When they take the cross to the altar. Church holidays with the removal of the cross. Christian doctrine of salvation
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!
Come faithfully, let us worship the Life-Giving Tree... - today the Holy Church calls its children to the foot of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. This Golgotha, stepping over time, approached us, invading consciousness with the memory of itself. For the Cross ascended on it - even there is a ladder to heaven, and on the Cross - the One Who said: "... I am the way and the truth and the life ..." ().
The Cross of Christ is the great saving power of all earthly people. It extends to the longitude of all times, and to the breadth of all places, its height to heaven, and its depth to the abyss of hell.
And today, on the day of the last half of the saving fasting feat, the Lord condescends to those who are tired and exhausted under the burden of fasting, granting them His love and strength, and a gentle reminder that they have not yet fought sin to the point of bloodshed. The Lord today reminds us of the uniqueness and immutability of the path of salvation - the path of the Cross and suffering - and inspires us with hope. The light of Christ's Resurrection is visible only from the Cross.
The life-giving Tree of the Cross - the Cross of Christ - was nurtured in the midst of the earth by God's love for people, so that the deadly cross - from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, taken in paradise by man by self-will and disobedience to God - turn into a saving Cross, again opening heavenly doors.
The Cross of Christ has been lifted up over the world since the saving sufferings of the Lord. But every person who comes into the world from birth inherits the cross of his forefathers and invariably carries it through life until the end of his days. The earth, however, a vale of weeping and sorrow, a place of exile for those who transgressed God's command, is full of sorrows and suffering. The thistles and thorns of sinful habits and passions, with which we are related and delight, at the same time wound the soul and inflame the circle of life.
Take a closer look, our friends, at the life of people outside of Christ. How often it ends in spiritual death much earlier than physical death. Evil and sin devour everything human in a person, evil is insatiable, and a person in evil is insatiable. And this is also suffering, but suffering is not saving; the dues of this suffering will always be inevitable death and the destruction of the soul. Vain and fruitless is the cross of life without Christ, no matter how heavy it may be.
Your cross can be transformed into a saving cross only when they follow Christ with it.
Christ our Savior "... our sins He Himself bore with His Body on the tree, so that we, having got rid of sins, would live for righteousness ..." ().
The Cross of Christ became the sign of the glory of Christ Himself and the weapon of His victory over sin, damnation, death and the devil. And today, as we stand before the Cross of Christ, feeling on our shoulders* (*Ramo, ramena - shoulder, shoulders) the weight of our life's crosses, we must look carefully into the only saving Cross of Christ in order to know the truth of life in Christ, to understand its bright meaning.
And today, at the Cross of the Lord - the gospel of the Holy Gospel and from the Cross of the Lord - the form of the Divine Sufferer proclaim to us for the salvation of our all-holy commandment: "... if anyone wants to follow Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me" ().
Our friends, let us rise from the earth, look at the Cross of Christ, before us is an example of complete and true selflessness. He, being the Son of God, came into the world in the form of a slave * (* sight - appearance, image), humbled Himself and was obedient even to death, and the death of the cross. He renounced life itself to save us. The Lord Savior calls us to reject sin and death, which sin nourishes for us.
The work of our salvation begins with the denial of ourselves and our sinfulness. We must reject everything that constitutes the essence of our fallen nature, and must extend to the rejection of life itself, surrendering it wholly to the will of God. God! You know everything; do with me as you please.
We must recognize our worldly truth before God as the most cruel untruth, our mind as the most perfect foolishness.
Self-denial begins with a struggle with oneself. And the victory over myself is the most difficult of all victories because of the strength of the enemy, because I myself am my enemy. And this struggle is the longest, because it ends only with the end of life.
The struggle with oneself, the struggle with sin will always remain a feat, which means it will be suffering. And it, our internal struggle, gives rise to another, even more severe suffering, because in the world of evil and sin, a person walking the path of righteousness will always be a stranger in the life of the world and will meet hostility towards himself at every step. And every day the ascetic will more and more feel his heterogeneity with those around him and painfully experience it.
And self-denial inevitably continues to demand that we begin to fully live for God, for people, for our neighbors, so that we consciously and meekly accept and submit to any sorrow, any spiritual and bodily pain, so that we accept them as God's allowance for the benefit and salvation of souls. ours. Self-denial becomes part of our saving cross. And only by self-sacrifice can we raise our saving life cross.
The cross is an instrument of execution. Criminals were crucified on it. And now the truth of God calls me to the cross as a criminal of the Law of God, because my carnal person, who loves peace and carelessness, my evil will, my criminal pride, my pride still oppose the life-giving Law of God.
I myself, knowing the power of sin living in me and blaming myself, as a means of salvation from sinful death, grab hold of the sorrows of my life's cross. The realization that only sorrows endured for the sake of the Lord will acquiesce me to Christ, and I will become a participant in His earthly fate, and therefore heavenly, inspires me to a feat, to patience.
The cross of Christ, the nail, the spear, the thorns, God-forsakenness - these are continuous, unrelieved sufferings of Golgotha. But after all, the entire earthly life of the Savior from birth to the grave is the path to Golgotha. The path of Christ from suffering to greater suffering, but with them also the ascent from strength to greater strength, His path to death, which swallowed up death. "Where is your, death, sting, where is your, hell, victory?"
Terrible is the Cross of Christ. But I love him - he gave birth to me the incomparable joy of Holy Pascha. But I can approach this joy only with my cross. I must voluntarily take up my cross, I must love it, recognize myself fully worthy of it, no matter how difficult and heavy it may be.
Taking up the cross means generously enduring ridicule, reproach, persecution, sorrow, which the sinful world is not stingy with bestowing on a novice of Christ.
To take up the cross means to endure, without grumbling and complaints, hard, invisible to anyone labor on oneself, invisible languor and martyrdom of the soul for the sake of fulfilling the gospel truths. This is also a struggle with the spirits of malice, which will violently rise up against the one who desires to throw off the yoke of sin and submit to Christ.
To take up the cross is to voluntarily and diligently submit to the hardships and exploits by which the flesh is curbed. Living in the flesh, we must learn to live for the spirit.
And it is necessary to pay special attention to the fact that each person on his life path must raise his own cross. There are countless crosses, but only mine heals my ulcers, only mine will be my salvation, and only mine I will bear with the help of God, for it was given to me by the Lord Himself. How not to make a mistake, how not to take up the cross according to one's own arbitrariness, that arbitrariness, which, first of all, must be crucified on the cross of self-denial?! An unauthorized feat is a self-made cross, and the bearing of such a cross always ends in a great fall.
What does your cross mean? It means to go through life along your own path, inscribed for everyone by the Providence of God, and on this path to raise precisely those sorrows that the Lord will allow (He gave monastic vows - do not seek marriage, is family bound - do not strive for freedom from children and spouses). Do not look for greater sorrows and deeds than those that are on your life path - this pride leads astray. Do not seek liberation from those sorrows and labors that have been sent to you - this self-pity removes you from the cross.
Your own cross means being content with what is within your bodily strength. The spirit of conceit and self-delusion will call you to the unbearable. Don't trust the flatterer.
How diverse in life are the sorrows and temptations that the Lord sends to us for our healing, what a difference there is in people and in the very bodily strengths and health, how diverse are our sinful infirmities.
Yes, each person has his own cross. And every Christian is commanded to accept this cross with selflessness and follow Christ. And to follow Christ is to study the Holy Gospel in such a way that it alone becomes an active leader in our carrying our life's cross. The mind, heart and body, with all their movements and deeds, open and secret, must serve and express the saving truths of Christ's teachings. And all this means that I deeply and sincerely realize the healing power of the cross and justify God's judgment on me. And then my cross becomes the Cross of the Lord.
“Lord, in carrying my cross, sent down to me by Your right hand, strengthen me completely exhausted,” the heart prays. The heart prays and mourns, but it also rejoices in sweet obedience to God and its participation in the sufferings of Christ. And this bearing of one's cross without murmuring with repentance and glorification of the Lord is the great power of the mystical confession of Christ not only with the mind and heart, but with the deed and life itself.
And, my dears, a new life begins in us so inconspicuously, when already "... it is not I who live, but Christ lives in me" (). A miracle incomprehensible to the carnal mind is being performed in the world - peace and heavenly bliss are established where only groans and tears were expected. The most regrettable life glorifies the Lord and rejects from itself every thought of complaint and grumbling.
The cross itself, perceived as a gift of God, gives rise to gratitude for the precious lot of being Christ's, imitating His sufferings, it will also give birth to imperishable joy for the suffering body, for the languishing heart, for the soul that seeks and finds.
The cross is the shortest way to heaven. Christ Himself passed through them.
The Cross is a completely tested path, for all the saints have passed it.
The cross is the surest path, for the cross and suffering are the lot of the elect, these are the narrow gates through which one enters the Kingdom of Heaven.
My dears, today giving worship to the Cross of the Lord in body and spirit, let us graft our small crosses to His great Cross so that His life-giving forces nourish us with their juices to continue the exploits of Great Lent, so that the fulfillment of the commandments of Christ becomes the only goal and joy of our life.
Honoring today the Holy Cross of Christ, with humility to the will of God, let us thank Him for our small crosses and exclaim: "Remember me, Lord, in Your Kingdom." Amen.
The Third Week* of Great Lent is called the Adoration of the Cross: in the service of this Week, the Church glorifies the Holy Cross and the fruits of the Savior's death on the Cross.
The peculiarity of the worship of this Week is the removal of the Cross to the middle of the temple for worship. The carrying out of the Cross takes place at Matins, at the end of the great doxology. At the liturgy, instead of “Holy God,” we sing “We worship Thy Cross Master, and we glorify Your holy Resurrection».
The cross is in the middle of the temple until Friday of the 4th week of Great Lent.
The removal and veneration of the Cross on the Week of the Cross are performed with the aim of strengthening the believers in the passage of the difficult field of fasting by the sight of the Cross and a reminder of the sufferings of the Savior.
*Week is the old Russian name for Sunday.
Hymns of the Week of the Cross
Troparion of the Cross, tone 1: Save, Lord, Thy people, and bless Thy heritage, granting victory to the opposition, and Thy keeping Thy Cross living.
Translation: Save, O Lord, Thy people and bless Thy heritage, granting victories against enemies and preserving Thy people by Thy Cross.*
Kontakion, tone 7: No fiery weapon keeps the gates of Eden; on you, you will find the glorious sous, the tree of the cross, the mortal sting, and the victory of hell is driven away. Thou didst appear, O my Savior, crying out to those in hell: enter again into paradise.
Translation: The flaming sword no longer guards the gates of Eden: it is miraculously quenched by the Tree of the Cross; the sting of death and hellish victory is no more; for you, my Savior, appeared with a cry to those who were in hell: “Go back to paradise!”*
Stichera on the Lord cried, tone 5: Exalt the Lord's Cross, the light-beam lightning of your grace, into the hearts of those who honor you, and receive God-pleasing love, peace-loving, they need tearful mourning, and we will get rid of mortal nets, and come to eternal joy. Show the beauty of your splendor, reward the abstinence of your servants, who faithfully ask for your rich intercession, and great mercy.
Rejoice, life-giving Cross, the Church is red to paradise, the tree of incorruption, the pleasure that has vegetated for us of eternal glory: even the demons drive away the regiments, and the angels rejoice in the rank, and celebrate the copulation of the faithful. An invincible weapon, an indestructible affirmation, victory for the faithful, praise for the priests, now give us the passion of Christ to achieve, and great mercy.
Rejoice, life-giving Cross, invincible victory of piety, the door of paradise, the faithful affirmation, the fencing of the Church: let the aphids go bankrupt and abolish, and trample on the mortal power, and ascend from earth to heaven: an invincible weapon, resisting demons, the glory of the martyrs, the saints, as truly fertilizer, a haven salvation, grant the world great mercy.
Stichera on the adoration of the Cross, tone 2: Come faithfully, let us bow down to the life-giving Tree, on which Christ the King of glory spread his hand by will, exalt us to the first blessedness, even before the sweetness the enemy stole, banished from God. Come faithfully, let us worship the Tree, and let us be honored by the invisible enemy to crush the head. Come, all the tongue of the fatherland, let us honor the Cross of the Lord with songs: rejoice in the Cross, perfect deliverance of fallen Adam! The faithful boast about you, as if by your power the Ismaelites are sovereignly punishing people. Christians now kiss you with fear: we glorify God, who has been nailed to you, saying: Lord, on this, who is nailed, have mercy on us, for He is Good and Lover of mankind.
Tone 8: Today, the Lord of creation, and the Lord of glory, is nailed on the Cross and perforated in the ribs, tastes of bile and osta, the sweetness of the church: he is clothed with a crown of thorns: cover the sky with clouds, clothes will be put on reproach: and he will be hung with a mortal hand, the hand that created man. By splashing bien happens, dress the sky with clouds. He accepts spitting and wounds, reproach and mutilation: and everything endures me for the sake of the condemned, my Redeemer and God, may he save the world from delusion, as if he is compassionate.
Glory, tone 8: Today, untouchable by the creature, it happens to me, and suffers from passion, freeing me from passions. Give light to the blind, from lawless lips spat, and gives slaps for captive wounds. This Pure Virgin and Mother on the Cross are sighted, painfully speaking: alas, My Child, what have you done? Red with kindness more than all people, lifeless, transparent, you appear, without a look, below kindness. Alas, my Light! Sleeping, I cannot see You, I am wounded by the womb, and My heart passes through a fierce weapon. I sing of Your passions, I bow down to Your goodness, long-suffering glory to You.
And now, the same voice: Today the prophetic word has been fulfilled: behold, we bow to the place, where you stand at your feet, Lord: and tasted the Tree of salvation, we have gained freedom from sinful passions, by the prayers of the Mother of God, alone Humanity.
* Prayers with translation into Russian, explanations and notes by N. Nakhimov, 1912.
Gospel at Liturgy
And calling the people together with His disciples, He said to them: Whoever wants to follow Me, deny yourself, and take up your cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his soul will lose it, but whoever loses his soul for the sake of Me and the Gospel will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. And he said to them, Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come with power.
Saint Theophan the Recluse
"Whoever wants to follow me, deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me" (Mark 8:34). It is impossible to follow the Lord the Crusader without a cross; and all those who follow Him certainly follow with the cross. What is this cross? All sorts of inconveniences, hardships and sorrows, leaning both from the outside and from within, on the path of conscientious fulfillment of the commandments of the Lord in life in the spirit of His precepts and requirements. Such a cross is so fused with a Christian that where there is a Christian, there is this cross, and where there is no such cross, there is no Christian. All-round grace and a life of comfort are not to the face of a true Christian. His task is to cleanse and correct himself. He is like a patient who needs to do either cauterization or cutting, but how can this be without pain? He wants to escape from the captivity of a strong enemy - and how can this be without a struggle and wounds? He must go against all the orders surrounding him, and this is how to endure without inconvenience and embarrassment. Rejoice, feeling the cross on yourself, for this is a sign that you are following the Lord, the path of salvation, to paradise. A little patience. Here is the end and the crowns!
Vocabulary
The services of Great Lent, as well as the weeks preparatory to it (starting with the Week of the Publican and the Pharisee and ending with Great Saturday), i.e. a period of a total of 70 days are placed in a liturgical book called Triode Lenten.
Its name "Triod" (in Greek - "Triodion", i.e. triode - from the words - "trio" - three and "ody" - song) received from the fact that it contains the most tripodes (canons , consisting of only three songs).
Triod owes its spread and use to St. Cosmas of Maium (VIII century), a contemporary of St. John of Damascus. Many of the triodes belong to earlier songwriters, for example, St. Andrew of Crete, who owns the triodes for the Compline of the week of Vaii, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday of Passion Week, as well as the great canon read on the first and fifth weeks of Great Lent.
In the 9th century, the Monks Josius and Theodore the Studites collected everything that had been written before them, put it in proper order, added many of their stichera and canons, and thus the Triodion was formed, containing about 160 services - large and small.
In the 14th century, the Lenten Triodion was supplemented by synaxariums compiled by Nicephorus Callistus.
Calendar for next week:
Thursday, March 22 - polyeleos feast - 40 martyrs who suffered in the Sevastian lake.
Saturday, March 24 - Commemoration of the dead.
Sunday, March 25 - John of the Ladder.
The third Sunday is called Week of the Cross. Its name comes from the fact that on Saturday evening, according to a special order, veneration of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord which has become for us " tree of life”and opened the entrance to the blessed heavenly Fatherland lost by the primordial man. Remembering the sufferings on the Cross that the Lord endured for the sake of our salvation, we must ourselves be strengthened in spirit and continue our fasting feat with humility and patience.
The History of the Establishment of the Week of the Cross
“On the same day, on the third week of Lent, we celebrate the worship of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross, for the sake of guilt. After all, for the sake of a fourty-day fast, in some way we are crucified, we kill from passions, but the feeling of imam’s grief is despondent and falling. The Honest and Life-Giving Cross is offered, as if resting and affirming us, remembering the passions of our Lord Jesus Christ and consoling. If our God is crucified for us, how much we owe Him for the sake of the work.
... It’s like a long and sharp path passing, and aggravated by labor, if where the tree is blessed and leafy, they rest a little, so now in fasting time and a regrettable path and feat, planted in the midst of the God-bearing father, the Life-Giving Cross, I will weaken and give us peace but the fit and easy to the forework of those who have labored, arranging.
… Before the bitter spring is like the Holy Fourteenth Day, for the sake of contrition and existing to us from the fast of sorrow and sorrow. As if on this Wednesday, the divine Moses put the tree and sweeten it, so God, who led us through the smart Black Sea and the Pharaoh, delights sorrow and sorrow with the Life-Giving Tree of the Cross, even from the fourty-day fast. And comforting us, as if we were in the wilderness, until the clever Jerusalem will lead us up with His resurrection "( Lenten triode, synoxarion on the Sunday of the Cross ).
The Gospels do not provide much detail about the cross on which Christ was crucified. The acquisition of the Cross of the Lord took place in 326, when it was found Holy Empress Helena during her pilgrimage to Jerusalem:
... the divine Constantine sent blessed Helen with treasures to find the life-giving cross of the Lord. The Jerusalem Patriarch Macarius met the queen with due honor and together with her searched for the longed-for life-giving tree, being in silence and diligent prayers and fasts. (“Chronography” by Theophanes, year 5817 (324/325))
The history of finding the Cross of the Lord is described by many authors of that time: Ambrose of Milan (c. 340-397), Rufinus (345-410), Socrates Scholastic (c. 380-440), Theodoret of Cyrus (386-457 .), Sulpicius Severus (c. 363-410), Sozomen (c. 400-450).
Finding the Life-Giving Cross by Elena in Jerusalem. Agnolo Gaddi, 1380 For the first time in surviving texts, a detailed history of the acquisition of the Cross appears in Ambrose of Milan in 395. In The Word on the Death of Theodosius, he tells how Empress Elena ordered to dig on Golgotha and found three crosses there. According to the inscription " Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” she found the true Cross and worshiped him. She also found the nails with which the Lord was crucified. All the few indications of historians closest in time to the search boil down to the fact that the crosses were found not far from the Holy Sepulcher, but not in the Sepulcher itself. There was a possibility that all three crosses used in the execution that day could have been buried close to the place of the crucifixion. Sozomen in his work puts forward the following assumption about the possible fate of the Cross after the removal of the body of Jesus Christ from it:
The soldiers, as the story tells, first found Jesus Christ dead on the cross and, having removed Him, gave him away for burial; then, intending to hasten the death of the robbers crucified on both sides of it, they broke their legs, and the crosses themselves were thrown one by one, at random.
Eusebius of Caesarea describes the site as follows:
This salvific cave some atheists and wicked have conceived to hide from the eyes of people, with the insane intention to hide the truth through it. Having used a lot of labor, they brought land from somewhere and filled up the whole place with it. Then, having raised the mound to a certain height, they paved it with stone, and under this high mound they hid the divine cave. Having finished such work, they only had to prepare a strange, truly tomb of souls on the surface of the earth, and they built a gloomy dwelling for dead idols, a hiding place for the demon of voluptuousness Aphrodite, where hateful sacrifices were offered on unclean and vile altars. (Eusebius of Caesarea, Life of Constantine. III, 36)
The place of finding the Cross is located in the aisle of the Finding the Cross of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem, in a former quarry. The place of discovery is marked with a red marble slab with the image of a cross, the slab is surrounded by a metal fence on three sides, and the Cross was kept here for the first time. 22 metal steps lead down from the underground Armenian church of St. Helena to the chapel of the Finding of the Cross, this is the lowest and easternmost point of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher - two floors down from the main level. In the aisle of Finding the Cross, under the ceiling near the descent, there is a window marking the place from which Elena watched the progress of the excavations and threw money to encourage those who worked. This window connects the chapel with the altar of the church of St. Helena. Socrates Scholasticus writes that Empress Helen divided the Life-giving Cross into two parts: she placed one in a silver vault and left it in Jerusalem, and sent the second to her son Constantine, who placed it in his statue, mounted on a column in the center of Constantine Square. Socrates reports that this information is known to him from the conversations of the inhabitants of Constantinople, that is, it may be unreliable. The part of the Cross that remained in Jerusalem was there for a long time, and the faithful worshiped the honest tree. In 614, Jerusalem was besieged by the Persian ruler Khosra II. After a long siege, the Persians managed to capture the city. The invaders took out the Tree of the Life-Giving Cross, which had been kept in the city since the time it was acquired by Equal-to-the-Apostles Helena. The war continued for many more years. Having united with the Avars and Slavs, the Persian king almost captured Constantinople. Only the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos saved the Byzantine capital. The Persians were defeated. The Cross of the Lord was returned to Jerusalem. Since then, the day of this joyful event has been celebrated annually.
During that period, the order of Lenten church services had not yet been finally established and some changes were constantly made to it. In particular, he practiced transfer of holidays that happened on the weekdays of Great Lent to Saturday and Sunday. This made it possible not to violate the strictness of the fast on weekdays. The same thing happened with the feast of the Life-Giving Cross. It was decided to celebrate it on the third Sunday of Great Lent.. On the same days, it was customary to begin the preparation of the catechumens, whose sacrament of baptism was scheduled for. It was considered correct to begin instruction in the faith with worship of the Cross of the Lord. This tradition continued until the 13th century, when Jerusalem was conquered by the crusaders. Since then, the further fate of the shrine is unknown. Only individual particles of the Cross are found in some reliquaries.
Divine Liturgy on Holy Cross Week. Troparion and kontakion
On Matins on the Week of the Cross, after the Great Doxology, the priest takes the Cross out of the altar. When singing the troparion "Save 22 gD and people yours ..." The cross relies on the lectern in the center of the temple. “We worship Your Cross, Vladyka…”, the priest proclaims and bows to the ground. After the clergy, they approach the lectern in pairs and all the worshipers, first male, then female, bow and kiss the Cross, while the choir sings special stichera dedicated to the expiatory sufferings of Christ the Savior.
R aduisz life-giving flowers, churches of red paradise2, an imperishable tree, a pleasure that has given us eternal glory. and 4 even demons tgonsutsz poltsy2, and 3 flattering merry ranks, and 3 cumulative 1nіz faithful are celebrating. weapons are invincible, affirmation is indestructible. цRє1мъ victory, with ™lємъ praise2. hrt0 you nhne strti, and 3 wait for us to reach, and 3 great misfortune. (Lenten triode, stichera on Holy Week)
In a similar way, the veneration of the Cross of the Lord is performed two more times a year - on the first day of the Dormition Fast (August 14, New Style), when the “Origin of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord” is celebrated, and on the twelfth feast (September 27, New Style). On the week of the Adoration of the Cross, the fourth week of Great Lent, during the daily service, the veneration of the Cross is also on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, a special rite during the reading of the hours.
Troparion, tone 1.
With the help of 22 gD and people svoS, and 3 bless2 dignified svoE, victory to the power of the Russians on resistance, grant, and 3 svoS save krt0m people.
Kontakion, tone 7.
No one else, the fiery spirit, keeps the gates of the demons. so find the glorious intuition, the tree of death, the mortal sting, and destroy the 3-year-old victory. came more є3si2 sp7se my0y, vopiS existing in ѓde, enter the packs into paradise.
Folk Traditions of the Week of the Cross
In Russia, on Wednesday of the Week of the Cross, it was customary in all peasant houses to bake crosses from unleavened wheat dough according to the number of family members. In the crosses, either a chicken feather was baked, “so that the chickens were led,” or rye grain, “so that bread was born,” or, finally, human hair, “so that the head was easier.” Anyone who came across a cross with one of these items was considered lucky.
On the Wednesday of the week of the Adoration of the Cross, the fast “breaks”, and small children went under the windows to congratulate the hosts on the end of the first half of the fast. In some areas, this custom of congratulations was expressed in a very original form: the congratulatory children were planted, like chickens, under a large basket, from where they sang in thin voices: “ Hello, the owner is a red sun, hello, the hostess is a bright moon, hello, children are bright stars! ... Half of the shit broke, and the other bent". It was customary to douse the simple-hearted congratulatory children with water, and then, as if as a reward for the fear they had suffered, they were given crosses made of dough.
Iconography of the Week of the Cross
As usual, the crucified Christ is depicted on the cross. Below, under the feet of the Savior, a foot is depicted, on the upper part of the cross there is a board with the inscription of the initial letters of Pilate's inscription "Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews" (I.N.Ts.I) or the inscription "Jesus Christ". On the large temple images of the crucifixion, on both sides of the cross, the Most Holy Theotokos and the Apostle John the Theologian are depicted, who, according to the Gospel, stood at the very cross during the execution. The icon "Adoration of the Cross" depicts a cross surrounded by heavenly powers.
Worship of the Cross. Double-sided remote icon. The reverse of the icon is “The Savior Not Made by Hands”. Novgorod, second half of the 12th century. Moscow, GTG 
Old Believer icon-case crucifix with selected holidays 
Icon of the Crucifixion with the coming. Novgorod, 16th century 
Modern Icon Adoration of the Cross
Churches dedicated to the Cross of the Lord
In Jerusalem, on the site where, according to legend, the tree of the Cross grew, a monastery was founded. Monastery of the Holy Cross and its location are mentioned in many traditions and legends. According to one of the legends, the time of the creation of the monastery is the period of the reign of the Byzantine emperor Constantine the Great and his mother Helen, that is, the 4th century AD. e. According to another legend, the monastery was founded in the 5th century. And this event is associated with Tatian, the king of Iberia (Georgia). It is believed that Tatian, king of Iberia (Georgia), made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and decided to build an Iberian monastery west of Jerusalem, on land that Constantine the Great had granted to Mirian, another Iberian king. According to the third legend, the monastery was built during the reign of Emperor Heraclius (610-641). Returning with a victory from the Persian campaign, Heraclius camped at the place where the monastery is now located. This place was revered due to the fact that the Cross tree grew there - the tree from which the Cross of Christ was made. The Holy Cross itself, which Heraclius returned from Persia to the Holy Land, was erected on Golgotha. Heraclius also ordered to build a monastery on the chosen place.
Monastery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem In the city of Aparan, Aragatsotn region of Armenia, there are Church of the Holy Cross. It was built at the end of the 4th century. In 1877 the temple was restored. Belongs to the Armenian Apostolic Church
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Church of the Holy Cross in Aparan, Armenia Also on the island of Akhtamar (Turkey) there is an early medieval Armenian Monastery of the Holy Cross. Built in 915-921.
Monastery of the Holy Cross on the island of Akhtamar (Turkey) Soulful teaching on the week of the Adoration of the Cross
The Cross of the Lord is a sign of victory over death and the forces of hell, the royal banner of Christ God, preceding His glorious appearance in the Holy Resurrection, as it is said in the Synoxar of the Week of the Cross. The Cross is our shield and weapon in the fight against invisible enemies and our own spiritual and bodily passions and vices; in it we find true spiritual strength and strength when we strive to follow our Savior. Honoring the Cross and the sufferings of the Lord, we shed sorrowful and joyful tears at the same time, in the hope of our inner renewal and resurrection, which would have been impossible without the Great Sacred Sacrifice that took place two thousand years ago on Golgotha.
If the Sinless Lord Himself endured and suffered so much in His Most Pure Flesh for the sake of our salvation, then all the more we, sinful people, defiled by passions and vices, must suffer and endure, humble carnal whims and desires for the sake of purification and enlightenment of the immortal soul.
The Christian religion is a "Crusade" religion, as the apostle Paul says: “For the sake of Christ, it has been given to you not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him”(Phil. 1, 29). And "We must through many tribulations enter into the Kingdom of God"(Acts 14:22). Carry your own cross, i.e. to crucify bodily lusts and desires is a narrow and narrow way of salvation for every Christian. Worshiping the Holy Cross of the Lord and “looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of the faith, who endured the cross instead of the joy that was set before him”(Heb. 12:2), we are encouraged in spirit and gain courage for achievement, in order to reject self-conceit and pride and patiently follow in the footsteps of the holy fathers, who have left us a worthy image and example to follow. The fact that sorrows and patience are really necessary for inner self-education and spiritual growth is also indicated by many instructive teachings, instructing us on the path of virtue and perfection.
“... Without suffering and inconvenience, it is impossible for anyone to be saved, O my soul. What shall I say to you about the Creator Himself of heaven and earth, of all creation, visible and invisible?! Desiring to save the human race from enslavement to the devil and hellish dungeons, to save our forefather Adam from the curse and crime, God became a man, incarnated from the Holy Spirit. The Father sent His Son - the Word into the Blessed Virgin and was born without a male seed. And the Invisible became visible. And stayed with people. And he accepted reproach, dishonor, spitting and beatings on His most pure face from a mortal person. And he was crucified on the Cross, and struck on the head with a cane, and having tasted vinegar and gall, was pierced in the ribs with a spear, and put to death, and laid in a tomb. And rose again on the third day by His power. O great miracle, surprising both to the angel and to people: the Immortal wanted to die, not wanting to see how the creation of His hands is tormented by the violence of the devil in hellish imprisonment!
Oh, your utmost meekness and inexpressible love of mankind to our impoverishment and orphanhood! Oh, the terrible and marvelous sight of Your longsuffering, O Lord! My mind is terrified and great fear attacks me, and my bones tremble when I speak of this. The Creator of all invisible and visible creation - but from His creation He wanted to suffer, from corruptible man! And the angels are horrified before Him, and all the powers of heaven incessantly glorify their Creator, and all creation sings and serves with fear, while the demons tremble. And so he endures all this, and suffers: not from impotence, not from subordination, but by His will, ours for the sake of salvation, showing us an example of humility and suffering in everything, so that they also suffer, as He suffered, which my soul heard about ” ("Flower Garden" of the Holy Monk Dorotheus ).
At the Sunday Liturgy on the week of the Cross read Gospel of Mark(start 37), in which the Lord speaks of the path of self-denial for the sake of the eternal salvation of the soul. Blissful Theophylact of Bulgaria deeply and instructively reveals to us the meaning of this church gospel Word.
And calling the people together with His disciples, He said to them: Whoever wants to follow Me, deny yourself, and take up your cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his soul will lose it; but whoever loses his soul for the sake of Me and the Gospel, he will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? (Mark 8:34-37)
Evangelist Mark. Hallmark of the Royal Doors Since Peter rebuked Christ, who wanted to give Himself up to be crucified, Christ calls the people and speaks publicly, directing speech mainly against Peter: “You do not approve of the fact that I take up the cross, but I tell you that neither you nor anyone else you will not be saved unless you die for virtue and truth.” Note that the Lord did not say: “He who does not want to die also die,” but he who does. I, as it were, do not force anyone. I call not for evil, but for good, and therefore whoever does not want is not worthy of this. What does it mean to deny yourself? We will understand this when we learn what it means to reject another someone. Whoever rejects someone else, whether his father, brother, or someone from his household, even though he watched how he was beaten or killed, does not pay attention and does not sympathize, having become a stranger to him. So the Lord commands us, that we, for His sake, despise our body and do not spare it, even if they beat or reproach us. Take up your cross, it is said, that is, a shameful death, for the cross was then revered as an instrument of shameful execution. And since many thieves were also crucified, he adds that with the crucifixion there must be other virtues, for this is signified by the words: and follow me. Since the command to put oneself to death would seem heavy and cruel, the Lord says that, on the contrary, it is very philanthropic, for whoever loses, that is, destroys his soul, but for My sake, and not like a thief executed or a suicide (in this case death will not be for Me), he, he says, will save - he will find his soul, while he who thinks to save his soul will destroy it if he does not stand during the torment. Do not tell Me that this last one will save his life, for even if he gains the whole world, everything is useless. Salvation cannot be bought by any wealth. Otherwise: he who gained the whole world, but destroyed his soul, would have given everything when he was burning in the flame, and thus would have been redeemed. But such a redemption is not possible there. Here the mouths of those who, following Origen, say that the state of souls will change for the better after they are punished in proportion to their sins, are blocked. Yes, they hear that there is no way to give a ransom for the soul and suffer only to the extent necessary, as if to satisfy for sins.
For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. (Mark 8:38)
Inner faith alone is not enough: the confession of the mouth is also required. For as man is twofold, so must sanctification be twofold, that is, the sanctification of the soul through faith and sanctification of the body through confession. So, whoever is ashamed to confess the Crucified by his God, He will also be ashamed, recognize him as an unworthy servant, when he comes no longer in a humble form, not in humiliation, in which he appeared here before and for which some are ashamed of Him, but in glory and with the host of angels » (Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria, commentary on the Gospel of Mark, ch. 8, 34-38).
The word about the Cross is foolishness for those who are perishing, but for us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18).
It may seem hard and strange for a modern person to listen to edifications about abstinence and “subjugation of the flesh to the spirit”, about various self-restraints and even some (however, moderate and reasonable) exhaustion of the flesh. The Holy Fathers point out that the root of such an opinion and reasoning lies in our voluptuousness and pity for ourselves, our favorite habits, when the Church Charter sets clear limits and norms of behavior in the life of a Christian, and the inner decrepit “I”, according to carnal wisdom, begins to object and ask "why?"
That is, why fasting, prostrations, a long prayer rule? Is there not here a kind of ostentatious ritual action, the so-called "ritual belief", which has a clearly defined external form and is devoid of any internal spiritual content? But only ignorant people can speak and think like that, who themselves have not yet tasted precisely that spiritual, quiet joy that is given to us after trials, after sorrows and deeds that enlighten the eyes of the heart for pure and concentrated prayer. When we bow to the ground, we confess our fall into sin and humility before God, the consciousness of our unworthiness, we remember that we ourselves are dust, and to dust we will return. And when we rise from prostration, it is as if we simultaneously rise in soul to a better and new life, which we find in the observance of Christian commandments. What is difficult to explain in words, a person himself easily understands when he learns the corresponding life experience.
The Cross and Resurrection of the Savior reveal to us the highest heavenly secrets, incomprehensible to any learned philosophy, because they teach not earthly sciences, but the true path of virtue, which alone leads to the Eternal Heavenly Fatherland. For, as the holy fathers say: “There are many so-called wisdoms on earth, but all on earth will remain. Wisdom is deeper than all - to save one's soul, because it raises the soul to heaven in the Kingdom of Heaven and places it before God ”(“ Flower Garden ”by the monk Dorotheus). The strength and wisdom of Christianity is the Cross of the Lord, worshiping which we hope to reach the day of Easter, where we will find a worthy reward for the endured ascetic labors and hardships.
The Holy Week of Great Lent 2019 falls in its middle. For each of the weeks of Great Lent, a special name was assigned, reminiscent of one or another event associated with the holy great martyrs, metropolitans, miracle workers, Jesus Christ himself, the Mother of God and the Holy Trinity.
The names convey special differences in church services, in who should offer prayer and bow. This is also connected with special spiritual instructions, perceiving which Christians should unite in a single impulse, supporting each other in deed and word, let it be reflected only in prayer.
The name “worshiping the cross” comes from the fact that in the said week, services in the church are accompanied by bows to the sacred cross, on which the Son of God was allegedly crucified (“allegedly” means that Jesus was not crucified on each of the crosses in all churches).
This action - a bow after reading a prayer, occurs four times, starting with Sunday, which is called the Cross, and then on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Bows mean a tribute to the feat of Christ, the desire to follow him, as well as the acceptance of one's own burden, one's fate, which manifests itself daily in everyday life, such seemingly small hardships in the form of a reduced portion of food and a complete rejection of worldly entertainment.
The significance of the Holy Week lies on the surface. There is an expression among the people “carry your cross”, it is directly related to the explanation. During Great Lent, every Christian tries to endure the burden that lay on the shoulders of Jesus during the days of forty days of abstinence. Everyone experiences his own temptation, based on a “weak” place. This means that in the middle of Great Lent, the Christian already knew “his cross”, fully felt all the temptations that accompany abstinence, against which he raised his spirit. This is a kind of act of recognizing one's burden as voluntary, desirable.
Also, the cross is a symbol of a reminder of the death of Christ and the result of the whole fast, after which comes the sacred resurrection. Thus, on the week of the Adoration of the Cross, everyone can be inspired to continue their fast, realizing for the sake of what goal and what result they are holding their will in a fist.
When and how will the Week of the Cross be held in 2019?
Lent in 2019 will begin on March 11 and will last until April 27. With the name of the week of the Adoration of the Cross, there is a slight confusion with the difference in data in several sources, which requires clarification.
Many of these sources call the 4th week of Great Lent the Adoration of the Cross, which seems quite logical and memorable, given the hint that it falls exactly in the middle of Lent. However, in fact, the name of the Adoration of the Cross passes to a week from the Sunday of the same name, which ends the 3rd week of fasting. Consequently, the week of the Adoration of the Cross is the third, despite the fact that more services with veneration of the cross take place on the 4th week.
On the mentioned Sunday, the first service with bows to the cross takes place. The next one takes place on Monday, exactly one day later. Also on Wednesday, and on the evening of Friday of the 4th week, the last service of the Cross is held, after which the cross takes its place in the altar.
The Holy Week of Great Lent in 2019 falls on March 31st. On this day, the traditional removal of the cross into the middle of the temple hall will take place, so that every worshiper can bow to the ground before him and be inspired by the feat done by Jesus to continue fasting.
During the liturgy these days, the prayer to the Most Holy Trinity, which traditionally accompanies the service every day, is replaced by the prayer song “We worship Your Cross, Master, and glorify Your Holy Resurrection,” after which it is necessary to bow.
If possible, you should visit all 4 services. A single voice of dozens turned into a prayer can work a miracle, especially if our will has weakened under the pressure of routine.
What is necessary for everyone on the week of the Adoration of the Cross?
2 weeks after the beginning of the fast, everyone who was not serious about it returned to their usual food, way of thinking and life. No wonder, because the test of giving up "pampering", which you can reach with your hand, is one of the most difficult. However, for those who have managed to control themselves, the Week of the Cross serves as a beacon that shows them to continue the path to purification and the great joy of the Resurrection.
But just knowing your own, albeit great, goal is not enough, it is necessary to be aware of the helpers that are always at our disposal, inside of us. They help to overcome the first, most difficult days of fasting, guide us in the following weeks and do not allow us to indulge in temptations and indulgences. This is what it's about:
Holy Cross Week is not special in terms of meals. Ordinary people who are not monastics can eat twice and thrice a day. The consumption of oil, spices and the amount of food taken in general should be limited. Desirable food remains: boiled vegetables, cereals, vegetable soups, various salads without pickles and dressings. From drinks: water, compote, decoction of chamomile, mint or other soothing herb. On weekends, you can add a little oil, spices to your food and drink a bit of Cahors.
The way of life should be continued in seclusion, without leaving home, except for the necessary, watching and listening to worldly broadcasts, festivities and guest receptions.
The best thing for the soul will be going to church during the morning and evening services, spending time in prayer and thoughts turned to God. This will inspire and support us on the path to comprehending the mystery of the death and resurrection of the Lord, bring us immeasurably closer to the light emanating from Him, and remind us that we must never deviate from the bright path we have chosen.
Patriarch Theophilus glorifies the Holy Cross
On the third Sunday of Great Lent, March 18, 2012, the Jerusalem Orthodox Church venerates the Holy and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. On Sunday of the third week of Great Lent, at an all-night vigil, the Life-Giving Cross is brought to the center of the temple, which the faithful worship all week. As a traveler, tired from a long journey, rests under a sprawling tree, so Orthodox Christians, making a spiritual journey to Heavenly Jerusalem - to the Lord's Easter, find in the middle of the path the "Tree of the Cross" in order to gain strength under its canopy for the further journey. Or, just as before the arrival of the king, returning with victory, his banners and scepters first march, so the Cross of the Lord precedes Christ's victory over death - the Bright Resurrection.
On Saturday evening, at the all-night vigil, the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord is solemnly brought to the center - a reminder of the approaching Holy Week and Easter of Christ. The Festive Divine Liturgy, which is performed in the evening on the eve of the removal of the Cross and its veneration in the Church of Saints Constantine and Helena, was led by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus of Jerusalem and All Palestine in the service of priests and monks of the Holy Sepulcher Brotherhood. The veneration of the Cross consists of a combination of Vespers with Matins and the first hour, and both Vespers and Matins are celebrated more solemnly and with greater illumination of the church than on other days.
On Sunday, March 18, the removal of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross took place in the main shrine in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The Divine Liturgy was officiated by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus of Jerusalem and All Palestine, co-served by hierarchs and clerics of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church. At the end of the Liturgy, a religious procession took place, during which the great shrine - the Cross with a particle of the Life-Giving Cross of Christ, stored in the sacristy of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher - was solemnly carried around the temple, going around Kuvuklia three times and then passing behind the altar of the Orthodox Katholikon.
His Beatitude during the Liturgy
Patriarch Theophilus addressed with a word to the all-honorable fathers and brothers, beloved brothers in Christ and devout pilgrims:
Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. For all this is arranged through the Cross: “We who were all baptized in the name of Jesus Christ,” says the Apostle, “were baptized into His death” (Gal. 3:27). And further: Christ is God's power and God's wisdom (1 Cor. 1:24). Here is the death of Christ or the Cross, clothed us in God's hypostatic wisdom and Power. The power of God is the word of the Cross, either because through it the power of God was revealed to us, that is, victory over death, or because, just as the four ends of the Cross, uniting in the center, both height, and depth, and length, and latitude, that is, all visible and invisible creation.
The cross was given to us as a sign on the forehead, as to Israel - circumcision. For through him we, the faithful, are distinguished from the unbelievers and are recognized. He is a shield and weapon, and a monument of victory over the devil. He is a seal so that the Destroyer does not touch us, as the Scripture says (Ex. 12, 12, 29). He is the lying rebellion, the standing support, the weak staff, the grazing rod, the returning guide, the prosperous path to perfection, the salvation of souls and bodies, the deviation from all evils, the culprit of all good, the destruction of sin, the sprout of resurrection, the tree of Eternal Life.
So, the very tree, precious in truth and venerable, on which Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, as sanctified by the touch of both the Holy Body and the Holy Blood, should naturally be worshiped; in the same way - and nails, a spear, clothes and His holy dwellings - a manger, a den, Golgotha, a saving life-giving tomb, Zion - the head of the Churches, and the like, as the God-father David says: "Let us go to His dwelling, bow down at the footstool of His." And what he means by the Cross is shown by what is said: “Stand, Lord, in the place of your rest” (Ps. 131, 7-8). For the Cross is followed by the Resurrection. For if the house and bed and clothes of those whom we love are desirable, how much more is that which belongs to God and the Savior, through which we are saved!
The cross is life according to the will of God. The Lord does not escort us as prisoners, and does not lead us by force to heaven, He invites, calls to Himself: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11; 28), as it is written on the holy gates our abode. The Lord does not force anyone: if you want to be saved, be saved. And everything for this is on earth, only one thing is missing - our will, the desire to fulfill the Will of God. Amen.
In the middle of the Pentecost, the Church exposes the Cross to believers in order to inspire and strengthen those who are fasting to continue the feat of fasting as a reminder of the sufferings of the Lord's death. The veneration of the Cross continues in the fourth week of Lent - until Friday, and therefore the entire fourth week is called the veneration of the Cross.
“The cross is the guardian of the entire universe, the cross is the beauty of the church, the cross is the power of kings, the cross is the strengthening of believers, the cross is the glory of angels and the plague of demons.” This is how one of the church hymns explains the meaning of the cross for the whole world. “With the cane of the cross, having dipped it in the red ink of Your blood, You, Lord, royally signed the forgiveness of sins for us,” says one of the stichera of the holiday.