The Exaltation of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, or the Exaltation of the Cross, occupies a special place among Orthodox celebrations. The holiday belongs to the twelve, but the only one of them is not associated with the events of the earthly life of Christ and the Virgin Mary. At the same time, this is a significant event in the life of believers - after all, it is dedicated to the acquisition of the Cross of the Lord and his return from Persian captivity. What is the history of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, how it is usually celebrated according to church traditions, and also how an Orthodox believer can understand which cross is considered “correct”, Lenta.ru looked into it.
Date
History of the holiday
How the cross was found
Holiday traditions
Which cross is considered “correct”
What kind of cross can an Orthodox Christian wear?
Myths about body crosses
Date
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross is the twelfth holiday in the calendar of the Orthodox Church. The celebration is permanent and is celebrated every year on the same date - September 27.
It is interesting that the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross follows the first great holiday of the church year (it is counted from September 1) - the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 21.
“This sequence is not accidental. The Nativity of the Ever-Virgin announces to us the preparation for the incarnation of the Lord in the human world. The Exaltation predicts His future sacrifice on the cross for people, when the Life-Giving Cross becomes an instrument of salvation for humanity,” explains Priest Alexy Rostovtsev, cleric of the Boris and Gleb Church on the Ramparts, in a conversation with Lenta.ru.
History of the holiday
“On the day of the Exaltation of the Cross, Orthodox Christians remember two events at once,” recalls church historian and theologian Sergei Kozlovsky in a conversation with Lenta.ru.
In 326, in Jerusalem, near Mount Golgotha, the Cross was found on which the Savior was crucified. This happened on Easter, and at first the Feast of the Exaltation was unofficially celebrated on the second day after the Holy Resurrection of Christ. And in September 335, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was consecrated in Jerusalem. The next day, it was decided to officially establish the holiday of the Exaltation of the Cross.
The second event associated with the Cross of the Lord occurred three centuries later. In 614, the Persian Shah Khosroes, after defeating the Byzantine emperor Phocas, took Jerusalem, which at that time belonged to Byzantium. He took with him to Persia the main Christian shrine - the Cross of the Lord. 14 years later, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius defeated the Persians and returned the Cross to Christians in Jerusalem. It is significant that this happened on the day of the Exaltation of the Cross.
How the cross was found
For four long centuries after the crucifixion of Christ, they did not even try to look for the Cross, since the followers of the Savior were persecuted. And only in the twenties of the 4th century, when the Byzantine emperor Constantine the Great first made Christianity the state religion, did the search for the Honest Tree begin.
We can say that Emperor Constantine sent the first archaeological expedition in Christian history to Jerusalem, which was led by his mother, the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Queen Helen. By the way, at that time she was about 80 years old.
According to legend, the exact location of the cross was indicated by a certain Judas, who was later baptized under the name Kiryak, continues Kozlovsky. Near Golgotha there were the ruins of the Roman Temple of Venus, and three crosses were found under them. One of them contains a tablet with the inscription “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” in three languages, as well as four nails.
“The rumor about the excavations near Golgotha spread throughout Jerusalem, and they took place with a large crowd of people. Therefore, when the Cross of the Lord was found, it was erected so that everyone could see it. Also, as the legend says, a terminally ill woman touched the Cross and was instantly healed. Since then, the Cross of the Lord has been called the Life-Giving Cross,” says Archpriest Mikhail Pop, rector of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity.
He points out that there is no mention of the cross in the Old Testament. The Jews did not have this type of execution; the Romans practiced it, and it was considered shameful.
“As Deuteronomy says, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” But thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, His Cross became the main Christian shrine, causing only joy and reverence. The Holy Apostle Paul wrote that he wants to boast in this life only in the cross of the Lord,” the abbot concluded.
Holiday traditions
The church celebration of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross takes place in a special way. These are the traditions that theologians and religious scholars remind us of.
On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, a fast was established, and a rather strict one at that. Meat, dairy products and even fish are excluded, only vegetable oil is allowed.
On this day, priests conduct services in churches in special purple vestments, as during Lent. All-night vigil and liturgy are celebrated.
During Matins, the Gospel is read in the altar, and not in the middle of the church, as is usually the case.
During the service, the priest brings out the Holy Cross. All those praying kiss Him, and the primate anoints the parishioners with holy oil. The cross lies on the lectern until the day of the Exaltation on October 4, after which it is taken to the altar.
Which cross is considered “correct”
“Crosses were scratched on the stones of the Roman catacombs by the first Christians, persecuted for their faith - these were simple crosses made of two identical lines. But after the establishment of Christianity in the Roman Empire in 313, when Emperor Constantine signed the Edict of Milan, the question of the “correctness” of the cross acquired particular relevance, since the new religion required canonical symbols,” explains art historian and staurologist (specialist who studies crosses) Marina Mokrushina.
The first “correct” cross is described in his book “The Life of Blessed Basileus Constantine” by the father of church history, Eusebius Pamphilus of Caesarea. The Lord appeared to Constantine the Great in a dream, showed the sign of the cross in the sky and ordered to make a banner with a cross in the form of the first letters of the name of Christ for protection from enemies. Today this cross is known as the “monogram of Constantine.”
“Since then, more than 100 different crosses have been created - from St. Andrew’s to Maltese, from Papal to Patriarchal. Such a variety of crosses gave rise to new discussions within the Christian Church, which worsened with its Great Schism in 1054 into Catholic and Orthodox,” says Marina Mokrushina.
In Rus', disputes about the “correctness” of the cross began after the Schism in 1654. The schismatics recognized only the eight-pointed cross, while others considered it “the seal of the Antichrist.” Righteous John of Kronstadt spoke out in defense of all Christian crosses. In his candidate's dissertation “On the Cross of Christ” (1855), he argued that it is not the shape of the cross that is important, but sincere faith in the Lord.
What kind of cross can an Orthodox Christian wear?
Modern priests are generally tolerant of various forms of crosses and even the fact that Orthodox Christians can wear Catholic crosses. The well-known zealot of church piety, the late Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov, very expressively answered the question of whether it is possible to wear crosses of other faiths:
“The only rule regarding crosses, from my point of view, is not to perceive the pectoral cross as decoration. Abroad, in Belarus, in the western regions of Russia, Orthodox believers often wear Catholic crosses - sometimes with a crucifix, and sometimes simple four-pointed ones. And Orthodox priests consecrate them. The main thing is to sincerely believe and go to the temple of God more often,” notes Archpriest Mikhail Pop.
“If you have a strongly religious mother or grandmother, then you probably shouldn’t wear non-Orthodox crosses, so as not to shock your loved ones,” notes Father Alexy Rostovtsev. “But in general, I don’t consider the shape of the cross to be a problem—hundreds of them have been invented during the existence of Christianity, and they all symbolize the Lord’s sacrifice for us. The main thing is to wear this consecrated cross with faith in Him.”
What is the difference between Catholic and Orthodox crucifixes?
In a conversation with Lenta.ru, staurologist Marina Mokrushina named the main differences between Catholic and Orthodox crucifixes. For example, the Orthodox believe that the number of nails on their crucifix corresponds to the number of holes on the cross brought by Queen Helena. Catholics say that three nails from the Holy Cross are kept in the Vatican, which means their version is correct.
There is an interesting point about the position of Jesus’ body on the cross. Catholics strive to reflect as much as possible the monstrous torture of the Lord, the sacrifice he made for people: crucifixes can contain blood, wounds, and even spears. “On the Catholic crucifixion, Christ has already died,” emphasizes Marina Mokrushina.
The Orthodox crucifix is more symbolic. The cross is seen as a weapon of victory over death. “Therefore, Christ is alive on it, this crucifix is more joyful. The Lord announces the coming Resurrection and stretched out his arms, as if calling everyone into the bosom of the Church,” the staurologist concludes.
Myths about body crosses
Lenta.ru experts also dispelled other prejudices regarding body crosses.
