26
September
2026
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
22:22

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

26 September 2026 22:22

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (another name is “The Finding of the Honest Trees of the Holy Cross”) always falls on September 27 - an impermanent holiday.

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross has a historical basis - the discovery of the Cross during excavations carried out on Mount Golgotha by order of Queen Helena. Three identical wooden crosses were found - two from robbers and one cross from our Lord Jesus Christ. To determine which cross Jesus Christ was crucified on, each cross was applied to the deceased girl in turn. At the touch of one of the crosses, the deceased opened her eyes and came to life.

In the modern world, the meaning of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is as follows:cross became:

  1. 1.instrument of Jesus Christ's victory over sin and death who entered the world through the fall of Adam and Eve. Because of him, everyone, without exception, had to wait for the afterlife kingdom of shadows after death -sheol, but Jesus Christ, with his suffering on the cross, opened the way for people to Kingdom of Light- i.e. Heavenly, or God's kingdom (the first one to get there is the robber on the right hand). The righteous were the first to follow Christ into the light.

  2. cross - Tree of Life. Through the fruit of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in paradise, the fall of Adam and Eve and the many-thousand-year falling away of man from God, moving away from Him through the multiplication of lawlessness and the fall of morality, took place. The cross—the tree of Christ’s suffering for us—means victory over sin and man’s return to God.

The path of salvation is also the path of return. This path is available to every person. It is indicated by the Lord Jesus Christ himself and set forth in the Gospel. We must not only repent (i.e., recognize and admit our sin), but also take up our cross and follow the Savior.

In Orthodoxy, the cross can be made 7-pointed (in the form of the letter T on top, which symbolizes the end of the power of sin, since “7” is a symbol of completeness) and 8-pointed (the number 8 is a symbol of endless life, since “8” has no end).

Click on photo to enlarge:
Exaltation of the Holy Cross

In the spiritual sense, the cross can be external (circumstances of life: adversity, sorrow, illness) and internal (maintaining spiritual purity and chastity).

The path of salvation is described in detail in the book of the Saint Innocent (Veniaminova), Metropolitan of Moscow "Indicating the way to the Kingdom of Heaven".


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