The Exaltation of the Holy Cross is celebrated on September 27, 2020 (September 14 is the date according to the old style). The holiday is dedicated to the Cross of Jesus Christ, on which he was crucified. Rising means "lifting up". This holiday symbolizes the lifting of the Cross from the earth after it was discovered there.
On this day, people do not start any business, as there will be no positive result.
Traditionally, detours or religious processions are made with icons and prayers.
On this day, Vozdvizhensky evenings begin, which last for two weeks. Unmarried girls gather and read a certain spell seven times. According to legend, after such a ceremony, the one who is dear to her heart will fall in love with the girl.
Those who observe fasting in the Exaltation will receive forgiveness of 7 sins, and those who do not observe will receive 7 sins.
On this holiday, crosses are drawn in houses with chalk, soot, coal, garlic, animal blood. Small crosses made of wood are placed in the bins and mangers of animals. In the absence of crosses, they are made from rowan branches. They protect people, animals and crops from evil spirits.
history of the holiday
After the death of Christ, the holy Empress Helena ordered the erection of about 90 churches in various places: where the Savior was born, from where he ascended to heaven, where he prayed before death, at the burial place of his Mother. Part of the Cross and the nails with which he was chained to it, she brought to Constantinople. By order of Emperor Constantine, a temple was built in Jerusalem in honor of the Resurrection of Christ. Its construction took almost 10 years.
In 327, Queen Helena died, not having lived to see the consecration of the temple. Despite this, on September 13, 335, it was consecrated, and the next day - the 14th - the celebration of the Exaltation of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord was appointed.
Have an interesting day
Task for today: Refrain from food of animal origin.
The Holy Empress Helena, after the death of Christ, ordered the erection of about 90 churches. Temples were supposed to be in a variety of places: where the Savior was born, from where he ascended to heaven, where he prayed before his death, at the burial place of his mother. But the queen did not live to see the consecration of the temple. And yet, on September 13, it was still lit, and the next day a holiday was appointed.
According to Orthodox tradition, on the day of the holiday itself, there is a strict fast - refrain from food of animal origin.
Signs
North wind - to a warm summer.
If the west wind blows for several days in a row, then the weather will be bad in the coming days.
At sunrise, the moon outlines a reddish, quickly disappearing circle - to clear and dry weather.
Geese fly high - the flood will be high, low - the river will rise low.
If the cranes fly slowly and high, cooing on the fly, then the autumn will be warm.
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross in 2019 will be on September 27. Read more about the background and holding of this important holiday of the Orthodox Church in the article!
Exaltation of the Holy Cross in 2019
Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord (Approval of the Cross) - September 27, 2019
On which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, found it. With the accession of her son, Empress Elena lived at the court. Without interfering in political affairs, she devoted the remaining years of her life to strengthening the Christian faith. It is impossible to imagine anything sadder and bleaker than the state in which the last Roman conquest left Palestine.
On the ruins of the city of David, a new city was rebuilt, adorned with pagan temples and other monuments of idolatry. The altar of Jupiter was placed on the very spot where Solomon's temple had formerly stood. Intentionally or accidentally, the places consecrated by the birth and death of the Savior were defiled by temples dedicated to vile mysteries. An image of a pig was placed over the main city gates, so that this emblem, hated by the Israelites, would force them to move even further away from their holy city.
Upon arrival in Jerusalem, the first desire of the empress was to visit the burial place of the Savior. "Let's go," she said, "let's go to honor the place where His sacred feet stopped walking." But, to her great surprise, no one could accurately indicate this place. For a long time, the pagans filled up the cave in which Jesus Christ was buried in order to deprive her of the reverence that the Christians showed her. Little by little, the Christians themselves stopped visiting the cave, so as not to show any respect for the objects of idolatry, deliberately placed by the pagans in the holy place. Then, as a result of political upheavals, fires and devastation that took place in Jerusalem, the very location of the city changed a lot.
The new generation that inhabited the city almost lost the legends about the holy places. Only the birthplace of the Savior, the Bethlehem Cave, has survived from general oblivion. But Elena did not retreat before these obstacles. At her invitation, the most educated of Christians and Jews gathered to her, and in her presence they made a topographic study on the place of the suffering of Jesus Christ. They say that in this case one Jew rendered great services, inheriting from his ancestors the secret of the holy Christian places.
Empress Elena finds the life-giving cross. Chapel of San Silvestro of the XIII century in the Roman monastery complex of Santi Quattro Coronati
As soon as the place of the suffering of Jesus Christ was determined, Elena herself, at the head of workers and soldiers, hurried to the indicated place and ordered it to be cleared. The work presented great difficulties; it was necessary to destroy a large number of buildings that towered on the hill of Golgotha and its environs. But Elena had a command from Constantine not to back down from any difficulties. They destroyed both pagan houses and temples, dug deep pits, and, moreover, took care to carry the dug out materials as far as possible in order to cleanse the holy place from everything that had been done by the hands of the pagans. Saint Helena encouraged everyone to work with ardent words. “Here,” she said, “is the place of battle, but where is the sign of victory? I am looking for this sign of our salvation and I do not find it. How! I reign, and the cross of my Savior lies in the dust! .. How do you want me to consider myself saved when I do not see the sign of my redemption?
Finally, the Lord blessed the extraordinary efforts of St. Helena with complete success: under the ruins of the temple of Venus, the cave of the holy sepulcher was opened and, according to the testimony of all historians (except Eusebius), three wooden crosses were found, preserved completely unharmed. No one doubted that these crosses were the instruments of execution of Jesus Christ and the two thieves who were crucified with Him. The only difficulty was how to find out on which of the three crosses the God-man suffered.
To the place where the crosses lay, a woman was brought, possessed by an incurable disease; They took out three found crosses from the cave. Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem, Empress Elena and all those present fell on their knees, asking the Lord to show them the tree of salvation. Then two crosses were placed on the patient in turn, but to no avail. But as soon as the third cross touched the members of the dying woman, she opened her eyes, stood up and began to walk, glorifying the Lord.
Finding the Cross. Athos, Pantokrator Monastery. 17th century
As soon as the Lord, by the power of a miracle, witnessed the true cross of Christ, Saint Helen, with a heart filled with joy and at the same time fear, hastened to approach the sacred tree. She desired, but at the same time considered herself unworthy to touch and kiss such a great shrine. With feelings of deepest reverence, she bowed before the cross of Christ.
Before leaving Palestine, the empress was very actively engaged in the construction of the Church of the Resurrection and the Cross of Christ, which they decided to erect over the holy tomb. In addition to this temple, Elena began to build two more: over the cave of Bethlehem, where the Savior was born, and on the Mount of Olives, from where He ascended into heaven.
The event of finding the Holy Cross. After the greatest events in the history of mankind took place - the Crucifixion, Burial, Resurrection and Ascension of Christ, St. The cross, which served as the instrument of execution of the Savior, was lost. After the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman troops in 70 AD, the holy places associated with the earthly life of the Lord fell into oblivion, and pagan temples were built on some of them.
The acquisition of the Holy Cross took place in the reign of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine the Great. According to church historians of the 4th century, Constantine's mother, St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Elena, went to Jerusalem at the request of her royal son to find places connected with the events of the earthly life of Christ, as well as St. The cross, the miraculous appearance of which appeared to St. Constantine is a sign of victory over the enemy.
Three different versions of the legend about the acquisition of St. Cross. According to the most ancient (it is given by church historians of the 5th century Rufinus of Aquileia, Socrates, Sozomen and others, and probably goes back to the lost "Church History" of Gelasius of Caesarea (4th century)), the Holy Cross was under the pagan sanctuary of Venus. When the sanctuary was destroyed, three crosses were found, as well as a tablet from the Cross of the Savior and the nails with which He was nailed to the instrument of execution. In order to find out which of the crosses is the one on which the Lord was crucified, Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem (+ 333) proposed to attach each of the crosses in turn to a seriously ill woman. When she was healed after touching one of the crosses, all those gathered glorified God, who pointed to the greatest shrine of the True Tree of the Cross of the Lord, and the Holy Cross was raised by Bishop Macarius for everyone to see.
The second version of the legend about the acquisition of the Holy Cross, which arose in Syria in the 1st half. 5th century, refers this event not to the 4th, but to the 3rd century. and says that the Cross was found by Protonika, the wife of imp. Claudius II (269-270), and then hidden and found again in the 4th century.
The third version, also apparently originating in the 5th century BC. in Syria, reports that St. Elena tried to find out the location of the Cross from the Jerusalem Jews, and in the end, an elderly Jew named Judas, who at first did not want to talk, after tortures, indicated the place - the temple of Venus. St. Helena ordered to destroy the temple and excavate this place. 3 crosses were found there; a miracle helped to reveal the Cross of Christ - resurrection through touching the True Tree of a dead man who was carried past. Of Judas, it is reported that he subsequently converted to Christianity with the name Cyriacus and became bishop of Jerusalem.
Despite the greatest antiquity of the first version of the legend about finding the Holy Cross, in the middle and late Byzantine era, the third version became the most common; in particular, it is based on the prologue legend, intended to be read on the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, according to modern liturgical books of the Orthodox Church.
The exact date of obtaining the Holy Cross is unknown; apparently, it took place in 325 or 326. After the acquisition of St. Cross Emperor Constantine began the construction of a number of churches, where divine services were to be performed with solemnity appropriate to the Holy City. Around 335, the large basilica of Martyrium, erected directly near Golgotha and the cave of the Holy Sepulcher, was consecrated. Day of Renewal(i.e., the consecration) of Martyrium, as well as the rotunda of the Resurrection (Holy Sepulcher) and other buildings on the site of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Savior on September 13 or 14 began to be celebrated annually with great solemnity, and the remembrance of the finding of the Holy Cross was included in the festive celebration in honor of the Renewal.
The establishment of the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross is thus connected with the feasts in honor of the consecration of Martyrium and the rotunda of the Resurrection. According to the "Easter Chronicle" of the 7th century, the rite of the Exaltation of the Cross was first performed during the celebrations at the consecration of Jerusalem churches.
Already in con. 4th century the feast of the Renewal of the Basilica of Martyrium and the Rotunda of the Resurrection was one of the three main feasts of the year in the Jerusalem Church, along with Pascha and Epiphany. According to the pilgrim con. 4th century Egerii, Renewal was celebrated for eight days; every day the Divine Liturgy was celebrated solemnly; temples were decorated in the same way as on Epiphany and Easter; many people came to Jerusalem for the feast, including those from remote areas - Mesopotamia, Egypt, Syria. Egeria emphasizes that the Renewal was celebrated on the same day when the Cross of the Lord was found, and also draws a parallel between the events of the consecration of the Jerusalem churches and the Old Testament temple built by Solomon (“Pilgrimage”, Ch. 48-49).
Choice of September 13 or 14 as holiday dates Updates could be due both to the very fact of the consecration of churches on these days, and a conscious choice. According to a number of researchers, the Feast of Renewal has become the Christian analogue of the Old Testament Feast of Tabernacles, one of the three main holidays of the Old Testament worship (Lev 34:33-36), celebrated on the 15th day of the 7th month of the Old Testament calendar (this month roughly corresponds to September) , especially since the consecration of Solomon's temple also took place during Tabernacles. In addition, the date of the feast of renewal on September 13 coincides with the date of the consecration of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in Rome, and a Christian holiday could be established instead of a pagan one (this theory has not received much circulation). Finally, parallels are possible between the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14 and the day of the Crucifixion of the Savior on Nisan 14, as well as between the Exaltation of the Cross and the feast of the Transfiguration, celebrated 40 days before. The question of the reason for choosing exactly September 13 as the date of the celebration of the Renewal (and, accordingly, September 14 as the date of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross) in modern historical science has not been finally resolved.
Renewal and the Exaltation of the Cross. In the 5th century, according to the testimony of the church historian Sozomen, the feast of the Renewal was celebrated in the Jerusalem Church as before very solemnly, for 8 days, during which “even the sacrament of Baptism was taught” (Church History. 2. 26). According to the Jerusalem Lectionary of the 5th century preserved in the Armenian translation, on the second day of the Feast of the Renewal, the Holy Cross was shown to all the people. Thus, the Exaltation of the Cross was originally established as an additional holiday accompanying the main celebration in honor of the Renewal - similar to the holidays in honor of the Mother of God on the day after the Nativity of Christ or St. John the Baptist on the day after the Baptism of the Lord.
Starting from the VI century. The Exaltation of the Cross gradually began to become a more significant holiday than the Feast of the Renewal. If in the Life of St. Savva the Sanctified, written in the VI century. Rev. Cyril of Scythopol, they still talk about the celebration of the Renewal, but not the Exaltation (ch. 67), then already in the Life of St. Mary of Egypt, traditionally attributed to St. Sophronius of Jerusalem (7th century), it is said that St. Mary went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Exaltation (ch. 19).
The very word "elevation" ( ypsosis) among the surviving monuments is first found in Alexander the Monk (527-565), the author of the laudatory word to the Cross, which should be read on the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross according to many liturgical monuments of the Byzantine tradition (including modern Russian liturgical books). Alexander Monk wrote that September 14 is the date of the celebration of the Exaltation and Renewal, established by the fathers at the command of the emperor (PG. 87g. Col. 4072).
By the 7th century the close connection between the holidays of the Renewal and the Exaltation of the Cross ceased to be felt - perhaps due to the Persian invasion of Palestine and the sack of Jerusalem by them in 614, which led to the captivity of the Holy Cross by the Persians and the partial destruction of the ancient Jerusalem liturgical tradition. Yes, St. Sophronius of Jerusalem in a sermon says that he does not know why on these two days (September 13 and 14) the Resurrection precedes the Cross, that is, why the Feast of the Renewal of the Church of the Resurrection precedes the Exaltation, and not vice versa, and that more ancient bishops could know the reason for this (PG. 87g. Col. 3305).
Subsequently, it was the Exaltation of the Cross that became the main holiday; the feast of the Renewal of the Jerusalem Church of the Resurrection, although it has been preserved in liturgical books up to the present, has become a pre-holiday day before the Exaltation of the Cross.
The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross in the Cathedral Liturgy of Constantinople in the 9th-12th Centuries In Constantinople, the feast of the Renewal of the Jerusalem churches did not have the same significance as in Jerusalem. On the other hand, the veneration of the Holy Tree of the Cross of the Lord, which began under St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine and especially intensified after the victorious return of St. Cross by Emperor Heraclius from Persian captivity in March 631 (this event is also associated with the establishment of calendar commemorations of the Cross on March 6 and on the Holy Week of Great Lent), made the Exaltation of the Cross one of the great holidays of the liturgical year. It was within the framework of the Constantinopolitan tradition, which in the post-iconoclast period became decisive in the worship of the entire Orthodox world, that the Exaltation finally surpassed the Feast of Renewal.
According to various lists of the Typicon of the Great Church, which reflects the post-iconoclastic conciliar practice of Constantinople in the 9th-12th centuries, the celebration of the Exaltation of the Cross is a five-day festive cycle, including a four-day prefeast period on September 10-13 and the feast day on September 14. Particular importance is also attached to Saturdays and Sundays before and after the Exaltation, which received their liturgical readings.
Worship of the Holy Cross began already on the days of the forefeast: on September 10 and 11, men came to worship, on September 12 and 13 - women. Worship took place between morning and noon.
On the day of the feast, September 14, the service was distinguished by solemnity: on the eve they performed a festive vespers with the reading of proverbs; for the sake of the holiday they served pannihis (a solemn service at the beginning of the night); matins were performed according to the festive rite (“on the pulpit”); after the great doxology was performed. At the end of the Exaltation and veneration of the Cross, the Divine Liturgy began.
In the Byzantine post-iconoclast monastic Typicons The charter of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross received its final form. The corpus of hymns of the feast according to these Typicons is on the whole the same; the holiday has a prefeast and an afterfeast; the liturgical readings of the feast, Saturdays, and weeks before and after the Exaltation are taken from the Typicon of the Great Church; from the Constantinopolitan cathedral tradition, the rite of the Exaltation of the Cross at the festive morning was also borrowed, somewhat simplified in comparison with that one. In the Jerusalem Charter, starting from its early editions of the XII-XIII centuries. there is an indication of fasting on the day of the Exaltation of the Cross. Rev. Nikon Chernogorets (XI century) wrote in "Pandekty" that fasting on the day of the Exaltation is not indicated anywhere, but is a common practice.
According to the Jerusalem Charter now adopted in the Orthodox Church, the festive cycle of the Exaltation of the Cross consists of the fore-feast on September 13 (connected with the feast of the Renewal of the Jerusalem Church of the Resurrection), the feast of September 14 (in the XX-XXI centuries - September 27 according to a new style) and seven days of after-feast, including release September 21st.
Holiday hymns. Compared to the hymnography of other twelfth feasts, not all the chants of the Exaltation of the Cross are associated with this particular event, many of them are part of the hymns of the cross of the Octoechos (at the services of Wednesdays and Fridays of all voices), as well as in the sequence of other holidays in honor of the Cross: the Origin of the Honest Ancient on August 1, the Appearances of the sign of the Cross in heaven on May 7, the week of Great Lent, that is, they constitute a single corpus of hymnographic texts dedicated to the Cross of the Lord.
A number of chants following the V. holiday traditionally include prayers for the Emperor and petitions for granting him and his army victory. In modern Russian editions, many lines containing petitions for the Emperor have either been removed or reformulated, which was due to historical circumstances. The reason for the appearance of such petitions should be seen in the Orthodox understanding of the Cross as a sign of victory (which made the Cross part of the Byzantine military symbolism), and also in the fact that the acquisition of the Cross and the establishment of the Feast of the Exaltation took place thanks, first of all, to the saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Elena. The latter is confirmed by the presence of a special memory of St. Constantine and Helena in the Sinai Canonar of the 9th-10th centuries. September 15, that is, the day after the Exaltation (the establishment of this memory expresses the same idea as the establishment of the memory of the Most Holy Theotokos on the day after the Nativity of Christ or the memory of St. John the Baptist on the day after the Baptism of the Lord - immediately after the event, those persons are glorified which were of paramount importance for its implementation).
The hymnographic sequence of the Exaltation of the Cross contains a troparion Save, O Lord, your people..., kontakion Ascended to the Cross by will..., canon of St. Cosmas of Mayumsky, a large number of stichera (22 self-voiced and 5 similar cycles), 6 sedals and 2 lamps. There is only one canon in the sequence of the Exaltation of the Cross, but the ninth ode in it includes not one, but two irmos and two cycles of troparia, and the last four letters of the acrostic from the eighth ode and the first group of troparia from the ninth ode of the canon are duplicated in the second group of troparia of the ninth ode. The unusual nature of this structure of the canon explains the tradition preserved on Mount Athos, according to which St. Cosmas Mayumsky, having come to Antioch for the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, heard in one temple that his canon was not sung to the tune that he himself had in mind when compiling the canon. Rev. Kosma made a remark to the singers, but they refused to correct the mistake; then the monk revealed to them that he was the compiler of the canon, and as proof he composed another group of troparia of the ninth ode. Byzantine interpretations of this intricately written canon have been preserved in the manuscripts, on the basis of which he wrote his own interpretation (which is very famous in the Greek Churches) of St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain.
Based on the materials of the article by deacon Mikhail Zheltov and A.A. Lukashevich
"The Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord" from the 9th volume of the "Orthodox Encyclopedia"
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross is a great twelfth feast, celebrated annually on September 27th. It has been celebrated since the 4th century. The holiday is dedicated to two important events related to the cross of the Lord - its acquisition and return.
History of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
In ancient times, Roman emperors repeatedly tried to destroy any mention of the life and work of Jesus Christ, and to destroy the sacred places he visited. Emperor Andrian ordered to cover the tomb of the Lord and the sacred mountain Golgotha, on which the Savior was crucified, with earth. On an artificially created hill, a sanctuary of the goddess Venus was built and a statue of the god Jupiter was erected. For a long time, pagans met at this place to perform cult activities and make sacrifices to their deities. But after 300 years, Christians found the tomb of the Lord and the cross on which Jesus was crucified.
This outstanding event for believers took place during the reign of Constantine the Great. He was the first of the Roman emperors to decide to end the persecution of Christians. According to legend, in the sky he saw a sign of God - a cross and the inscription "This will win." To fulfill God's will, Constantine sent his mother, Queen Helen, to Jerusalem, who was supposed to find the cross and the tomb of the Lord.
For a long time it was not possible to find the shrine, but the woman did not give up and continued her search. In the end, her efforts paid off. Around 326, the relics were found under the temple of the pagan goddess Venus. The temple was destroyed and Christian values were brought to light: the cross on which the Savior was crucified, four nails and the coffin of the Lord.
According to some reports, they found not one, but three crosses and a tablet with an inscription made by Pontius Pilate. Patriarch Macarius, in order to find out exactly on which cross Jesus was crucified, began to impose each cross in turn on the deceased. From the touch of one of the crosses, the deceased came to life. This was the proof that it was on this cross that Jesus was crucified.
With the acquisition of the cross, people got the opportunity to worship Christian shrines again. Seeing the miracle that had happened, Christians began to ask Patriarch Macarius to erect a cross so that believers could see it at least from afar.
After all these events, Empress Helen brought to Jerusalem the nails she had found and a piece of the cross of the Lord. Constantine the Great ordered the construction of a temple in Jerusalem in honor of Christ's Resurrection. The next day after the temple was consecrated, the celebration of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord was established.
Even on this day, the return of the cross to Jerusalem from Persia, where he was in captivity for 14 years, is remembered.
During the war against the Greeks, the Persian king Khosrov II Parviz defeated their army, plundered Jerusalem, taking many valuable things, including the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. The cross was in Persia for 14 years, and only under the Byzantine emperor Heraclius I, who defeated Khosrov and made peace with his son, was the Christian relic returned. The Life-Giving Cross was solemnly transferred to Jerusalem.
According to legend, Emperor Heraclius in purple and a royal crown carried the Cross of Christ to the Church of the Resurrection. Next to him was Patriarch Zacharias. At the gate to Calvary, the emperor suddenly stopped and could not go any further. Zachary explained to the emperor that the Angel of the Lord did not allow him to pass, because the one who carries the Cross to Golgotha to redeem the world from sins makes his way on the Cross in a humble form. Then the king took off the purple and the crown, put on simple clothes and freely brought the shrine into the temple.
Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord: what can not be done?
There are some prohibitions for this day. It is not necessary to start important matters on September 27th. It is believed that all your efforts will be useless and, as a result, the work you have begun will end in failure.
You can’t even go to the Exaltation of the forest. Our ancestors believed that on this big church holiday, the earth “closes” for the winter and all reptiles crawl away to some unknown warm lands. Therefore, they did not go into the forest, because they were afraid to meet snakes. The owners locked the gates and doors for the whole day, so that creeping reptiles would not accidentally enter the house.
Also, they were afraid to go into the forest because of the meeting with the goblin and other forest evil spirits. According to legend, on this day the goblin gathers all the animals subject to him to inspect them before winter, which is just around the corner. Having met a person, he can harm him. Girls were not allowed into the forest that day, they were afraid that the goblin could steal them.
The great church holiday of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is celebrated on September 27 (September 14, old style) of each year.
The holiday is dedicated to the Cross of Jesus Christ, on which he was crucified. Rising means "lifting up". This holiday symbolizes the lifting of the Cross from the earth after it was discovered there.
Other holiday names
Exaltation, Exaltation Day, Stavrov's Day, Third Autumn, Battle of Truth and Falsehood, Kapustnitsy, Autumn Serpentine.
About the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord
About three hundred years after the crucifixion of Christ, there were terrible persecutions against the Orthodox Church. Roman rulers, starting from Nero (ruled the empire in 54-68) and up to Diocletian (reign in 303-313), destroyed Christians in various ways, they were thrown to be torn to pieces by beasts, killed, crucified, rotted in dungeons, burned at the stake . Roman pagan kings sought to erase from human memory everything connected with the coming of the Son of God Jesus Christ to our land.
The Appearance of the Cross to ConstantineBut at the beginning of the fourth century, by the providence of God, Emperor Constantine came to power, who, before the decisive battle for power, had a heavenly sign in the form of a cross. And at night, Jesus Christ Himself appeared to him and said that in order to win, he must replace the Roman symbols on the banners with crosses. Constantine fulfilled the command of the Lord and received a long-awaited victory, after which he and his mother, Queen Elena, believed in the True God Jesus Christ.
The persecution of Christians by royal decree was stopped and the restoration of Christian churches and shrines began.
In 326, Queen Helen went to Jerusalem. Arriving at the holy place, she saw that a pagan temple in honor of Venus was built on the site of Golgotha, and a temple in the name of Jupiter was erected on the site of the Holy Sepulcher. He ordered the destruction of pagan sanctuaries and the erection of Christian churches in their place.
But it was still necessary to find the Cross on which the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. Elena searched for the Holy Cross for a long time and in vain, hundreds of Christians and Jews were interviewed, no one could give at least some information. Quite by accident, she learned that an old Jew named Judas could tell where to find the shrine. He was persuaded for a long time to tell where this place was, finally he showed a cave filled with stones, where the Cross of the Savior and two crosses could be located, on which the robbers were crucified that day.
Cross of the Lord With prayers, they began to dig a cave and found three crosses in it, and next to them they found a tablet on which was written in three languages "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."
In order to understand which of the crosses was the Cross of the Savior, they brought a seriously ill woman, on whom all the crosses were placed in turn. After she touched the real Life-Giving Cross, the patient was healed.
In order to make sure that this is exactly the same Cross that they were looking for, it was attached to the deceased, who was carried to be buried. After the Cross touched the deceased, he resurrected and everyone was completely convinced that such a miracle could only come from the Life-Giving Cross.
With great joy, Empress Elena and all the people who were with her bowed to the shrine and venerated it. The news of the holy discovery almost instantly spread throughout the district, and Jews began to gather at the place where the Cross was found. There were so many people that many could not only bow to the Cross, but even see Him. To show the find, Patriarch Macarius stood on a high place and raised (raised) the Life-Giving Cross, everyone finally saw Him and, falling on their knees, prayed "Lord have mercy."
Later, by order of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine, in Jerusalem, on the site of the Resurrection of Christ, the construction of a monument to this event began, which was built for ten whole years.
Saint Helena died in 327, she did not live to see the completion of construction for eight years. The temple in honor of the Resurrection of Christ was consecrated on September 13 (according to the new style), 335.
And the next day, September 14, was set as a holiday - the Exaltation of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross.
By the care of the holy Empress Helena, more than eighty churches were founded, including in the birthplace of Jesus Christ - in Bethlehem, in the place of the Ascension of the Lord - on the Mount of Olives, in Gethsemane, where the Savior prayed before His Holy Death and where the Mother of God was buried after Dormition.
For all the labors that Constantine and Elena put into spreading the Christian faith, the Holy Church canonized them as Equal-to-the-Apostles.
Heraclius brings in the Cross of the Lord On this festive day, Christians remember another event - the return of the Cross of the Lord to Jerusalem from fourteen years of Persian captivity.
Chosroes II, the king of Persia, attacked Jerusalem, seized the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord and captured Patriarch Zechariah (609-633).
For 14 years, the Holy Cross was in Persia until the time when, with God's help, Emperor Heraclius won the battle against Khozroy. Peace was concluded and the shrine finally returned to the Christians.
With great solemnity, the emperor Heraclius, in the royal crown and purple, carried the returned Cross to its rightful place in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, Patriarch Zacharias walked beside him. But near the gate that led to Golgotha, the procession suddenly stopped, Heraclius could not go further. To the astonished emperor, the Holy Patriarch suggested that the Angel of the Lord Himself blocked the path, because the One Who had to bear the Cross in order to atone for human sins, passed this path in humility and in a humiliated form.
Then the emperor took off his royal robes and put on simple poor clothes. Only after that he was able to bring the Life-Giving Cross into the temple.
On the day of the Exaltation of the Honest Christ, a strict fast is observed!
magnificence
We magnify Thee, Life-Giver Christ, and honor Your Holy Cross, by which Thou hast saved us from the work of the enemy.
How and what to pray to the Holy and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord
They pray to the Holy Cross on different occasions, in joy, in trouble, in happiness or in sorrow. The prayer "Let God rise again ..." included in the evening rule is the most powerful prayer that every Christian needs to know. She will protect you from all evil and misfortune. The Holy Fathers recommend reading the prayer to the Holy Cross before each exit from the house.
Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered, and let all who hate Him flee from His presence. As the smoke disappears, let them disappear; as wax melts from the face of fire, so let the demons perish from the face of those who love God and are marked by the sign of the cross, and say in joy: Rejoice, Most Honorable and Life-giving Cross of the Lord, drive away the demons by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, crucified on you, who descended into hell and corrected his strength the devil, and who gave us His Honorable Cross to drive away every adversary. O Most Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord! Help me with the Holy Lady Virgin Mother of God and with all the saints forever. Amen.
Traditions and rituals on Vozdvizhenye
- September 27 - worship of the Cross, religious processions, Exaltation evenings, reading a conspiracy for love, on this day they do not start new business.
Believers of the Orthodox Church worship the Cross.
On this day, people do not start any business, as there will be no positive result.
Traditionally, detours or religious processions are made with icons and prayers.
On this day, Vozdvizhensky evenings begin, which last for two weeks. Unmarried girls gather and read a certain spell seven times. According to legend, after such a ceremony, the one who is dear to her heart will fall in love with the girl.
Whoever observes the fast during the Exaltation will receive forgiveness of 7 sins, and those who do not observe it will receive 7 sins.
On this holiday, crosses are drawn in houses with chalk, soot, coal, garlic, animal blood. Small crosses made of wood are placed in the bins and mangers of animals. In the absence of crosses, they are made from rowan branches. They protect people, animals and crops from evil spirits.
Signs and sayings on the Exaltation
- The rise of autumn moves towards winter.
- At sunrise, the moon outlines a reddish, quickly disappearing circle - the weather will be clear and dry.
- The north wind on this day prophesies a warm summer next year.
- Geese fly high - the flood will be high, low - the river will practically not rise.
- If the cranes fly slowly and high, cooing in flight, then the autumn will be warm.
- If the west wind blows for several days in a row, then the weather will be bad in the coming days.
- On September 27, birds begin to fly south. And there is at the same time a very good sign, which reads as follows: if you see the departure of birds for a holiday, you must definitely make a cherished wish, which will come true in any case.
- It is also very important to say that earlier on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, absolutely every housewife cleaned the house. It was believed that in this way, it is possible to expel all kinds of evil spirits and damage from the house.
- The following ritual for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross will also help drive out negative energy and negativity from the house: for this, you need to take three church candles directly, and install them on one saucer. Next, you need to spray absolutely every corner of your home with a cruciform movement. At that moment, it is imperative to say absolutely any prayer that you know by heart. But the best option would be the prayer "Our Father" or the ninetieth psalm.
- It is very important to remember that it is categorically not worth starting any new business on the holiday, because, unfortunately, it is according to the sign that this business will end in failure.
- It is from the holiday of September 27 that incredibly cheerful youth holidays begin, which in turn have a name - skits. In ancient times, young beauties dressed up in festive dresses and went directly from house to house to chop cabbage. This action was carried out with extremely cheerful songs and was accompanied directly by delicious treats.
- Previously, they always knew that if you go to the forest on the Exaltation holiday, then there is a high probability that you will not be able to return at all. It was assumed that on September 27, the goblin collects each animal in the forest in order to unambiguously count each of them and thereby know how many living creatures live in his forest. And this action categorically no one should observe. And whoever disobeys and still goes to the forest for the Feast of the Exaltation, thereby showing disrespect to the goblin, may not return home that day.
