The Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord

The Exaltation of the Lord’s Cross is a great, non-moveable feast of the Lord, celebrated on September 27 (September 14 in the Old Style). This day not only commemorates the finding of the Cross on which the Savior was crucified but also glorifies the Cross as the instrument of our salvation. As the first Adam, representing all humanity, fell into sin by eating the forbidden fruit from the tree growing in the midst of Paradise, so through the tree of the Lord’s Cross, on which Christ—the Second Adam—was crucified, we received salvation. If the first tree brought death, the second served to restore life to the entire human race. The Cross is repeatedly prophesied in the Old Testament. Thus, while in bondage in Egypt, the Hebrews were spared from the tenth plague (the death of the firstborn) by anointing their doorposts with the sacrificial blood of lambs. The blood prefigured Christ’s sacrifice, and the threshold and doorposts symbolized the crucifixion on the Cross (its top, bottom, right, and left sides). During the crossing of the Red Sea, Moses raised his staff, making a vertical motion, and the waters parted. After crossing the sea on dry ground, he raised his staff again, this time horizontally, and the waters closed, drowning the pursuing Egyptians. This act revealed a prophecy of victory over the enemy of the human race through the Cross. During their journey through the desert, the Hebrews encamped in the shape of a cross, placing the tabernacle at the center. In the battle against the Amalekites, Joshua led the army while Moses stood on a hill with his arms outstretched in the form of a cross, prefiguring Jesus Christ’s victory over the devil through the Cross. When venomous snakes attacked, the Lord commanded Moses to make a bronze serpent, and those who looked upon it were healed. The bronze serpent also prefigured Christ’s crucifixion: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14). All these and other prefigurations directly pointed to the future instrument by which Christ trampled death. Thus, the cross, once an instrument of cruel, torturous, and shameful execution, became the instrument of our salvation and sanctification. If Christ is the sacrifice for sin, the Cross became the altar on which that sacrifice was offered. After Christ’s crucifixion, His Cross, according to the custom of the time, was buried along with two others near the place of execution. After the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, a temple of Venus was built on the site of the crucifixion. In 312, on the eve of the decisive Battle of the Milvian Bridge, the future Emperor Constantine the Great beheld a vision of the Cross. At the same time, he heard a voice saying, “By this sign, thou shalt conquer.” Ordering the image of the cross to be placed on his soldiers’ shields, Constantine indeed defeated his rival Maxentius. Having become emperor and declared Christianity the state religion, Constantine, in gratitude, resolved to find the Lord’s Cross. However, being occupied with state affairs, he could not undertake the search himself, so his mother, Empress Helena, took up the task. According to Tradition, a local Jew named Judas indicated the place where the instruments of the Crucifixion were buried, beneath a pagan temple. Excavations uncovered all three crosses, but the Lord’s Cross was identified only through a miracle. By applying each cross in turn to a gravely ill woman, the Life-Giving Cross was found when it granted her healing. According to another account, the Cross raised a deceased person being carried past. Consequently, Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem raised (exalted) the Lord’s Cross above the crowd eager to witness the miracle. By Emperor Constantine’s decree, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built in 335 on the site of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. Since the Cross was found shortly after the feast of Pascha, its discovery was initially celebrated on the second day after Christ’s Resurrection. However, after the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the day of the Cross’s finding and exaltation was linked to the second day of celebrations for the church’s consecration. Knowing that Christ was transfigured shortly before His crucifixion, the Exaltation of the Cross was also aligned with the fortieth day after the feast of the Lord’s Transfiguration. Thus, according to the Jerusalem church’s typikon, the Exaltation of the Cross was originally a post-feast of the consecration (renewal) of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. However, as the center of the Christian world shifted to Constantinople, this local Jerusalem celebration gave way to the universal Christian veneration of the Lord’s Cross, and September 14 transformed from a post-feast into an independent solemn feast. The iconography of the Exaltation of the Lord’s Cross has been known since the ninth century. However, its subject is not based on the moment of the Cross’s discovery by Empress Helena but on the annual rite performed in the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. Thus, the cross held by Bishop Macarius appears small, like a table cross. This rite was established after Emperor Heraclius recovered the Lord’s Cross in 628 from Persian captivity, where it had been taken after the Persians plundered Jerusalem and carried away many sacred relics, including the Cross. In icons, Bishop Macarius is depicted standing on a raised platform of steps, blessing the worshippers with the cross. Nearby are deacons assisting the bishop. Among the worshippers and chanters, recognizable by their pointed hats, stand Empress Helena, sometimes holding a dish with the nails found near the Cross, and Emperor Constantine. From around the sixteenth century, the cross began to be depicted larger than human height, aligning the image more closely with the historical events. The canon for the feast of the Exaltation was composed by Saint Cosmas of Maiuma, an eighth-century hymnographer and foster brother of Saint John of Damascus, who authored many canons for the twelve great feasts. A distinctive feature of this canon is the inclusion of two ninth odes. On this feast, the Rite of Veneration of the Cross is performed, and in cathedral churches, a special solemn Rite of the Exaltation of the Cross may be conducted. The day of the Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross is a fast day, with only food prepared with vegetable oil permitted. source