Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord: the history and meaning of the holiday. Exaltation of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord: customs, traditions and prayers

Every Sunday, Orthodox Christians gather in churches and offer prayers of thanks to God. This is due to the fact that we go through weekly Christ's Resurrection over and over again. This means that our Easter is Christ, slain for us ...

In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

Every Sunday, Orthodox Christians gather in churches and offer prayers of thanks to God. This is due to the fact that weekly we experience Christ's Resurrection again and again. This means that our Easter is Christ, slain for us - every Resurrection eucharistically all this is experienced by us. As a matter of fact, Orthodoxy - salvation is always experienced eucharistically. For only the Blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse us from all sin. And in this sense, in Orthodoxy, salvation is not achieved, but is accepted by the active Divine grace and experienced in Holy Communion.

In principle, a person, ideally, should have received communion once: after baptism and this should be limited. But, unfortunately, even when all sins are removed from us in baptism and, it would seem, we should not sin, after baptism a person sins and for this the Church established the Sacrament of Confession as a second baptism. In the same way, the Church allowed those who had already received Communion to receive communion the second, third, fourth time, so that there was an opportunity to renew their meeting with Jesus Christ. Therefore, a real spiritual struggle and abuse is from Communion to Communion, and on this path nothing should confuse us.

Some Orthodox Christians fall into Pelagianism. This is a heavy heresy. When they think that they are saved by their fasting, prayers, then this is not so. Fasts and prayers are favorable conditions for spiritual work. We are saved only by the Lord Jesus Christ. These are the Jews, Muslims, with their long prayers, they want to appease God. We believe in forgiveness in the streams of the Blood of the Son of God. And no diabolical embarrassment should stop us from this belief. That's why orthodox person- this is a person who experiences salvation every time he partakes, and experiences a state of absolute holiness every time he partakes of the Body and Blood. Just as we pray that we are adored by these Sacraments, that is, we experience deification in the streams of the Blood of the Son of God, and our task is to accustom us to this thought. Otherwise, when a person strives to be saved by his virtues, and his life does not correspond to the virtues, he will fall into a depressive state, into despondency, for example, which is a mortal sin.

The devil will always try to embarrass us. He cannot calmly look at how we strive again and again to renew our relationship with Jesus Christ, and at such moments we must remember that in the Gospel very often Jesus Christ says: “do not be afraid”. These words, or rather, this word, occurs repeatedly in the Gospel. "Do not be afraid". Indeed, why should a person be afraid if Christ is with us? Christ, about whom it is said that He is always and forever the same; Eucharistically, we experience a meeting with the same Jesus Christ, who was born in Bethlehem, who was transformed on Mount Tabor, and who at the Last Supper taught His disciples the Divine Eucharist. Thinking about this, we are freed from the power of sin, from the power of the devil and from the power of the fear of death, and become people filled with grace-filled communion with Christ and in Christ. We are someone and something in Christ and with Christ and we are nobody and nothing outside of Christ and without Christ. Therefore, it is necessary to carry this joyful good Gospel message of salvation in Christ, which in Orthodoxy is experienced eucharistically, to all those people who are indecisive, depressed, in contradiction own life between reality and the requirements of the Holy Law. As St. Augustine teaches us: "All the law is fulfilled when all sins are forgiven."

One of the main church holidays, called the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, has a rich history and many traditions observed in the Orthodox world.

Every year on September 27, believers celebrate the great feast of the acquisition of the Cross, on which Jesus was crucified. After a long search, the shrine was transferred to the church, and every Christian got the opportunity to touch the relic, heal from ailments and offer prayers to the Higher Powers.

Exaltation customs and traditions

On this day, all Orthodox Christians go to church for all-night vigil, and at the end of the service in the morning hours, they touch the Cross. Its priests leave until October 4 - the day of the celebration of the Exaltation.

In ancient times, on the day of the holiday, it was customary to spend procession around villages and villages. Thus, our ancestors, with the help of the Higher Forces, protected their families and homes from all kinds of troubles, illnesses and failures. During the holiday, the last sheaves were taken from the field in order to get a rich harvest next year.

According to custom, hiking in the forest was prohibited on this day. It was believed that on September 27, the entire animal world is preparing for winter, and disturbing it means causing trouble on yourself. Respect for nature, in harmony with which our ancestors lived, did not allow on this day to be engaged in collecting the late harvest, preparing firewood. Other works that could disturb the peace of the earth were also banned.

Also on the Exaltation they feared rampant evil spirits, which arranged "festivities" before the arrival of winter. Not a single living person should have crossed the border of the forest, so as not to collide with the raging forest spirits. Such meetings threatened not only with poor health, but also with health problems, as well as damage or the evil eye.

During the celebration, they did not forget about the home keepers of the hearth and comfort. The so-called barnmen, the spirits of the house, received refreshments on this day. It was believed that a kindly spirit would protect the house and cattle from negativity throughout the winter.

On the holiday, they did not skimp on alms to the beggars. The prepared lean treats were taken to the church or distributed to those in need with Best wishes... Such generosity has always paid off handsomely, and good luck accompanied the hospitable owners.

Religious holiday presupposes modesty and abstinence, therefore, they fast on this day to avoid health problems.

Young people on this day sent matchmakers to the girls they liked in order to gain their favor, and the older generation went to church. Three candles were brought home from it, which were placed in the corners and prayers were read.

On a festive day, animals were hung with amulets and charms, protecting them from any manifestation of evil.

Prayers on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

“Lord Almighty! Save and preserve everyone living on earth, bless for a righteous life, and forgive our sins, voluntary and involuntary. We humbly appeal to Your Divine essence and hope for forgiveness. Amen".

“Honest Cross, save my soul from negativity and devilish intrigues. Save my mind from any manifestation of evil. Don't let my body grow weak, let my spirit grow stronger. May our Lord hear the prayers offered up, may he help in sorrow and in joy to preserve the true faith, unshakable, with the tears of the Most Pure Virgin Mary, and washed by the blood of the Lord. Amen".

On the day of the Exaltation of the Cross, you should devote time to your family and spend it in peace and joy. In ancient times, after the divine service, families gathered for a festive fast dinner, where they continued to offer prayers and thank Higher power for food, shelter and happy life without hardship. We wish you joy and well-being, and do not forget to press the buttons and

27.09.2017 01:29

The icon "Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord" is associated with the acquisition of a relic and one of the main Orthodox holidays... The events depicted in the icon describe ...

September 21 / October 4 Orthodox Church established a holiday giving Exaltation of the Honest and Of the Life-giving Cross Lord's.

The pagan Roman emperors tried to completely destroy in mankind the memories of the sacred places where our Lord Jesus Christ suffered for people and was resurrected. Emperor Hadrian (117–138) ordered to cover Golgotha ​​and the Holy Sepulcher with earth and to erect a temple of the pagan goddess Venus and a statue of Jupiter on an artificial hill. At this place pagans gathered and performed idol sacrifices.

Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord.
Icon from the sacristy of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra

However, after 300 years, by the Providence of God, the great christian shrines- The Holy Sepulcher and the Life-giving Cross were rediscovered by Christians and opened for worship. This happened under the Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine the Great (Comm. 21 May), the first of the Roman emperors to end the persecution of Christians. Saint Constantine the Great (306–337), after the victory in 312 over Maxentius, the ruler of the Western part of the Roman Empire, and over Licinius, the ruler of its eastern part, in 323 became the sovereign ruler of the vast Roman Empire. In 313, he issued the so-called Edict of Milan, which legalized christian religion and the persecution of Christians in the Western half of the empire ceased. The ruler Licinius, although he signed the Edict of Milan to please Constantine, actually continued to persecute Christians. Only after his final defeat did the 313 decree on religious tolerance spread to the Eastern part of the empire. Equal to the Apostles Emperor Constantine, who with God's help won victory over enemies in three wars, saw in heaven the sign of God - the Cross with the inscription "By this conquer".

Ardently desiring to find the Cross on which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine sent his mother, the pious Queen Helena (Comm. 21 May), to Jerusalem, supplying her with a letter to Patriarch Macarius of Jerusalem.

Although the holy queen Helen by this time was already in her advanced years, she enthusiastically set about fulfilling the assignment. The pagan temples and idols that filled Jerusalem, the queen ordered to be destroyed. In search of the Life-giving Cross, she questioned Christians and Jews, but for a long time her search remained unsuccessful. Finally, she was pointed to an old Jew named Judas, who said that the Cross was buried where the temple of Venus stands. The temple was destroyed and, after completing a prayer, they began to dig the ground. Soon the Holy Sepulcher was discovered and not far from it three crosses, a tablet with an inscription made by order of Pilate, and four nails that pierced the Body of the Lord. To find out on which of the three crosses the Savior was crucified, Patriarch Macarius placed the crosses on the deceased one by one. When the Cross of the Lord was laid, the dead man came to life. Seeing the resurrected one, everyone was convinced that the Life-giving Cross was found. Christians, in countless numbers who had come to worship the Holy Cross, asked Saint Macarius to raise and erect the Cross, so that all could, though from afar, reverently contemplate It. Then the Patriarch and other clergy began to raise the Holy Cross high, and the people, crying out: "Lord, have mercy", reverently worshiped Honest Tree... This solemn event took place in 326.

At the acquisition of the Life-giving Cross, another miracle took place: a seriously ill woman, when she was overshadowed by the Holy Cross, was immediately healed. Elder Judas and other Jews believed in Christ and accepted Holy Baptism.

Judas received the name Kyriakos and was subsequently ordained bishop of Jerusalem.

Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-giving Cross of the Lord

During the reign of Julian the Apostate (361–363), he was martyred for Christ (commemorating the holy martyr Kyriakos on October 28). Holy Empress Helena commemorated places associated with earthly life Savior, the foundation of more than 80 temples erected in Bethlehem - the place of the Nativity of Christ, on the Mount of Olives, from where the Lord ascended to heaven, in Gethsemane, where the Savior prayed before His suffering and where she was buried Mother of God after the assumption. Saint Helena brought with her to Constantinople a part of Of the Life-giving Tree and nails. Equal to the Apostles Emperor Constantine ordered to erect in Jerusalem a majestic and vast temple in honor of the Resurrection of Christ, which included both the Holy Sepulcher and Golgotha. The temple was built for about 10 years. Saint Helena did not live to see the illumination of the church; she died in 327. The temple was consecrated on September 13, 335. The next day, September 14, it was established to celebrate the Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-giving Cross.

On this day, another event associated with the Cross of the Lord is remembered - his return from Persia after a 14-year captivity back to Jerusalem. During the reign of the Byzantine emperor Phocas (602-610), the Persian king Chozroy II defeated the Greek army in a war against the Greeks, plundered Jerusalem and took the Life-giving Cross of the Lord and the Holy Patriarch Zechariah (609-633) into captivity. The cross stayed in Persia for 14 years and only under the emperor Heraclius (610-641), who with the help of God defeated Chosroes and made peace with the latter's son, Syroes, Christians were returned to their shrine - the Cross of the Lord. With great triumph, the Life-giving Cross was brought to Jerusalem. Emperor Heraclius, wearing a royal crown and porphyry, carried the Cross of Christ to the Church of the Resurrection. Patriarch Zechariah walked alongside the tsar. At the gate by which they ascended to Golgotha, the emperor suddenly stopped and could not move further. The Holy Patriarch explained to the king that the Angel of the Lord was blocking his path, for the One who carried the Cross to Golgotha ​​to redeem the world from sins, made his Way of the Cross in a humiliated form. Then Heraclius, taking off the crown and purple, put on simple clothes and freely brought the Cross of Christ into the temple.

All of you, my beloved flock, I greet you on a holy festive Sunday!

Save me, God!

By the grace of God, we also stand at the Cross of the Lord in today's resurrection. Last week, on Sunday, we solemnly celebrated this great feast of the glorification of the Lord's Cross. And many of those standing here, the Lord vouchsafed to be partakers of this spiritual celebration, this, indeed, the second Easter, when the Holy Cross was solemnly lifted up to all four directions of the world, sanctifying the whole world with its power. And we deeply believe, standing at the foot of the Cross: the Lord will not abandon us, the crusaders, by His mercy, but will by the power of His Cross protect us from all enemies visible and invisible. May God rise and be scattered about against Him, and may those who hate Him flee from His presence!

How the devil hates the Cross, how it shakes, trembles, fears the Cross, if we lay upon ourselves with deep faith, overshadow ourselves, sanctify ourselves with the Holy Cross! The Holy Cross always sanctifies us in our earthly life, up to our grave. The Holy Cross will sanctify our graves as well, when we lie, already eternally resting in a damp land. The Holy Cross over the grave tells us that here lies a crusader who carried his Cross to the end. Not like now, they are ashamed to put up a cross in the cemetery, some Jewish monuments, these pyramids are some kind of stone! Who needs it - worship of another faith? The cross should always decorate the graves, and whoever puts these different monuments is ashamed of his Cross, and if we are ashamed of the Cross, then God will be ashamed of us. One should always remember this, never be ashamed to wear the Holy Cross on oneself, never be ashamed, passing by a monastery or a temple, or a cemetery to cross, to overshadow oneself with the Holy Cross. If we are ashamed of God and the Cross of the Lord, it means that God will be ashamed of us sinners at the judgment of God. You should never be ashamed! And you sit down to dinner - cross yourself, cross your food - and with God eat for the Glory of God everything that is overshadowed by the Holy Cross of the Lord.

We are all crusaders. The Lord carried this Cross, and today they read the Gospel to us that everyone bears his Cross and we are all these crusaders, followers of Christ the Savior. And, Lord, give us spiritual strength to peacefully carry the cross, having cleansed ourselves of our passions, of nasty thoughts, of our insolence, for there are such arrogant people that it’s even a shame to look at them all the time. Give only God, patience this human insolence to watch.

Why is the Great Cross of Calvary placed on the temples? So that we, looking at the Holy Cross from afar, feel strength, feel help. Christ did not leave his Cross, He carried it to the end, to the martyr's death and to the glorious Resurrection, and this way of bearing the cross shows us - to the end of bearing the cross, not weakening under it, not to whine, not to lose heart, but for everything Glory to God! Father! And forgive all our ill-wishers, for they do not know what they are doing. But in order for God to forgive all our ill-wishers, we must fulfill one condition. Which? - Forgive everyone! If we do not forgive, fasts are useless, the sign of the cross is useless - everything is useless for evil person... God will never forgive such people, remember. Some need to think, think ... And who shouts: I will not forgive and all the rest, that person is already in hell, completely defines himself in hell, goes alive into the clutches of Satan. I am afraid for such people. Think before it's too late, think better and correct yourself!

Yesterday I spoke to you about purity of heart, and I also remind you: God is incomprehensible to us, the Cross of the Lord is incomprehensible to many, His salvation is incomprehensible to us, because there is no purity of heart. Where there is anger, pride, hatred, envy, suspicion of each other, especially passionate fornication, which torments some human beings, there will never be understood either the Cross, or the Resurrection of Christ, only paganism, the fulfillment is required: they disowned, bowed out and went to hell - you need to be afraid of this. That's right, I wish for myself, and for you all, a purity of heart and a purity of conscience, so that you know the Gospel of Christ to the depths of your heart, not with your "rationality" mind, with your stupid little mind, this gray brain substance, but that your heart will also know the Gospel, and the meaning of the Suffering, and the meaning of the Resurrection of Christ. Then the meaning of the Christian life will also be understood. Then this indifference, evil, envy will not be written on your face. These prodigal eyes will hatch at you: what is the Cross? He is not and will not be there, this Cross, only an abomination in the soul, evil worms still gnaw this human soul during their lifetime. "Create a pure heart in me, O God!" - here is a sigh, here is a prayer, then this Cross is understandable. This will not be a simple tree for us, but a living blessed power and blessed help of the Cross of the Lord!

Today we celebrate the sacrifice of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, we say goodbye to this bright, kind, joyful autumn holiday, and after the holy liturgy, after the prayer service last time let us worship the Lord's Cross, asking the Cross for the Lord to give us Divine power, to overshadow us, sanctify us and help us in our future life of bearing the cross.

And then we will take the Cross to the holy altar. And the Crucifixion is constantly in front of your eyes, Golgotha ​​stands, below is the head of Adam. The human skull, washed by the blood of the God-man, reminds us that as the first man of Adam, the Lord redeemed the Lord with His Suffering on the Cross, and the Lord redeemed us all with His Blood, His Suffering on the Cross, and he does not deprive us all of eternal life and the Kingdom of Heaven.

I always remind you how this Cross is dear to us - the stone was put into this Golgotha ​​from our Russian Golgotha ​​- the Solovetsky Islands, from the Golgotha ​​mountain, on the top of which there is the Golgotha-Crucifixion skete. Special ascetics - monks, schema-monks were there. The elders predicted that this Russian Golgotha ​​would someday be washed in the blood of a martyr. And the XX century came, indeed, the atheists chose this Golgotha, this skete of the Anzersky Island was made our Russian Golgotha. Tens of thousands of people were shot and executed there, a terrible groan, terrible suffering, our Russian land suffered from the atheists. Russian Golgotha, Russian cross-bearing - that's why the land of Russian Holy Russia is called. Indeed, washed by tears, blood, suffering, washed by repentance, Russia is truly Holy. And this stone reminds of that blood, all stained with human blood, the blood of holy martyrs, grandfathers and great-grandfathers of ours on Solovetsky Island. Above, the atheists shot or tied a log alive to each person, pushed them down, and the poor man rolled over the sharp stones of Golgotha, washing these stones with blood, martyrically ending his life. Wherever you dig on the Solovetsky Island, there are white bones all around, the skulls of our Russian martyrs, the saints of God of the 20th century, who were shot.

Here is our Russian cross-bearing, our Russian land, our Russian patience for suffering. No one, no people, would have withstood such a reproach, as the Russian land withstood. It is pure, deep Orthodox faith and gave spiritual strength to the people to endure this cross-bearing. This was just a prelude to the coming sufferings and sorrows - a new Calvary of terrible and terrible times and sufferings is ahead, already before the Antichrist. We are already standing on the eve of this suffering, on the eve of yet another repression from the authorities, on the eve of suffering for the Orthodox faith, for the Cross of Christ. Again inevitable blood will flow, again suffering, again tears. Perhaps the Lord has prepared for us, sinners, some of those standing here, to accept martyrdom for the faith of Christ - not to retreat, Lord, not to abandon our cross of life. Looking at the Holy Cross, let us always sigh: "Lord, to the end, to the last gasp: give us, Lord, the strength to convey, drag our earthly cross and be sure to enter through this cross-bearing into eternal life and into a life of eternal joy."

Some stupid people are shouting now: there will be salvation in Russia! Blood will flow all around - in Ukraine, and in Russia, and in Belarus - all around in Russia this martyr's blood will pour out the Antichrist, there will be persecutions all around, terrible times will come around. Here we will quickly be in Ukraine, then everything will go to Russia and to other countries, and the whole world will be engulfed in terrible theomachy. So the place won't save us. Over there in Andreevka, where I served, the priest became a fool in his old age, he fooled everyone, they abandoned their houses, abandoned everything - they went to Russia to get rid of. And they call me from Belgorod: "What is an invasion from you, how did the locusts come from Donbass?" I say: "Excuse me, it was the priest who was fooled, he gathered his sect, he fooled people, he took them there to escape." I bought a house myself, there is a place to live, and where are people? They fell into the women's monastery - they are sitting there, and that's all. And the nuns got scared - what to do with this Donbass locust? They went to save themselves ... will we be saved there? Will we be saved in Jerusalem if we go there? Will we be saved on Athos if we go there? Nowhere will we be saved if the evil ones, but if the good ones, we will be saved in Russia, and in the Ukraine, and in Belarus, and in a simple village - all around you will find salvation, all around God, all around the grace of God.

Where did Seraphim Sarovsky go? The elder blessed him - go to Sarov and there you will be saved ... I came to Sarov on foot and sat there until the grave, did not go anywhere, only to his near and distant wilderness, into the forest, and then with a blessing, not of his own free will. Not the way these "Shatalova hermitages" run of their own accord, from one monastery - there is salvation, there ... But nowhere you will find this salvation. With sadness you look - such a young and bad - "Shatalova desert", and will stagger until it dies ...

The place will never save us, I am convinced of this myself. You must sanctify any place with exploits, prayer, and patience. As the elder blessed me “to serve only in the villages, do not go to the city, death in the city, there is anger, revenge, there is no such pure service” - villages.

Who knows my life closely, knows how they roamed from village to village, served - and these villages prospered, and houses were built, temples were renovated. Salvation was there or not, I don't know, it's not for us to judge. I think that salvation is all around - we would strive for this salvation to the Glory of God! So strengthen, Lord!

On the eve of suffering, on the eve of persecution, the Lord shows us miracles: holy icons cry, myrrh is running out, relics appear, new saints of God are glorified - all this the Lord gives us on the eve of suffering to strengthen our weak faith: "See, touch and do not be unfaithful, but faithful." ... And Thomas exclaimed: "My Lord and my God!" So we are like Thomas: “See, look, bow, kiss, feel and exclaim:“ I believe, Lord, help my unbelief! ”Amen.

Happy holy holiday today Sunday! Memory of St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov, one of the beloved saints of our Russian land. Happy is the man who has his life of his. I always say: collect these spiritual books as a legacy, love to read. Choose a time every day, read the life of the saints during the day, here you will be the kindness of your life, edification. There is the Gospel, there is the Psalter, there is the Bible in the lives of the saints, there is history, there is Theology, there is the most important thing - the way of salvation. Read the lives of the saints - this is the invaluable work of Demetrius of Rostov! Saint Demetrius collected information bit by bit, all the chronicles, all the ancient lives, the patericons collected everything and compiled his wonderful saving work, republished in our time.

I remember how in godless times we treasured these books: where does any grandmother have a battered book of the lives of the saints - if you beg, beg. I still remember these attendants, they were recorded in my synodikon - she also gave me an old little book, from which I learned the spiritual life. You bind, glue, add, rewrite - these are the times.

Now we have lived that all these new books have been completely published, coated with gold, it’s even scary to take them in your hands, you won’t see enough! 12 books of the lives of the saints of God! You read this beauty - as if they were written today, such a life trembles from these books! After all, these are our grandfathers, our great-grandfathers, they lived the same way as we did, and they were sinners, and, moreover, grievous. Take, for example, Moses Murin - a robber, a lecher, but then he was horrified about his sins, repented. Take the same Mary of Egypt, King David, King Solomon - what great sinners were, how they repented, corrected their lives, renewed and became worthy of the face of the saints of God! And we, sinners, are shown this way: do not be discouraged, do not despair - bring sincere repentance. Not only here to kneel down and whisper to the priest your sins, to change sincerely in your life, to correct yourself - this is what the Lord demands, demands Saint Demetrius of Rostov and other saints of God, whose lives are our spiritual treasure and spiritual personal heritage.

The eternal book of life was written by St. Demetrius. Many abstruse books have been written, and we read them, and do not understand anything, we clink glasses only from them and that's all. And the simple lives of the saints ... Why is there a life of the saints, give me the Myrrh-streaming Nile - I will understand something there, learn! You stupid person, you look, nod your head: well, what can you do, you can't put your mind in ... At times I say: if there was an opportunity, I would give a piece of mind, pinch it off - dumb. God gave everyone his own in a box, I can only teach, explain, tell, but you, like a wall, turn out like peas. So, love the lives of the saints - this is an immortal book, this is spiritual guidance in our life and in the inheritance of the Eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

Information Department of the Khabarovsk Diocese

The Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-giving Cross of the Lord is the Lord's twelveth feast. On this day, Orthodox Christians remember two events.

As the Holy Tradition says, the Cross was found in 326 in Jerusalem. It happened near Mount Golgotha, where the Savior was crucified. Description of the events of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which took place in the IV century, we find in some Christian historians, for example, Eusebius and Theodoret.

In 326, Emperor Constantine the Great decided at all costs to find the lost shrine - the Cross of the Lord. Together with his mother, Queen Helena, he went on a campaign to the Holy Land.

It was decided to carry out excavations near Golgotha, since the Jews had a custom to bury the instruments of execution near the place of execution. And, indeed, in the ground they found three crosses, nails and a board that was nailed over the head of the crucified Savior. As Tradition says, a sick person touched one of the crosses and was healed. So Emperor Constantine and Empress Helena learned which of the crosses was the same. They bowed to the shrine, and then the Patriarch Macarius of Jerusalem began to show it to the people. For this, he stood on a dais and raised ("erected") the Cross. People worshiped the Cross and prayed: "Lord, have mercy!"

And the second event is the return of the Life-giving Cross from Persia, where he was in captivity. In the 7th century, he was returned to Jerusalem by the Greek emperor Heraclius.

In 614, the Persian king conquered Jerusalem and sacked it. Among other treasures, he took the Tree of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord to Persia. The shrine stayed with foreigners for fourteen years. Only in 628 the emperor Heraclius defeated the Persians, made peace with them and returned the Cross to Jerusalem.

Both events were united by the fact that the Cross was erected before the people, that is, raised. At the same time, they turned him to all parts of the world in turn, so that people could bow to him and share with each other the joy of finding a shrine.

How did it develop further destiny shrines, historians do not know exactly. Someone says that the Cross was in Jerusalem until 1245. Someone that was cut into pieces and smashed all over the world.

Now part of the Cross of the Lord rests in the ark in the altar of the Greek Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem.

On the day of the Exaltation of the Cross, an all-night vigil and Liturgy are to be served.

It is interesting that during Matins on the Exaltation of the Cross, the Gospel is read not in the middle of the church, but in the altar.

The culmination of the holiday is when the chief priest or bishop, dressed in purple vestments, brings out the Cross. All worshipers in the temple kiss the shrine, and the primate anoints them with holy oil. During the general worship of the Cross, the troparion is sung: “We worship Your Cross, Master, and holy resurrection We glorify yours. "