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Elevation of the Cross

The Elevation of the Cross, celebrated on the fourteenth of September, commemorates the finding of Christ’s Cross by Saint Helen, the mother of the Emperor Constantine in the fourth century; and, after it was taken by the Persians, of its recovery by the Emperor Heraclius in the seventh century at which time it was “elevated” in the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem. From this latter event the “universal elevation” of the Cross was celebrated

The Elevation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross

Each year on September 14 the Orthodox Church celebrates the feast of “The Elevation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross.” This is one of the great feasts of the Church year, and one which has an important historical background. Although one or two of the hymns for the day refer obliquely to the vision of the cross in the heavens, the actual commemoration is not that of Constantine’s vision before his battle with Maxentius on

The Thirty-Seventh Day of Christmas Advent. What to Give to the One Who Made Everything?

By Fr. John Parker So here is a twist on the usual question:  what do you get for that someone who *made* everything?  I confess to you, dear reader, that the question comes a bit crassly off my fingertips.  But the truth is, here we are, at the inauguration of the Christmas feast—which continues through December 31 in Orthodox Christianity—and while we are hauling bags of wrapping paper and boxes to the curb (not the

The Great and Holy Thursday: On the Lament of the All-Holy Theotokos (Part I)

On the Lament of the All-Holy Theotokos When She Embraced the Precious Body of our Lord Jesus Christ A Homily of our father Among the Saints Symeon the Metaphrast, Archbishop of Thessaloniki (15th Century)  Part I  In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen Now I understand, O sweetest Jesus, why those Persians, who came to Your Nativity, brought not only gold as to a king, and

Jerusalem: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre

By Father Lawrence Farley One day several years ago, before my own trip to the Holy Land, I asked a parishioner who had been there how he had liked the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during his visit to Jerusalem. “Grand,” he replied. “Confusing, but grand.” Having been there myself, I now quite understand what he meant by “confusing.” The church there is confusing because it is the heir (some would say “the victim”) of

The Elevation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross

Each year on September 14 the Orthodox Church celebrates the feast of “The Elevation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross.” This is one of the great feasts of the Church year, and one which has an important historical background. Although one or two of the hymns for the day refer obliquely to the vision of the cross in the heavens, the actual commemoration is not that of Constantine’s vision before his battle with Maxentius on