Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Exaltation of the honest and life-giving cross of the Lord
On September 27, Orthodox Christians celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross - one of the 12 main, or twelfth, holidays of the Orthodox Church.
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross: history
On the day of the Exaltation of the Cross they remember how queen equal to the apostles Elena found the Cross on which the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. The cross was found in 326 near Mount Golgotha in Jerusalem. Since the 7th century, the memory of the return of the Life-Giving Cross from Persia by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (629) began to be associated with this day.
The holiday is called the Elevation of the Cross, because both upon the acquisition and upon the return of the Cross, the primate raised (Erected) the cross three times so that everyone could see it.
Equal to the Apostles Tsar Constantine wished to build churches of God on places sacred to Christians in Palestine (that is, at the place of birth, suffering and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, etc.) and to find the Cross on which the Savior was crucified. With great joy, his mother, St., undertook to fulfill the king’s desire. Queen Equal to the Apostles Helen.
In 326, Queen Helena went to Jerusalem for this purpose. She put in a lot of work to find the Cross of Christ, since the enemies of Christ hid the Cross by burying it in the ground. Finally, she was pointed to an elderly Jew named Judas, who knew where the Cross of the Lord was. After much questioning and persuasion, he was forced to speak. It turned out that the Holy Cross was thrown into one cave and covered with garbage and earth, and a pagan temple was built on top. Queen Helen ordered the destruction of this building and the excavation of a cave.
When they dug up the cave, they found three crosses in it and a tablet lying separately from them with the inscription: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” It was necessary to find out which of the three crosses is the Cross of the Savior. The Jerusalem Patriarch (Bishop) Macarius and Queen Helen firmly believed and hoped that God would indicate the Holy Cross of the Savior.
On the advice of the bishop, they began to bring crosses one after another to one seriously ill woman. No miracle happened from the two crosses, but when the third cross was laid, she immediately became healthy. It happened that at that time the deceased was being carried past for burial. Then they began to lay crosses one after another on the deceased; and when they laid the third cross, the dead man came to life. In this way they recognized the cross of the Lord, through which the Lord performed miracles and showed life-giving the power of His Cross.
Queen Helena, Patriarch Macarius and the people around them bowed to the Cross of Christ with joy and reverence and kissed it. Christians, having learned about this great event, gathered in countless numbers to the place where the Cross of the Lord was found (found). Everyone wanted to venerate the holy life-giving Cross. But since it was impossible to do this due to the crowd of people, everyone began to ask to at least show it. Then Patriarch Macarius stood on an elevated place and, so that everyone could see, several times erected(lift) him. The people, seeing the Cross of the Savior, bowed and exclaimed: “Lord, have mercy!”
The Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Kings Constantine and Helena, over the place of the suffering, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, built a vast and magnificent temple in honor of Resurrection of Christ. They also built temples on the Mount of Olives, in Bethlehem and in Fevron near the Oak of Mamri.
Queen Helena brought part of the Holy Cross to her son, Tsar Constantine, and left the other part in Jerusalem. This precious remnant of the Cross of Christ is still kept in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ.
Icons 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.
Prayers
Troparion, tone 1
Kontakion, tone 4
Greatness
We magnify You, Life-Giving Christ, and honor Your Holy Cross, through which You saved us from the work of the enemy.
Choruses
Irmos of the 9th song
Hymns to the Cross of the Lord
Choir of the Orthodox Brotherhood in the name of the Archangel Michael.
Save, Lord, Your people and bless Your inheritance, victories Orthodox Christian bestowing on those who resist, and preserving Your residence through Your Cross.
Participated in the Exaltation of the Cross and on the Sunday of the Cross
Having ascended to the cross by will, grant to Your namesake new residence Your bounty, O Christ God; We rejoice in Thy power, giving us victories as our companions, Thy benefits, weapons of peace, invincible victory.
Choir of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra and MDA
Rejoice Life-Giving Cross .
Rejoice, life-giving Cross, invincible victory of piety, door of heaven, true statement, The protection of the Church, through which the aphid was ruined and abolished, and the mortal power was trampled, and we ascended from the earth to the heavenly, an invincible weapon, resisting demons: the glory of the martyrs, the saints, as truly fertilizer: a haven of salvation, granting great mercy to the world.
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 giving us 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, the burdened - weakness, the overwhelmed - refuge, the lost - a mentor, those possessed by passions - repentance, the poor - enrichment, the floating - the helmsman, 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.
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 anywhere, so the festive service on the eve of the holiday - a vigil - becomes central.
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.
Rite of the Exaltation of the Cross
The Rite of the Exaltation of the Cross is performed at Matins after the great doxology and singing of the troparion Save, Lord, Your people..., consists of a five-fold overshadowing of the Cross and its elevation to the cardinal directions (east, south, west, north and again to the east). An important change, in comparison with studio monuments, is the addition to the rite of five deaconal petitions (corresponding to the five overshadowings of the Cross), after each of which a hundredfold Lord have mercy. In addition, according to the Jerusalem Rule, before raising the Cross, the primate must bow to the ground so that his head is a span from the ground (Greek. spithame, about 20 cm). During the correction of liturgical books in the Russian Church in the 2nd half. XVII century The order of the overshadowing of the cardinal directions during the rite was changed: the Cross is erected to the east, west, south, north and again to the east. This order has been maintained to this day.
Happy holiday, I congratulate everyone, both the editors of the site, and all Orthodox Christians who visit this site. God bless you all. I would like to ask a question, which is precisely on the topic of the cross. In our Orthodox world, for a believer, the cross is a special shrine, which he puts on at the first baptism in his life and wears until last days. Tell me, this is how the situation developed, my dad died, who wore a cross without taking it off, I don’t know why, most likely because everything happened unexpectedly and no one expected his death, and he was old enough to live and to live, especially since his grandson was just born. And for some reason someone, I think my mother, someone told her not to bury dad with a cross, take it off him pectoral cross as if for memory, so we took it off, however, dad’s cross was good, massive, gold and silver, but the point, of course, was not in the material, but in faith. But somehow, during the funeral, my mother was convinced to take it off from my dad, her husband , cross and leave it in the family. The cross was lying at home, several years passed, I decided, out of good intentions, I just really missed my father, to wear his cross, but miracles - I couldn’t wear it for a long time, and it was beautiful, and it seemed loved one, but something was wrong... I can’t say that any direct events or troubles followed, no, but somehow I felt uncomfortable when my father’s cross was on my neck, and I took it off and put it away again. I went to the temple and asked why this was happening, because there are husbands and wives who, after the death of one of them, then wear both the cross of the deceased and training rings. Why did I have a slight discomfort?
In the temple they told me that I could wear it, because this is the cross of a person related by blood, especially my father, I just need to sprinkle it with holy water and wear it, and everything will be fine, I’ll make a reservation that it was not the priest who answered, the attendants in the original shop answered. I sprinkled the cross and tried to wear it, but again nothing worked. I’m wearing my cross now, it doesn’t give me any trouble, I know that it there is, on me, and As soon as I put on my dad’s, something doesn’t feel right. So I took it off again and never put it on again. The silver has already darkened, my father’s cross lies at home, and now, with age, it began to seem to me that we did something wrong then, and why did my mother listen to someone? The only explanation is that we seemed out of our minds, I repeat, no one expected this death, everything was so unexpected, and infant I have, and suddenly my father dies, my head was spinning. Can anyone tell me what we did, most likely wrong, how to correct this situation, and what to do for dad, maybe he is suffering there because we left him without a cross?
If possible, I would like to get an answer. This has been worrying me for a long time, and even the answer from the primordial shop, which I then received in the temple, still somehow did not quite convince me of the correctness of my actions. Please help me figure it out and do everything right, according to the Orthodox, my dad was a believer.
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 he writes Sacred Tradition, 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.
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When is the Exaltation of the Holy Cross celebrated?
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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. Pre-festival – one or more days before big holiday, whose services 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. Giving holiday - the last day of some important Orthodox holidays, celebrated with a special service, more solemn than on ordinary days of the feast.
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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
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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.
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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 (according to the old style; according to the new style - September 27). The bishops who came to the consecration from all over the Roman Empire told the entire Christian world about the new holiday.
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 anywhere, so the festive service on the eve of the holiday - a vigil - becomes central.
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 giving us 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, the burdened - weakness, the overwhelmed - refuge, the lost - a mentor, those possessed by passions - repentance, the poor - enrichment, the floating - the helmsman, 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-established 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: list from the Kazan Icon Mother of God and St. Macarius of Zheltovodsk (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, I performed in the temple more than once. Divine Liturgy Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow. 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 autumn. “It’s Exaltation in the yard, the last haystack 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 falls on a Sunday, everything on it is Friday-Wednesday, Lenten food!”, “Whoever does not fast the Exaltation – the Cross of Christ – seven sins will be raised upon him!”
The Feast of the Exaltation was also called "cabbage". “Be smart, woman, about cabbage - the Updating has arrived!”, “It’s the 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 fast on this day.
The last birds go to Vozdvizhenie for the winter.
Know, woman, about cabbage - 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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Christian teaching says that the Cross of the Lord works miracles. This is how they determined which of the three crosses found under the destroyed Jerusalem
the temple is the one on which Jesus Christ was crucified. A seriously ill woman was healed by his touch. Another legend says that with the help of the Cross of the Lord a dead man came to life. No one knows for sure whether this is true or just a legend, but on September 27, Orthodox believers still celebrate the Exaltation of the honorable and life-giving Cross of the Lord.
The Feast of the Exaltation is one of the 12 great (twelfth) Orthodox holidays, established in memory of the finding of the Holy Cross, which, according to legend, occurred in 335 in Jerusalem near Golgotha during archaeological excavations organized by the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, Empress Helena, who came to Palestine and the Bishop of Jerusalem Macarius.
It was a holiday of the Christian empire, born on the day when Emperor Constantine saw in the sign the Cross and the words: “By this victory” - a holiday of the victory of Christianity over kingdoms, cultures and civilizations, a holiday of that Christian world that is disintegrating before our eyes.
For centuries on this day in cathedrals, bishops, surrounded by a host of clergy, raised a cross high above the worshipers in the middle of the church and overshadowed all four corners of the world with it, accompanied by the loud singing of the choir: “Lord, have mercy!”
Church tradition has preserved different versions finding the Holy Cross. According to the most ancient of them - it is cited by church historians of the 5th century - the Cross, the tablet with the name of Jesus that was on it and the nails with which it was nailed to the instrument of execution, were found under the sanctuary of Venus, erected by the Romans on the site of the Jerusalem Temple they destroyed. But since three crosses were discovered, Bishop Macarius suggested applying each of them in turn to a seriously ill woman: by touching the one on which the Lord was crucified, the woman was healed.
Another legend that has become more widespread in medieval church, says that the place where it was necessary to look for the Cross of the Lord was suggested to the Empress Helen by an old Jew named Judas, and they determined which of the three crosses was the same one when, from touching it to a dead man who was being carried past, he came to life. And Judas was then baptized with the name Cyriacus. This legend was even included in the obligatory church texts intended for reading on the Feast of the Exaltation.
The holiday itself, which was originally only integral part The multi-day celebration established in honor of the renovation of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem gradually changed places with it in its significance.
By the 7th century, the close connection between the holidays of Renewal and Exaltation ceased to be felt at all - perhaps due to the invasion of the Persians, who sacked Jerusalem in 614 and took the Cross with them as a trophy. After 14 years later, Emperor Heraclius managed to return the shrine and it was solemnly brought to Jerusalem, raised high and turned in all directions so that all those gathered could see it, the Feast of the Exaltation acquired a double meaning.
In Constantinople, the veneration of the Holy Cross, which began under Constantine the Great, after the return of the shrine from “Persian captivity,” made the Exaltation one of the great holidays of the liturgical year. And in memory of the Savior’s suffering on the cross, a strict fast was established on this day. But in October there will be a holiday that will give a chance for women to get married successfully - Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Read so you can prepare everything you need in time.
Particles of the life-giving tree in numerous reliquaries were dispersed throughout the Christian world.
In Rus', on the Feast of the Exaltation, there was a custom to erect chapels, small churches and roadside “votive” crosses - in gratitude for deliverance from some misfortune. There was a legend among the people about how at the Exaltation there is a battle between “honor” and “evil spirits,” truth and falsehood, and when the “obsession from the evil one” begins to overcome and everything that stands for the right faith trembles and sways, rises from the depths of the earth Holy Cross of the Lord, and the whole universe shines like the sun, and all evil melts like wax.
However, all this today is from the field of ethnography and cultural history. Here is what the protopresbyter of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, theologian Alexander Schmeman, wrote about the Feast of the Exaltation at the end of the 20th century:
“Yes, and this year, like every year, this solemn ancient rite will be performed. But a huge city will thunder around the temple, indifferent to this sacred celebration, in no way connected with it, millions of people will continue to live everyday life, worries, interests, joys, sorrows, have nothing to do with what happens in churches.
Many Christians are satisfied that they are allowed to “perform their rituals” with contempt, as long as they behave quietly and obediently and do not interfere with the world building its life - without God, without Christ, without faith, without prayer. They, these tired Christians, almost don’t remember what Christ said on the night when He walked to the crucifixion: “You will be sad in the world, but take heart, for I have overcome the world”...
Yes, this Cross was decorated with gold, silver and precious stones, which was erected by the hands of priests above the crowds of people, but neither gold, nor silver, nor gems are not able to eclipse the true and original meaning of the Cross: an instrument of shameful and painful execution, to which an abandoned Man, suffocating from pain and thirst, is nailed with nails...
To venerate the Cross, to erect it, to sing about the victory of Christ - doesn’t this mean, first of all, to believe in the Crucified One, to believe that the sign of the cross is a sign of one stunning defeat, unique in its meaning, which - only because it is a defeat , only to the extent that it is accepted as a defeat - and it becomes a victory and triumph...
And maybe we needed this external defeat of the Christian world, we needed this impoverishment and rejection, so that our faith could be purified from all earthly pride, from hope for external strength, for external victory. So that our vision of the Cross of Christ, which rises above us and above the world, may be purified, even if we and the world do not see it.”
Exaltation of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord
A holiday that the Orthodox Church celebrates on September 27. 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. 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 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.
Historians 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.
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 the holiday of Easter, the Holy Resurrection of Christ. 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 (according to the old style; according to the new style - September 27). The bishops who came to the consecration from all over the Roman Empire told the entire Christian world about the new holiday.
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 anywhere, so the festive service on the eve of the holiday - a vigil - becomes central.
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, O Lord, Thy people and bless Thy inheritance, granting victories to Orthodox Christians against resistance and preserving Thy life through Thy 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 giving us 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, the burdened - weakness, the overwhelmed - refuge, the lost - a mentor, those possessed by passions - repentance, the poor - enrichment, the floating - the helmsman, 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 haystack 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 arrived!”, “It’s the 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.