouldn't we change? And so: the Lord has died - will we really remain indifferent? Let us bow to the Cross, but let us bow not only for a moment: let us bow, bow under this Cross, take, to the best of our ability, this Cross on our shoulders, and let us follow Christ, Who gave us an example, as He Himself says, for us to follow Him . And then we will unite with Him in love, then we will come to life by the terrible Cross of the Lord, and then He will not stand in front of us, condemning us, but saving us and leading us into endless, triumphant, victorious joy eternal life. Amen.
Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Altufyevo
Temple address: Moscow, Altufevskoe highway, building 147.
The old church was built at the expense of I.I. Velyaminov in 1760-1763, because the previously existing stone church in the name of Sophia and her daughters Vera, Nadezhda and Lyubov, which previously existed on this place, “... and from this dilapidation everything was dispersed...”. The new temple had a bell tower. At the end of the 18th century it was rebuilt.
The temple was closed only for a short time during the Great Patriotic War. Shrines - especially revered icons: a copy of the Kazan image of the Mother of God and the Venerable Macarius of Zheltovodsk (she miraculously appeared at the well of a preserved spring on the border of the villages of Altufyeva, Bibireva and Medvedkova).
Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on Chisty Vrazhek
Temple address: Moscow. 1st Truzhenikov lane, house 8, building 3.
The temple was founded in 1640 at the beginning of a deep ravine on the left bank of the Moscow River.
It took 18 years to build a stone temple on the site of a wooden one. The main altar was consecrated in 1658.
In 1701, the stone temple was rebuilt for the first time. The composition of the church continued the traditions of townsman construction in the 17th century. The volume of the building may have preserved parts of the walls of the previous brick church, built in 1658, when the territory between Plyushchikha Street and the river was occupied by settlements that belonged to the Rostov bishop's house.
Over the course of two centuries, the temple was constantly rebuilt; it acquired its current appearance in 1894-1895. Most of the parishioners of the temple on what was then the outskirts of the city were domestic servants, artisans, and soldiers. However, representatives of the famous noble families of Musin-Pushkin, Sheremetev, and Dolgoruki also belonged to the parish. On May 25, 1901, A.P. Chekhov got married here.
In 1918, the temple began to be plundered. The authorities removed more than 400 pounds of silver utensils from here.
In the 1920s, Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow, celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the church more than once. He also served here and was shot in December 1937 at the Butovo training ground.
In 1930, the temple was closed, and the rector, Archpriest Nikolai Saryevsky, was exiled. The dome and bell tower were broken, the almshouse and the clergy house were demolished, and a dormitory was built in the church premises. The wall painting was painted over, and when it began to show through the whitewash, it was knocked down. But 70% of the painting survived. By the end of 2000, after the return of the Church and a long restoration, the building again took on its former architectural appearance.
Vozdvizhenka - street in Moscow
Vozdvizhenka is a street between Mokhovaya and Arbat Gate Square. At the end of the 13th - beginning of the 14th centuries, the road to Volokolamsk and Novgorod ran along it. In the middle of the 14th century, Vozdvizhenka was part of the trade road to Smolensk. In the 15th - first half of the 17th centuries, the street was called Orbata (probably from the Arabic “rabad” - suburb).
In 1493, the beginning of the street near the Kremlin wall was cleared for 110 fathoms; in the 16th century, the St. Nicholas Church in Sapozhka (demolished in 1838) and small private courtyards already stood in the cleared place. In 1547 the Holy Cross Monastery was mentioned for the first time. It was he who gave the street a new name. In 1812, the monastery was destroyed by Napoleonic army. In 1814, the monastery was abolished, and its cathedral church was turned into a parish church.
In 1935, Vozdvizhenka was renamed Comintern Street, and in 1946 - Kalinin Street. In 1963-90 it became part of Kalinin Avenue. Now the street has returned its historical name.
Holy Cross Monastery
The Holy Cross Monastery was located in Moscow, in the White City, on Vozdvizhenka Street. The original name was the Monastery of the Exaltation of the Honest Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, which is on the Island. It was built no later than 1547.
During Napoleon's invasion, the monastery was plundered by invaders. In 1814 it was abolished, and the cathedral church was turned into a parish church. The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross was closed after 1929, and in 1934 it was demolished. A Metrostroy mine was built on the site of the church. The priest of this temple, Alexander Sidorov, was arrested in 1931. He died in a concentration camp in Kemi.
Folk traditions of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross
In Rus', the holiday of the Exaltation of the Honest Life-Giving Cross of the Lord combined church and folk traditions.
On this day, peasants painted crosses on the doors of their houses and placed small wooden crosses in the mangers of cows and horses. If there was no cross, it was replaced by crossed rowan branches.
September 27 was also called the third Osenin or Stavrov day. It was the final day of Indian summer, the third and last meeting of autumn. “It’s Exaltation in the yard, the last hay from the field is moving, the last cart is in a hurry to the threshing floor!” “On Vozdvizhenye, the fur coat follows the caftan!” “On Vozdvizhenye the coat and fur coat will move!” “For the Exaltation, he will take off his caftan and put on a fur coat!” “Exaltation - the last cart has moved from the field, and the bird has taken flight!”
The day was fast: “Whoever fasts on the Exaltation will have his seven sins forgiven,” “Even if the Exaltation happens on a Sunday, everything will be on it - Friday-Wednesday, Lenten food!”, “Whoever does not fast on the Exaltation - the Cross of Christ - will have seven sins will rise up!
The Feast of the Exaltation was also called “cabbages”. “Be smart, woman, about cabbage - the Updating has arrived!”, “It’s cabbage uplift, it’s time to chop the cabbage!”, “Then chop the cabbage from the Updating!”, “A good man has pies with cabbage on the Updating Day!”, “On Vzdvizhenie, the first lady is cabbage!” They also said: “Neither Vozdvizhenskaya nor Annunciation cabbage is affected by frost!” Young people organized “Capusten evenings”; they lasted two weeks.
Sayings about the Exaltation of the Cross
All sayings and proverbs dedicated to the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross are devoted to the theme of the approaching autumn or strict fasting on this day. For example: “Even if the Exaltation falls on Sunday, everything on it is Friday-Wednesday, Lenten food!”, “Whoever does not fast the Exaltation – the Cross of Christ – will be charged with seven sins!”, or: “Be aware, woman, about cabbage “The Exaltation has come!”, “At the Exaltation, the caftan and fur coat moved, and the hat pulled down.”
Signs which are also associated with this holiday, like any other superstitions, have nothing to do with church doctrine and are condemned by the Church.
September 27 is the holiday of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The full name of the holiday is the Exaltation of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. On this day, Orthodox Christians remember two events.
1:866As the Holy Tradition writes, the Cross was found in 326 in Jerusalem. This happened near Mount Golgotha, where the Savior was crucified.
1:1106And the second event is the return of the Life-Giving Cross from Persia, where it was in captivity. In the 7th century, it was returned to Jerusalem by the Greek Emperor Heraclius.
1:1383Both events were united by the fact that the Cross was erected in front of the people, that is, raised. At the same time, they turned it to all directions of the world in turn, so that people could bow to it and share with each other the joy of finding a shrine.
1:17951:4
When is the Exaltation of the Holy Cross celebrated?
2:611
The Russian Orthodox Church remembers the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 27 according to the new style (September 14 according to the old style).
3:1356This holiday has one day of pre-feast and seven days of post-feast. Forefeast - one or several days before a major holiday, the services of which already include prayers dedicated to the upcoming celebrated event. Accordingly, after-feasts are the same days after the holiday.
3:1914The holiday is celebrated on October 4th. The celebration of the holiday is the last day of some important Orthodox holidays, celebrated with a special service, more solemn than on ordinary days of the post-feast.
3:363 3:368
What can you eat on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross?
4:988On this day, Orthodox Christians observe strict fasting. You cannot eat meat, fish, eggs and dairy products. Food can only be seasoned with vegetable oil.
4:1252 4:1257History of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
4:1355
5:4
We find a description of the events of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which occurred in the 4th century, in some Christian historians, for example, Eusebius and Theodoret.
5:287In 326, Emperor Constantine the Great decided to find the lost shrine - the Cross of the Lord - at any cost. Together with his mother, Queen Helena, he went on a campaign to the Holy Land.
5:635It was decided to carry out the excavations near Golgotha, since the Jews had a custom of burying the instruments of execution near the place where it was carried out. And, indeed, in the ground they found three crosses, nails and a board that was nailed above the head of the crucified Savior. As Tradition says, a sick man touched one of the crosses and was healed. This is how Emperor Constantine and Queen Helen found out which of the crosses was the one. They bowed to the shrine, and then Patriarch Macarius of Jerusalem began to show it to the people. To do this, he stood on a dais and raised (“erected”) the Cross. People worshiped the Cross and prayed: “Lord, have mercy!”
5:1758 5:4 6:508 6:513In 614, the Persian king conquered Jerusalem and plundered it. Among other treasures, he took to Persia the Tree of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. The shrine remained with foreigners for fourteen years. Only in 628 did Emperor Heraclius defeat the Persians, make peace with them and return the Cross to Jerusalem.
6:1056Historians do not know exactly how the further fate of the shrine developed. Some say that the Cross was in Jerusalem until 1245. Someone who was divided into pieces and carried around the world.
6:1402Now part of the Holy Cross rests in a reliquary in the altar of the Greek Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem.
6:15896:4
As Tradition says, the Cross of the Lord was found before the holiday of Easter, the Holy Resurrection of Christ. Therefore, the Exaltation of the Cross was first celebrated on the second day of Easter.
7:832In 335, the Church of the Resurrection of Christ was consecrated in Jerusalem. This happened on September 13th. In honor of this, the Feast of the Exaltation was moved to September 14 (old style; new style - September 27). The bishops who came to the consecration from all over the Roman Empire told about the new holiday to the entire Christian world.
7:1419 7:1424Worship of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
7:1513On the day of the Exaltation of the Cross, it is necessary to celebrate the All-Night Vigil and Liturgy. But now they rarely serve all night long, so the central point is the festive divine service on the eve of the holiday - a vigil.
7:364The Exaltation is the Twelfth Feast of the Lord (dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ). Therefore, its service does not connect to any other service. For example, the memory of John Chrysostom is postponed to another day.
7:755It is interesting that during Matins for the Exaltation of the Cross the Gospel is read not in the middle of the church, but in the altar.
7:948The climax of the holiday is when the leading priest or bishop, dressed in purple vestments, carries out the Cross. All those praying in the temple kiss the shrine, and the primate anoints them with holy oil. During the general veneration of the Cross, the troparion is sung: “We worship Your Cross, O Master, and we glorify Your holy resurrection.”
7:1555The cross lies on the lectern until October 4 - the day of the Exaltation. At the offering, the priest takes the cross to the altar.
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Prayers to the Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord
First prayer
8:836Be the Honest Cross, guardian of soul and body: in your image, casting down demons, driving away enemies, exercising passions and bestowing reverence, life, and strength, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit and the honest prayers of the Most Pure Mother of God. Amen.
8:1246 8:1251Second prayer
8:1285O Most Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord! In ancient times you were a shameful instrument of execution, but now you are a sign of our salvation, ever revered and glorified! How worthily can I, the unworthy, sing to You and how dare I bend the knees of my heart before my Redeemer, confessing my sins! But the mercy and ineffable love for mankind of the humble Boldness crucified upon you gives me, so that I may open my mouth to glorify You; For this reason I cry to Ti: Rejoice, Cross, the Church of Christ is the beauty and foundation, the whole universe is the affirmation, all Christians are the hope, kings are the power, the faithful are refuge, Angels are glory and praise, demons are fear, destruction and driving away, the wicked and infidels - shame, the righteous - pleasure, those burdened - weakness, those overwhelmed - refuge, those who are lost - a mentor, those possessed by passions - repentance, the poor - enrichment, those floating - a pilot, the weak - strength, in battle - victory and conquest, the orphans - faithful protection, widows - intercessor, virgins - protection of chastity, hopeless - hope, sick - a doctor and the dead - resurrection! You, typified by the miraculous rod of Moses, are a life-giving source, watering those thirsty for spiritual life and delighting our sorrows; You are the bed on which the Risen Conqueror of Hell rested royally for three days. For this reason, morning, evening, and noon, I glorify Thee, blessed Tree, and I pray by the will of the One who has been crucified on Thee, may He enlighten and strengthen my mind with Thee, may He open in my heart a source of more perfect love and may all my deeds and paths be overshadowed by Thee May I take out and magnify Him who is Nailed to You, for my sin, the Lord my Savior. Amen.
8:4219 8:4Icon of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
The most common plot of the icon of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross developed in Russian icon painting in the 15th-16th centuries. The icon painter depicts a large crowd of people against the backdrop of a single-domed temple. In the center on the pulpit stands the Patriarch with the Cross raised above his head. The deacons support him by the arms. The cross is decorated with plant branches. In the foreground are the saints and everyone who came to worship the shrine. On the right are the figures of Tsar Constantine and Queen Helena.
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Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Altufyevo
Temple address: Moscow, Altufevskoe highway, building 147.
9:181 9:186The old church was built at the expense of I.I. Velyaminov in 1760-1763, because the previously existing stone church in this place “... the long-standing stone church in the name of Sophia and her daughters Vera, Nadezhda and Lyubov fell into complete disrepair - and from this dilapidation everything was dispersed...”. The new temple had a bell tower. At the end of the 18th century it was rebuilt.
9:809The temple was closed only for a short time during the Great Patriotic War. Shrines - especially revered icons: a copy of the Kazan image of the Mother of God and the Venerable Macarius of Zheltovodsk (she miraculously appeared at the well of a preserved spring on the border of the villages of Altufyeva, Bibireva and Medvedkova).
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Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on Chisty Vrazhek
Temple address: Moscow. 1st Truzhenikov lane, house 8, building 3.
10:213The temple was founded in 1640 at the beginning of a deep ravine on the left bank of the Moscow River.
10:358 10:363It took 18 years to build a stone temple on the site of a wooden one. The main altar was consecrated in 1658.
10:523In 1701, the stone temple was rebuilt for the first time. The composition of the church continued the traditions of townsman construction in the 17th century. The volume of the building may have preserved parts of the walls of the previous brick church, built in 1658, when the territory between Plyushchikha Street and the river was occupied by settlements that belonged to the Rostov bishop's house.
10:1145 10:1150Over the course of two centuries, the temple was constantly rebuilt; it acquired its current appearance in 1894-1895. Most of the parishioners of the temple on what was then the outskirts of the city were domestic servants, artisans, and soldiers. However, representatives of the famous noble families of Musin-Pushkin, Sheremetev, and Dolgoruki also belonged to the parish. On May 25, 1901, A.P. Chekhov got married here.
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In 1918, the temple began to be plundered. The authorities removed more than 400 pounds of silver utensils from here.
10:171 10:176In the 1920s, Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow, celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the church more than once. Metropolitan Seraphim (Chichagov), who was shot in December 1937 at the Butovo training ground, also served here.
10:545 10:550In 1930, the temple was closed, and the rector, Archpriest Nikolai Saryevsky, was exiled. The dome and bell tower were broken, the almshouse and the clergy house were demolished, and a dormitory was built in the church premises. The wall painting was painted over, and when it began to show through the whitewash, it was knocked down. But 70% of the painting survived. By the end of 2000, after the return of the Church and a long restoration, the building again took on its former architectural appearance.
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Vozdvizhenka - street in Moscow
Vozdvizhenka is a street between Mokhovaya and Arbat Gate Square. At the end of the 13th - beginning of the 14th centuries, the road to Volokolamsk and Novgorod ran along it. In the middle of the 14th century, Vozdvizhenka was part of the trade road to Smolensk. In the 15th - first half of the 17th centuries, the street was called Orbata (probably from the Arabic “rabad” - suburb).
11:618In 1493, the beginning of the street near the Kremlin wall was cleared for 110 fathoms; in the 16th century, the St. Nicholas Church in Sapozhka (demolished in 1838) and small private courtyards already stood in the cleared place. In 1547 the Holy Cross Monastery was mentioned for the first time. It was he who gave the street a new name. In 1812, the monastery was destroyed by Napoleonic army. In 1814, the monastery was abolished, and its cathedral church was turned into a parish church.
11:1346In 1935, Vozdvizhenka was renamed Comintern Street, and in 1946 - Kalinin Street. In 1963-90 it became part of Kalinin Avenue. Now the street has returned its historical name.
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Holy Cross Monastery
The Holy Cross Monastery was located in Moscow, in the White City, on Vozdvizhenka Street. The original name was the Monastery of the Exaltation of the Honest Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, which is on the Island. It was built no later than 1547.
12:991During Napoleon's invasion, the monastery was plundered by invaders. In 1814 it was abolished, and the cathedral church was turned into a parish church. The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross was closed after 1929, and in 1934 it was demolished. A Metrostroy mine was built on the site of the church. The priest of this temple, Alexander Sidorov, was arrested in 1931. He died in a concentration camp in Kemi.
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Folk traditions of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross
In Rus', the holiday of the Exaltation of the Honest Life-Giving Cross of the Lord combined church and folk traditions.
13:820On this day, peasants painted crosses on the doors of their houses and placed small wooden crosses in the mangers of cows and horses. If there was no cross, it was replaced by crossed rowan branches.
13:1153September 27 was also called the third Osenin or Stavrov day. It was the final day of Indian summer, the third and last meeting of autumn. “It’s Exaltation in the yard, the last hay from the field is moving, the last cart is in a hurry to the threshing floor!” “On Vozdvizhenye, the fur coat follows the caftan!” “On Vozdvizhenye the coat and fur coat will move!” “For the Exaltation, he will take off his caftan and put on a fur coat!” “Exaltation - the last cart has moved from the field, and the bird has taken flight!”
The day was fast: “Whoever fasts on the Exaltation will be forgiven seven sins,” “Even if the Exaltation happens on a Sunday, everything will be on it - Friday-Wednesday, Lenten food!”, “Whoever does not fast on the Exaltation - the Cross of Christ - will have seven sins will rise up!
The Feast of the Exaltation was also called "cabbage". “Be smart, woman, about cabbage - the Updating has come!”, “It’s cabbage uplift, it’s time to chop the cabbage!”, “Then chop the cabbage from the Updating!”, “A good man has pies with cabbage on the Updating Day!”, “On Vzdvizhenie, the first lady is cabbage!” They also said: “Neither Vozdvizhenskaya nor Annunciation cabbage is affected by frost!” Young people organized “Capusten evenings”; they lasted two weeks.
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Sayings about the Exaltation of the Cross
All sayings and proverbs dedicated to the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross are devoted to the theme of the approaching autumn or strict fasting on this day.
The last birds go to Vozdvizhenie for the winter.
Think about cabbage, woman - the movement has come!
On Vzdvizhenya the first lady is cabbage!
On Vozdvizhenye, the caftan with fur coat moved and the hat pulled down.
Whoever does not fast the Exaltation - the Cross of Christ - will be charged with seven sins!
Even if the Exaltation comes on Sunday, it’s all about Friday-Wednesday, Lenten food!
On Vozdvizhenie, autumn is moving faster towards winter.
Signs that are also associated with this holiday, like any other superstitions, have nothing to do with church teaching and are condemned by the Church.
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Exaltation of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord
Description of the holiday
Feast of the World Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord celebrated on September 27 (new century). It has one day of pre-feast (September 26) and seven days of post-feast (from 28 to 4 October). The holiday is celebrated on October 4th. In addition, the Feast of the Exaltation is preceded by Saturday and Week (Sunday), called Saturday and the Week before the Exaltation.
"Exaltation of the Holy Cross" This is what the Cross of Christ is for us, and we must sacredly and reverently honor and honor it. Each of us sanctifies his entire life with the cross and sign of the cross. From early childhood until death, every Christian wears a cross on himself, on his chest, as a sign of Christ’s victory and our protection and strength; We begin and end every task with the sign of the cross, doing everything for the glory of Christ. As such protection and protection, we inscribe the sign of the cross on everything dear and holy to us, and on our houses, and on the walls, and on the doors. We begin the day with the sign of the cross, and with the sign of the cross we fall into sleep and end the day.
Now the cross is our greatest shrine, our glory, our spiritual all-conquering sword, and this is how Christ made it for us with his death and his suffering on the Cross.
The Savior accepted the most painful of executions on the Cross, “he bore our sins on His body on the tree” (), “humbled Himself, being obedient even to the point of death, the death of the cross” (). What a truly amazing spectacle, beyond human understanding. “Behold,” the Church sings today, “the Lord of creation and the Lord of glory is nailed to the Cross and pierced in the ribs; The sweetness of the Church is tasted by gall and ocet; He who covers the sky with clouds is crowned with thorns and clothed with a robe of reproach; He who created man with his hand is strangled with a corruptible hand; He who covers the sky with clouds takes blows on the shoulders, accepts spitting and wounds, reproaches and blows, and endures everything for the sake of us, the condemned” (stichera). How can we, who have been blessed by the death of the cross and the suffering of the Savior, not bow in reverent awe before the “treasured tree on which Christ, the King and Lord, was crucified”, not sacredly honor the Cross - our glory, our victory in Christ and with Christ.
Such a high and sacred significance of the Cross of the Lord, naturally, made the very tree of the Cross of the Lord, the very wooden cross on which the Savior was crucified, the greatest shrine in the eyes of Christians. But initially this Holy Cross was not preserved by Christians, was not the property of believers, and for three whole centuries it was not even known exactly where this Christian shrine was hidden. According to a rabbinic injunction, “a stone with which someone was killed, a tree with which someone was hanged, a sword with which someone was beheaded, and a rope with which someone was strangled should be buried with those executed.” . But, not to mention the fact that the Savior was put to death according to the laws of Roman execution, this requirement of rabbinical law could not be fulfilled in relation to the Cross of Christ also because the most pure body of the Savior was buried by the hands of His disciples and friends. In any case, it is very likely that all three crosses (the Savior and the two thieves) were placed or buried near the site of the Savior’s crucifixion and death. The reverent memory of the direct witnesses and eyewitnesses of the crucifixion of the Savior - His loving disciples and disciples, of course, sacredly preserved this place with their veneration and worship. No subsequent circumstances in the life of the first Christians, no matter how difficult these circumstances were for them, could make them forget the places consecrated by the greatest events of the Savior’s life. Subsequently, the first Jerusalem bishops and subsequent Christians were the keepers of the memories of the holy places of death and burial of the Savior. Already St. Cyril of Jerusalem testifies that from the time of the apostles, journeys to Jerusalem began to worship places consecrated by the memories of various events in the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ. The capture and destruction of Jerusalem by Titus significantly changed many places in the city - the sacred places of the crucifixion and death of the Savior could also be changed, covered with garbage and ruins. In addition, the historian of the 4th century. Eusebius testifies that the enemies of Christians - the pagans - took measures to hide and even desecrate places holy to Christians; that wicked people with a deliberately insane goal completely changed the appearance of the area of Golgotha and the Holy Sepulchre. They filled the holy cave with rubbish, paved the mound on top with stone, and here they erected an altar to the goddess of voluptuous love. Other historians testify that the wicked Roman emperor Hadrian (117-138 BC) especially tried to desecrate all holy places with demonic idols and sacrifices. according to R.H.). Having erected a city on the site of Jerusalem devastated by Titus, he ordered the Holy Sepulcher to be covered with earth and many stones, and on the mountain where the Savior was crucified (on the “Rock of the Cross”), he built a temple to the pagan goddess of debauchery Venus and placed her idol, and above the Tomb The Lord placed an idol of Jupiter. But neither the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, nor its restoration by Hadrian could change the city and holy places so much that Christians who reverently remembered these places would not recognize them and could not find them. And the desires of the wicked and pagans to desecrate and hide these places achieved a completely opposite goal: with their mounds and idolatrous structures they firmly marked these places, making it impossible for them to be forgotten by believers and even the pagans themselves. Thus the Lord destroys the “councils of the wicked” and turns the very evil of mankind to the good of his Church!
Reverently preserved in the memory of believers and firmly marked by the pagans, although desecrated by them, the holy place of the Lord's death remained intact until the time of Tsar Constantine the Great. This Christ-loving emperor, while still outwardly a pagan, but in activity being a Christian sovereign, had reason to especially honor the Cross of Christ. This banner of Christ’s victory, according to Divine dispensation, served three times for Constantine the Great as a sign of his victory over his enemies. In 312, Constantine fought against the cruel Maxentius, who reigned in Rome, persecuted and killed Christians, and led an ungodly life. According to the historian of that time (Eusebius), Maxentius, in preparing to fight Constantine, resorted to various magic and superstitious rituals; Constantine, not entirely relying on the strength of his army, felt the need for supernatural help over the enemy, and therefore reflected on which God he should pray for this help. At this difficult moment, Constantine remembered that his father Constantius, who provided patronage to Christians, enjoyed prosperity, while the persecutors of Christians had a disastrous death - and therefore decided to turn with prayer to God Constantius, the one, supreme Being. And so, when he gave himself up to fervent prayer, then around noon he saw a radiant cross in the sky, shining more intensely sunlight, with the inscription on it: “This way you will win.” This miraculous sign was also seen by the soldiers, among whom was the commander Artemy, who was later martyred (under Julian the Apostate) for Christ. Struck by an extraordinary heavenly vision, Constantine fell into deep sleep, and in a dream the Savior himself appeared to him, again showed him the same sign of the cross, commanded him to use the image of the cross as a banner in the troops, and promised him victory not only over Maxentius, but also over all enemies. Having woken up, Constantine ordered to make the Cross of the Lord, in the likeness of the sign he had seen, from precious stones, and also draw an image of a cross on banners, weapons, helmets and shields of soldiers. Since then, Constantine's troops carried out campaigns, having as their sign a cross connected to the first letters of the Savior's name. In the Battle of the Melvian Bridge (across the Tiber), Constantine won a brilliant victory over Maxentius (October 28, 312). Maxentius himself drowned with many of his soldiers in the river, and Constantine entered victoriously. After this, he erected a statue of himself in Rome, holding right hand cross, and in the inscription on the statue the victory over Maxentius was attributed to the “saving sign” of the cross. Also, in the war with the Byzantines and Scythians, Constantine saw the miraculous sign of the cross in the sky twice more, which announced to him victory over his enemies.
It is easy to understand with what reverence for the Cross of the Lord the heart of the Christ-loving Tsar Constantine was filled after these events. And so this emperor, “not without inspiration from above, but prompted by the Spirit of the Savior himself,” decided not only to find the venerable tree of the Cross of the Lord and give it veneration, but also “to make the most sacred place of the saving resurrection in Jerusalem an object of universal reverent veneration” - to build a temple over it . The executor of the emperor's pious intention was his mother, the blessed Queen Helena, who, at the insistence of the emperor himself, converted to Christianity and was distinguished by her piety and fiery zeal for the faith of Christ. In 326, Helen went to the holy land with the goal of finding and visiting places consecrated the most important events life of the Savior. Arriving in Jerusalem, filled with a pious desire to find the cave of the Holy Sepulcher and the honest wood of the Cross, she zealously began to look for them. The patriarch in Jerusalem at that time was Macarius, who met the queen with appropriate honors and assisted her in her holy work.
In the fullness of reverent joy and spiritual tenderness, the queen and all those who were with her worshiped and kissed the Cross. And since, due to the multitude of people, not everyone could venerate the honorable tree of the Cross of the Lord and not even everyone could see it, Patriarch Macarius, standing in a high place, raised and erected the Holy Cross. The cross, showing it to the people. The people worshiped the Cross, exclaiming: “Lord, have mercy!” This is where the holiday of the Exaltation of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord got its beginning and name. This event of finding the Precious Cross of the Lord and the miracles that accompanied it made a great impression not only on Christians, but also on Jews. Judas, who was so reluctant to indicate the location of the holy places, together with many Jews believed in Christ and was baptized, receiving the name Cyriacus in holy baptism. Subsequently, he was the Patriarch of Jerusalem and suffered martyrdom under Emperor Julian the Apostate. Constantine himself subsequently wrote in a letter to Patriarch Macarius of Jerusalem about the discovery of the Holy Cross of the Lord: “there are no words for a worthy description of this miracle. The sign of the most holy passion, hidden underground for so long and remaining unknown for centuries, finally shone forth.” The Holy Queen Helen, with the powerful assistance of her son Tsar Constantine, began to build churches in Jerusalem and throughout Palestine in places consecrated by events from the life of the Savior. And first of all, by the will of the queen and the king, the foundation was laid and construction began on the site of the Holy Sepulcher and the discovery of St. The Cross of the Church of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the consecration of which took place on September 13, 335. Then the pious queen ordered the construction of a temple in Gethsemane on the site where the tomb was located Holy Mother of God, in the name of Her Dormition and, in addition, eighteen churches in different places holy land.
As for the fate of the newly found St. Helen of the venerable tree of the Holy Cross, then, unfortunately, it cannot be indicated accurately and quite definitely. This tree of the Cross of the Lord represented such a great shrine for Christians that Christians, even upon finding it in large quantities Those who filled Jerusalem were not only eager to worship him, but, if possible, to receive a piece of him. Indeed, St. Cyril of Jerusalem (IV century) testifies that already in his time small parts of the Life-Giving Cross were distributed throughout the earth. And St. John Chrysostom (IV century) testifies that “many, both men and wives, having received a small particle of this tree and overlaid it with gold, hang it on their necks.”
But not all the wood of the cross was carried away from Jerusalem in this way. Queen Helena sent part of the found wood of the Cross and nails from it to her son Constantine, and the rest was enclosed in a silver ark and handed over to the primate of the Jerusalem Church with the order to preserve it for future generations.
And St. Cyril of Jerusalem confirms that the venerable wood of the Holy Cross in his time was kept and shown to the people in Jerusalem. And in the description of the Good Friday service in Jerusalem, made by a certain noble pilgrim of the 4th century. (Sylvia, or Etheria), we find interesting description the very rite of worship of the tree of the Cross of the Lord, indicating the measures that were taken against the plunder of the holy tree by pious pilgrims. “On Golgotha,” this description says, “behind the Cross, i.e. behind the church in honor of St. The cross, even before six o'clock in the morning, the cathedra is delivered to the bishop. The bishop sits on this pulpit, a table covered with a scarf is placed in front of him, deacons stand around the table and a silver gilded ark is brought, in which is the holy tree of the Cross; opens and removes; both the tree of the Cross and the tablet (titulus) are placed on the table. So, when it is laid on the table, the bishop, sitting, holds the ends of the holy tree with his hands; the deacons who stand around guard. It is protected this way because there is a custom according to which all the people, approaching one by one, both the faithful and the catechumens, bend down to the table, kiss the holy tree and pass. And since, they say, I don’t know when, someone gnawed off and stole a piece of the holy tree, that’s why now the deacons standing around are guarding it so that none of those who come near dare to do the same. And so all the people come up one by one, all bowing and touching first with their foreheads, then with their eyes, the Cross and the tablet and, having kissed the Cross, they pass; no one extends his hand to touch.” The location of part of the tree of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem is confirmed by other historical data. In the 7th century During the reign of the Byzantine emperor Phocas (602-610), this great Christian shrine temporarily fell into the hands of the Persians. Khozroes, the king of Persia, having entered into a war with Phocas, conquered Egypt, Africa and Palestine, took Jerusalem, plundered its treasures, and among these treasures he took from Jerusalem the tree of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord and took it to Persia. But the Lord did not allow the infidels to possess the Christian shrine for a long time. Successor to Phocas imp. Heraclius could not defeat Khosroes for some time, and then he turned to God with a prayer for help. He ordered all the believers of his kingdom to perform prayers, services and fasts, so that the Lord would deliver from the enemy. The Lord granted Heraclius victory over Chozroes, who himself was killed by his son. After this, Heraclius took away from the Persians a valuable shrine of Christians - the honorable tree of the Cross of the Lord and decided to solemnly transfer it again to Jerusalem. In 628, Emperor Heraclius, having reached Jerusalem, placed St. tree on his shoulders, carried it, dressed in his royal clothes. But suddenly, at the gate by which they ascended to Lobnoye Mesto, he suddenly stopped and could not take a single step further. And then Zechariah, the Patriarch of Constantinople, who went out together with the inhabitants of Jerusalem to meet the king, had a revelation from the luminous angel that it was impossible for the tree that Christ carried in a state of humiliation to be carried in royal robes. Then the king put on simple and poor clothes and, with bare feet, brought the saint in. the tree was placed in the church in the place where it was located before it was captured by Khozroes. Here the venerable tree of the Cross of the Lord was located in subsequent times. At least at the beginning of the 9th century. Among the clergy of the Church of the Resurrection were two guardian presbyters, whose duties were to guard St. Cross and sir. Under the Crusaders, St. the tree was also, undoubtedly, located in Jerusalem and more than once served as encouragement and protection for their troops in battles with the infidels. However, the further fate of the honorable tree of the Holy Cross is not exactly known. It is very likely that over time, gradually decreasing in volume, due to the pious desire of various monasteries and monasteries to have a piece of St. tree, it was completely fragmented into separate particles, which are now indicated in many churches and monasteries. In particular, in Rome, in the Basilica of the Holy Cross, it is kept wooden plank, which is passed off as that tablet, titulus, which was nailed over the head of the Savior and later found by St. Helen lying separately from the Cross.
And now, on the day of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, we Christians can only mentally render reverent veneration to the honorable tree of the Cross on which our Savior was crucified. But this Cross is indelibly inscribed on our grateful hearts, and its material image is in front of us in the temple and on us - on our chests, in our homes.
“Come, faithful ones, let us worship the life-giving tree, on which Christ, the King of Glory, willingly stretched out his hand, lifting us up to the first bliss!” (sticheron samogl.).
The meaning of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Skaballanovich M.N. (Ibid. pp. 232-236, 249-250)
Being homogeneous in its remembrance with the week of the Passion of Christ, this holiday is completely different in character from those days that are exceptional in the year in terms of tenderness and greatness - days that alone have rightly received the name “holy and great.” These are the days of weeping over the Divine Sufferer; this is a day of joy about the consequences of His suffering, about the fruits of redemption. This is a holiday in honor of redemption itself in the person of its main instrument, sign and conductor for us.
This instrument is worthy of such honoring, independent celebration in its honor, not only because of the significance that it had in the very act of redemption, not only because of the importance that it acquired over time in the life of Christians, but also because of what it was for Christ himself. “The cross is called the glory of Christ and the height of Christ,” says St. Andrei Kritsky (word on the Exaltation), referring in confirmation of the first thought to and the second to “if I am exalted from the earth...”. “If the Cross of Christ constitutes the glory of Christ, then even today the cross is erected so that Christ may be glorified. It is not Christ that is exalted so that the Cross may be glorified, but the Cross is exalted so that Christ may be glorified.”
Being Christ's, His glory and height, this Cross is too close to us already in its original idea. He is, in fact, our Cross. Christ “carried on his shoulders the very cross on which he was crucified, as having taken upon himself the punishments determined by those who had sinned”; He “carried the cross that belongs to us” (St. Cyril of Alexandria on book 12).
Hence the innumerable blessings that were poured out on us through the Cross. “This good helmsman, having filled our whole life with abundance and pacified it, gave us eternal life in the future” (St. Ephraim the Syrian, word on the Honest Cross). “By the Cross we got rid of enmity and by the Cross we were confirmed in friendship with God. The cross united people with the face of angels, making their nature alien to any corruptible matter and giving them the opportunity to lead an imperishable life” (word on the Exaltation of Basil of Seleucia, also attributed to St. John Chrysostom). “He made the earth pure, elevated our nature to the royal throne” (St. John Chrysostom, word on the worship of the Cross). “This Cross turned the universe to the true path, drove out error, returned truth, made the earth heaven” (a word about the Cross attributed to St. John Chrysostom). “He put an end to the lawless affairs of the world, stopped its godless teachings, and the world no longer pleases the devil’s laws and is no longer bound by the bonds of death; (The Cross) established the commandment of chastity and eradicated voluptuousness; sanctified the rule of abstinence and overthrew the rule of lust. In fact, what good have we received besides the Cross? Which blessing is not given to us through the Cross? Through the Cross we learned piety and came to know the power of the Divine nature; through the Cross we understand the truth of God and comprehend the virtue of chastity; through the Cross we came to know each other; through the Cross we have learned the power of love and do not refuse to die for each other; thanks to the Cross, we despised all the blessings of the world and counted them for nothing, expecting future blessings and accepting the invisible as visible. The cross is preached - and the truth spreads throughout the universe, and the kingdom of heaven is confirmed (word on the Exaltation of Basil of Seleucia or John Chrysostom).
In addition to acquiring these highest spiritual benefits for humanity, the Cross from ancient times began to manifest its saving power in the purely everyday needs of Christians. “This was a sign in the times of our ancestors,” testifies St. Chrysostom or a contemporary writer - opened imprisoned doors, extinguished destructive poisons, healed the bites of poisonous animals. If it opened the gates of hell and opened the vault of heaven, restored the entrance to heaven and crushed the power of the devil, then what is surprising if it overcomes destructive poisons? (a word on the veneration of the Cross, attributed to St. Chrysostom).
Along with this, so to speak, mysterious, mystical meaning for a Christian, the cross also received a purely moral meaning for him. He became an encouragement and support for him in the hardships of personal cross-bearing. “Look,” Christ seems to say, “at what My Cross has accomplished; make this kind of weapon and do what you want. Let (the follower of Christ) be as ready to undergo the slaughter and be crucified on the cross, says the Lord, as ready is the one who carries the cross on his shoulders; let him consider himself in such close proximity to death. Before such a person, everyone comes to amazement, because we are not as afraid of those armed with countless human weapons and strong courage as we are of a person gifted with such strength” (a word on the veneration of the Cross attributed to Chrysostom).
“Looking at the cross inhales courage and casts out fear” (St. Andrew of Crete’s homily on the Exaltation).
Finally, the cross also acquired eschatological significance for the Christian. “Then, it is said, the sign of the cross will appear in heaven. When is “then”? When the forces of heaven move. Then those adorned with the sign of the church, who have acquired for themselves this valuable bead, who have well preserved this image and likeness, will be caught up in the clouds” (Pantoleus, Presbyter of Byzantium, reading for the Exaltation).
It is not surprising that the cross has become the sign of a Christian. “The cross was given to us as a sign on our foreheads, just as circumcision was given to Israel; for through him we the faithful are distinguished and distinguished from the unbelievers” (St. John of Damascus, Homily on the Day of the Cross).
Gradually Christianity appreciated the full significance of this sign, this trophy of Christ's victory. And here providence came to the aid of the Church with its direct action - the removal of the Cross from the bowels of the earth and its appearance in heaven. “The Lord would not allow him to remain in the ground, but took him out and lifted him up into heaven; He will come with him at His second coming.” (St. John Chrysostom, word on the Cross and crucifixion). It was acquired under emperors who believed in Christ, acquired by divine and unartificial power, solely by the strength and firmness of faith. When God handed over the royal scepters to the Christians, at that very time He was pleased to reveal the Cross through a pious wife, a queen wife, a wife adorned with royal wisdom, making the wife wise, let’s say, with divine wisdom, so that she, partly using the power of speech inherent in a royal person, would use everything that could move the unyielding heart of the Jews” (St. Andrew of Crete, sermon on the Exaltation). “A sign of the Lord came out of the treasuries of the earth, a sign, shocked by which the hellish caves freed the souls contained in them. The spiritual pearl of the faithful came out, established in the crown of Christ, in order to illuminate the whole universe. He appeared to be raised up, and is raised up to appear (to be seen). They raise it repeatedly and show it to the people, just without exclaiming: “Behold, the hidden treasure of salvation has been found” (St. Andrew of Crete, homily for the Exaltation).
The holiday, established in memory of the discovery and appearance of the Cross, of course, had long-prepared soil in the souls of Christians, and was a response to a long-standing request of their spirit. But he, having immediately received widespread and great solemnity, without a doubt, increased love for the Cross and veneration for it. The cross now acquires special significance in the Christian’s struggle against the invisible enemies of his salvation, especially in the hands of ascetics. Now they evaluate its entire significance not only in the work of our salvation accomplished by Christ, but also in the Old Testament preparation of this salvation, explaining much of it here, so to speak, by a recurrent action.
Sermon by Archpriest Rodion Putyatin.
Teaching on the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
Sermon of Saint Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky).
Sermon on the Day of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord.
Sermon by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh.
Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
Exaltation of the Holy Cross- one of the fixed twelve holidays, dedicated to the Cross of Christ, is celebrated on September 1427. If the Nativity of the Mother of God is the threshold of the mystery of the Incarnation, then the Cross proclaims to us about the Redemptive Sacrifice of Christ. Therefore, this holiday also stands at the beginning of the annual cycle of services. Since ancient times, the sign of the cross has been a symbol of eternal life in many religions. But after Golgotha, the abstract hieroglyph became a real sign of salvation...