My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
ON SEPTEMBER 14th OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHURCH CELEBRATES
THE UNIVERSAL EXALTATION OF THE VENERABLE AND LIFE-
CREATING CROSS.
Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn. First Tone
SAVE, O Lord, Thy people and bless Thine inheritance; grant Thou
unto the faithful victory over adversaries. And by the power of Thy
Cross do Thou preserve Thy commonwealth.
Kontakion Hymn. Fourth Tone
THOU Who ast raised up on the Cross of Thine own will, O
Christ our God, do Thou bestow Thy compassions upon this,
Thy new commonwealth named after Thee. Gladden with
the sovereign might out most Orthodox hierarchs, and
vouchsafe them victory over every false teaching; and as Thy
help in war may they possess the weapon of peace, the trophy
invincible.
Saint Helen, the mother of Saint Constantine the Great, when she was advanced in years, undertook, in her great piety, the hardships of a journey to Jerusalem in search of the Holy Cross, about the year A.D. 325. A temple to Aphrodite had been raised up by the Emperor Hadrian upon Golgotha, to defile and cover with oblivion the place where the Saving Passion had been suffered. The Venerable Helen had the statue of Aphrodite destroyed, and the earth removed, revealing the Tomb of Our Lord, and the three crosses. Of these, it was believed that one must be that of Our Lord, the other two of the thieves crucified with Him; but Saint Helen was at a loss which one might be the Wood of our salvation. At the inspiration of Saint Macarius, Archbishop of Jerusalem, a lady of Jerusalem, who was already at the point of death from a certain disease, was brought to touch the crosses, and as soon as she came near to the Cross of Our Lord, she was made perfectly whole. Consequently, the Precious and Life-creating Cross was lifted on high by Archbishop Macarius of Jerusalem as he stood on the ambo, and when the people beheld it, they cried out "KYRIE, ELEISON" (LORD, HAVE MERCY"). It should be noted that after its discovery, a portion of the Venerable and Life-creating Cross was taken to Constantinople as a blessing. The rest was left in Jerusalem in the magnificent Church built by Saint Helen, until the year A.D. 614. At that time, the Persians plundered Palestine and took the Holy Cross to their own country. Later, in the year A.D.628, Emperor Heraclius set out on a military campaign, retrieved the Holy Cross, and after bringing it to Constantinople, himself escorted it back to Jerusalem, when he restored it to its place.
[Fest from labour. A Feast is observed on the 14th of September, whatever day of the week it may be] (Resources: The Great Horologion)
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
+ Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in Christ’s Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 