The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross
September 14 (Julian calendar) / September 27
Dates follow the calendar tradition used by this project. Parishes using the new calendar celebrate fixed feasts on different civil dates.
The Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross is a great feast dedicated to the Cross of Christ. It brings together the Church’s remembrance of the discovery of the Cross in Jerusalem and its return from Persia.
Meaning of the feast
The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross honors the Cross on which the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. The feast recalls both the suffering of the Savior and His victory over death. Its name refers to the solemn lifting up of the Cross by Saint Makarios, Patriarch of Jerusalem, so that the great crowd gathered there could see and venerate the holy object. The people answered with the prayer, “Lord, have mercy.” The feast is kept on September 14 according to the Julian calendar, which is September 27 on the civil calendar in the years 1901–2099.
History and Church tradition
The feast is connected with events of the fourth century. After persecution of Christians had ceased, Saint Constantine, Equal to the Apostles, sent his mother, the pious Empress Helen, to Jerusalem to seek the places associated with Christ’s earthly life and suffering. According to Church tradition, the Lord’s Tomb and three crosses were uncovered at the site of a pagan temple. To identify the Savior’s Cross, Patriarch Makarios touched the crosses in turn to a dead man; at the touch of one Cross, the man was restored to life. The Cross was then raised for the veneration of the people. The Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem was dedicated on September 13, 335, and the celebration of the Exaltation was established the following day. The feast also remembers the return of the Cross to Jerusalem after fourteen years in Persia.
Spiritual meaning today
The Cross directs Christians to the way of Christ: a way marked by humility, love, and self-giving. Church tradition about the return of the Cross gives this teaching a vivid form. Emperor Herakleios first carried the Cross while wearing royal garments, but stopped at the gate leading up to Golgotha and could not continue. Patriarch Zachariah instructed him to set aside the marks of imperial dignity. Dressed simply and walking barefoot, he carried the Cross into the church. On this feast, believers are invited to see the Cross not as a sign of earthly power, but as a call to repentance, faithfulness to Christ, and mercy toward others. Veneration of the Cross is inseparable from hope in the resurrection revealed by Christ.
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Sources: Orthodox Church in America