In the name of the Father and of the Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, One True God, Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,
On September 14th of every year, the Christian church across the world commemorates the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Unlike Good Friday, which is dedicated to the Passion of Christ and His crucifixion, this feast day celebrates the cross itself as a sign of salvation and victory. This feast is celebrated not only by the Indian Orthodox Church, but also by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican churches as well.
For the Indian Orthodox Church, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is a major feast, and the Holy Eucharist is celebrated with special prayers, procession and the exaltation of the Cross. With the passing of the feast, the Church begins a new cycle within its liturgical calendar, just as the turning of the seasons. The Church which was following the Service of Resurrection or Kymtha Namaskaram for its prayers officially transitions to the Service of the Cross or Sleeba Namaskaram from this day. The Church which has 7 seasons, now begins the last season in her liturgical calendar, the Season of the Cross.
Let us try to remember and learn why we celebrate this feast across the churches?
The Feast of the Holy Exaltation of the Holy Cross is celebrated every year, recalling three events:
- The finding of the True Cross of Christ by St. Helena, the Queen Mother of King Constantine (AD 325)
- The dedication of the churches built by emperor Constantine at the site of the Holy Sepulchre and Mount Calvary (AD 335)
- Restoration of the True Cross to Jerusalem (AD 629)
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE ON THE FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE CROSS
According to the Christian tradition, the discovery of the True Cross of Christ occurred in the early 4th century, AD 325. The Emperor Constantine sent his pious and elderly mother, St Helena to Jerusalem, with a letter for the Patriarch of Jerusalem, St Macarius, to find the True Cross of Christ. After a long and arduous search, she found the place that buried the remnants of the Cross together with the two other crosses that crucified the penitent thief, and the other thief. Patriarch Macarius was called to discern the crosses, and when the Patriarch touched the True Cloth to a corpse, the dead person came to life. Thus, the True Cross on which our Lord was crucified was identified.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was then built at the site of the discovery, by order of Helena and Constantine. The church was dedicated nine years later, with a portion of the cross. One-third remained in Jerusalem, one-third was brought to Rome and deposited in the Sessorian basilica Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (Holy Cross in Jerusalem), and one-third was taken to Constantinople to make the city impregnable.
The date of the feast marks the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 335. This was a two-day festival: although the actual consecration of the church was on September 13, the cross itself was brought outside the church on September 14 so that the clergy and faithful could pray before the True Cross, and all could come forward to venerate it.
Although not of spiritual significance, the feast also commemorates the restoration of the True Cross to Jerusalem in AD 629 by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, after the Cross had fallen into the hands of the Persian emperor Chosroes II in AD 614 during the Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem.
SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EXALTATION OF THE CROSS
The Cross has been accepted as the universal symbol of our faith, which has so much of contextual meaning and constantly reminds us of our faith – that our Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself and brought the Salvation of God to all of us. He brought us Salvation by dying the most painful and humiliating death on the Cross. The Cross is a reminder of the cost that Christ bore for our sins, redeeming us and bringing us back in union with God.
The Cross is also exalted for its victory over the powers of the world, and the triumph of the wisdom of God through the Cross over the wisdom of this world. This Feast also gives the Church an opportunity to relish the full glory of the Cross as a source of light, hope and victory for Christ’s people. It is also a time to celebrate the universality of the work of redemption accomplished through the Cross: the entire universe is seen through the light of the Cross, the new Tree of Life which provides nourishment for those who have been redeemed in Christ.
The Cross is a sign, a wonder, and a map provided by God for those of us who seek to reach Him in conciliation. Each of us bears a cross to our names. Some seem to carry lighter crosses while some others carry heavier crosses. But every cross that we carry are for ourselves, are for us to strengthen ourselves so that we are more equipped to meet with God the Father. Our Lord and Master is the exemplar in this regard by showing us the way to our salvation – carrying our crosses every second of the day, every day, till our very end.
As Fr. Raphael mentions in his homily on the ‘Exaltation of the Holy Cross’,
Our faith is walking the hot sands of the desert, with tattered clothes under the scorching heat of our sins, to seek God in Theosis. Our faith is grinding our teeth tightly together and we hug our bare bodies and souls to walk against the raging winter of our sins, to seek God in the oasis of Salvation. And God rewards the humble and the penitent, just as the penitent thief was told by our Lord that he would join our Lord in Paradise. Therefore, we are called to be the new children of God, and we are chosen because we chose God through His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Exaltation of the Holy Cross – Bear our cross with prayerful strength – Saint Flannán Mission (saintflannan.org)
The Cross of Christ is not only an invite for us to reconcile with God, but it is also an invite to reconcile with each other. Just as Christ embraces each and every one of us through the Cross, He bids us in turn to embrace our fellow brothers and sisters. Having reconciled us, Christ invites us to become ministers of His reconciliation in our turn. He asks us to be channels of His reconciling grace. He invites us to build bridges to restore all broken relationships. He calls upon us to move beyond animosity and resentment, to leave aside all bitterness and to dare to rebuild relationships of trust where they have broken down.
Thus, the feast of the exaltation of the Cross is a reminder of the salvation granted to us through the obedient sacrifice of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, reconciling us back to our Father. It is also a map for us to equip ourselves to meet with our Father. The Cross is also an invitation to us to reconcile with our fellow brethren, just as Christ reconciled us back to God.
As we begin the last season of the liturgical calendar of the Church, the season of the Cross, let us remind ourselves that we are called to look towards the True Cross of Christ and also to carry the Cross in our own lives, so that the Cross becomes a sign of victory in our lives overcoming every sin and help us to attain theosis with God.
May the Cross guard us and protect us all the days of our life.
Your brother in Christ Jesus
Jobin George
\\o// Read and following your article closely – Thank You, Jobin