On the Veneration of the Holy Relics and Remains of the Saints (Part II)

Icon of the Mother of God “the Healer”

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

+

ON THE VENERATION OF THE HOLY RELICS AND REMAINS OF THE SAINTS (Part II)
By Archpriest Vasily Demidov

Man was created for Incorruption

"God made not death: neither hath He pleasure in the destruction of the living" (Wisdom 1:13). "God created man for incorruption and made him to an image of His own eternity" (Wisdom 2:23). Corruption appeared after the fall. "Through the hatred of the devil death entered the world" (Wisdom 2:24). "Righteousness is immortal, but injustice causeth death" (Wisdom 1:15). "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). As a result of the fall, the fate of man was altered. After death, his dust returned to the earth from which it had been taken, and his spirit returned to God Who has bestowed it (Eccl. 12:7). Therefore, the bodies of all men, both righteous and sinful, are interred in the earth. But the bodies of certain "friends of God," in accordance with His will, escape the universal corruption and remain, at times whole, at times partially intact. Death is the common rule for all that lives. However, the words of the Holy Bible point out to us the exceptions to this law. Enoch and Elias, born on earth and subject to the common law of death, did not die; but having conquered the law of death, they were transported to the Kingdom of Heaven while yet in the body. The accounts of their translation and present state are recorded in Genesis 5:4 and 3 Kings 2. In the course of so great a time, these righteous men have remained in that degree of growth in which they were taken up, in accordance with the special Providence of God. They have teeth, a stomach, reproductive members, even though they have no need for food of wives.

Who can comprehend or explain this mystery? The kingdom of death, the dominion of the Queen of terrors, was overcome by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the first-fruits from among the dead. And "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature" (2 Cor. 5:17) and incorruption is given unto him. "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord...Jesus Christ, Who hath abolished death. At the Resurrection of Christ "many bodies of the Saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His Resurrection, and went into the Holy City, and appeared unto many" (St. Matthew 7:52). Tradition bears witness that several of these resurrected Saints survived until the beginning of the Second Century and were known amongst the Christian societies as living witnesses to the Resurrection of Christ.

Those who deny God and who reduce everything to matter are in no position to understand the miracles of the Gospel. The majority of Protestants do not believe in the Resurrection of Christ and deny His divine nature.

Concerning Saint John the Theologian, the Beloved Disciple of Christ, the following mysterious words are recorded in the Gospel: "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Then went his speech abroad among the brethren, that the disciple should not die" (Saint John 21:22). From the life of Saint John, the Theologian Christians know the wondrous account of his repose. It is known that, exiled to the island of Patmos, Greece, "for the word of God and witnessing concerning Jesus," he wrote his final book, the "Revelation" or "Apocalypse," in which, under signs and symbols, he described the coming Judgment of the Church of Christ. According to the account of his life, he himself asked to be interred alive; but afterward, his disciples were unable to find his body in the grave. One may suppose that the mysterious statement of the Savior had indeed come to pass: John did not die, but according to the Church's belief, was translated like Enoch and Elias to a place beyond our knowledge, and will be preserved until the last days. In the lives of the Saints compiled by Metropolitan Makary, in the reading for the day commemorating the repose of Saint John the Theologian, following the account of his supposed death, we read: "And John the Theologian walketh amongst us, and no one knoweth him."

The ancient Apostolic Church of the first centuries of Christianity, in the person of its best instructors and interpreters of the sacred text of the Holy Bible (Sts. John Chrysostom, Ephraim the Syrian, etc.) concerning the two Prophets Enoch and Elias, saw them to be the two "witnesses" of whom the Book of the Revelation of Saint John the Theologian says: "And I will give power unto My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy...clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified" (Rev. 11:3-4; 7-8). Further on, Saint John refers to them plainly as "prophets" (v. 10, "two prophets") who later will be brought back to life, will stand up and, at the command of God, ascend to Heaven on clouds (v. 12). These Prophets will be set in the Last Days as "assisters of human weakness" in the battle with the forces of antichrist (Saint Theodore the Studite, pt. 1, p. 236), and will be slain on the streets of the great city of Jerusalem.

Before our very eyes, the nation of Israel has risen again, and the city of Jerusalem has been made the capital of that land. For those that do not close their eyes to the events occurring in the world, it is quite plain that much foretold by "holy men of God...moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21), has clearly been fulfilled and is still being fulfilled.

1) The general, world-wide falling away from faith in God predicted by Saint Paul already come to pass, and at present the battle of faith with unbelief attains ever greater dimensions (1 Thess. 2:3);

2) the spirit of antichrist reigns throughout nearly all the world;

3) the persecution of Christians is an incontestable fact;

4) the restoration of the nation of Israel has taken place in our times.

Thus, a portion of what is foretold in the Holy Scripture has already taken place and is accomplished. A universal tragedy is unraveled in the scriptural revelation. There remains but to await the fulfillment of the second portion of the prophecy: the appearance of Enoch and Elias the two Prophets, witnesses and denouncers of the deception of Antichrist, their deaths, resurrection, and later, the Second Coming of Christ to judge mankind. "That all this must be, one ought to believe," says Augustine of Hippo, "but in what manner and in what order it shall be, it is better to leave to the actual experience of the events themselves: at present, human understanding is in no position to attain to full comprehension (thereof)". The terrible events of future world will show how correct were those that, inspired from on high, foretold these manifestations. 

(To be continued)

____________________________

"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostomos

+++

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

On the Veneration of the Holy Relics and Remains of the Saints

Icon of the Mother of God “the Healer”

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

+

ON THE VENERATION OF THE HOLY RELICS AND REMAINS OF THE SAINTS
By Archpriest Vasily Demidov

"Behold we count them happy which endure..." (James 5:11)

In the Apostolic Church, all the remains of the "friends of God," the righteous strugglers (1 Corinthians 9:25), were referred to as relics (lipsana) bones, heads, hair, hands, feet, and sometimes entire bodies, if there were preserved, through which the Lord God is glorified by mysterious wonders (miracles). The Protestant Lutherans and all sectarians reject the veneration of the holy remains of Christian strugglers, and, like the heretics of times past, laugh at this pious custom and scoff at Orthodox Christians who call upon the friends of God in their prayers to Him. The sectarians, without any serious proof, maintain that it is nowhere proclaimed in the Bible that we should honor the friends of God (John 15:14), to reverence the remains of the holy martyrs and ascetics, and to glorify in sacred hymns those who have suffered for Christ, shedding their blood.

Of course, the question of the veneration and glorification of the holy martyrs, and the ascetics that served Christ during their life without the shedding of their blood, touches upon a number of beliefs the impious reject them all. They do not believe in God, they do not acknowledge the immortality of the soul, they reject even man's conscience and feeling of shame and accept only material things, disregarding the spiritual realm.  

Orthodox Christians are convinced and deeply believe that the "friends of God" who have come out of great tribulation and have made their robes white in the Blood of the Lamb (Christ), abide now before the Throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple (Revelation 7:14-15). Orthodox Christians turn with prayer to God and believe in the power of the prayerful intercession of the Saints before Him, for they have that One Intercessor with the Blood Jesus Christ and a multitude of intercessors in prayer (2 Corinthians 1:11).

Only ignorant and thoughtless people can reject that which is mystical in the Christian religion. Religion itself i.e., the bond between the human soul and the Everlasting Spirit of God is the greatest mystery. All of human life is surrounded by mystical and incomprehensible phenomena. The birth and death of man constitute a great marvel, for people know not whence they come and whither they go. "For who hath known the mind of the Lord?" asks the Apostle. "How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" (Romans 9:33-34). Yet, the Righteous Job of the Old Testament pointed out mysterious phenomena incomprehensible to many, saying: "The Mighty One...hath done great things which we knew not" (Job 37:5).

The Lord God works in the world in various ways, "in wisdom hath He made them all" (Psalm 103:24). Of all His creations on the earth, the Lord considered man alone worthy of great gifts, investing in him something divine which is called the conscience. He gave him the gift of speech, the feeling of shame, regret, sympathy, pity, reverence and worship for the Most High. Possessing the divine spark in his soul, man, enlightened by faith in Christ, already glorifies God, showing himself in his bodily form to be a temple of the Holy Spirit. "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, which ye have of God?" (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Christ Himself attests that He lives in His friends: "I in them and Thou in Me" (St. John 17:23). "If a man serves Me, him will My Father honor" (St. John12:26). "And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them" (St. John 17:22). "I am glorified in them" (St. John 17:10). The Church of the Apostles does not deify (theosis) inanimate objects; it does not honor the Saints for any sort of divinity; it does not render to anyone any form of worship; being instructed by the word of the Scripture, it humbly offers worship to the One Almighty God, deeply, with child-like simplicity, believing that the holy relics are divinely-chosen instruments of the power of God and His might. In the holy relics the power of God is shown forth.

(To be continued)

___________________________

"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostomos

+++

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

The Miraculous Power of Orthodox Holy Objects

Martyr Sophia and her three daughters at Rome

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

+

THE MIRACULOUS POWER OF ORTHODOX HOLY OBJECTS (Part II)
By Andrei Muzolph

Q. Orthodox pilgrimage routes often point out various holy springs. What is significant about them? What kind of water is in them? How should we use it?

A. Holy water from a spring and holy water blessed in church, for example on Theophany, despite the opinion of many, are not the same thing. We call water from a spring "holy" not because it's blessed in the well, but because of its unusual, miraculous origin. We know from Church History that in places of special appearances of God or the Theotokos or some Saints, springs miraculously appeared. Using this water with reverence, and also with faith and hope in God, many having problems with health received healing of their infirmities. Therefore, such water is known as "holy" or "healing" among the people, because, taken with prayer, it brings benefit to the human body.

However, water that is blessed in either the Great or Lesser Blessing of Waters is more correctly called "holy." At the moment of its blessing, holy water becomes, as Father Alexander Schmemann says, that which all material was designated to be--a means to the ultimate goal, the deification (theosis) of man, knowledge of God, and union with Him.

According to Saint Dimitry of Rostov, holy water has the power to consecrate both the human soul and body--the sole necessary condition for this is the faith of the person himself. Saint Theophan the Recluse says it is nonsensical to rely on the healing power of holy water if in your heart there is no true faith in God.

And elsewhere the Saint writes that the grace coming from God through the holy cross, holy icons, holy water, holy relics, and even Holy Communion itself, has the power only for those who are worthy of this grace through repentance, humility, service to others, acts of charity and the manifestation of other Christian virtues. But without them grace does not save. It does not act automatically, like a talisman, but is useless for the impious, the unbelievers, or Christians in name only but without any virtue.

Thus, we can drink a hundred liters of Theophany water, but if we don't have faith in God and love for our neighbors, this water, unfortunately, will never be the source of living water which directs us towards eternal life, as is said in the order of the Great Blessing of Waters.

Q. How should we relate to holy relics like the hat of Saint Mark the Grave-Digger or the slippers of Saint Spyridon of Tremithus, which are said to have special miraculous power?

A. According to established pious tradition, we relate to such holy items just as we do to their holy "owners." In a few cases, for example there are even special liturgical days devoted to the robe of the Most5 Holy Theotokos or the chains of Saint Peter.

It says in Holy Scripture more than once that not just some God pleasers had the gift of miracles, but even pieces of their clothing had special miraculous powers: The mantle of the holy Prophet Elijah divided the waters of the river (4 Kings 2:8) and handkerchiefs and aprons of the holy Apostle Paul was used to healing diseases and even drive out evil spirits (Acts 19:12).

But we never address ourselves to such items in prayer, but only to the Saints to whom they belong. We do not exclaim: "Holy hat, pray to God for us," but we say: "O Holy Father Mark, pray to God for us." Veneration for this or that item is based not on its autonomous holiness, but its belonging to this or that ascetic: The grace of the Holy Spirit acts so abundantly in God's chosen ones that even their everyday items become conduits of God's power. But, at the same time, such sacred items should not become for us paramount, overshadowing God Himself, the Giver of miracles. Otherwise, such perverted spiritual practice will lead us to dependence on relics, and our lives will become a search for specific relics, while the main thing--striving for repentance and communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord--becomes something unimportant and trivial. Thus, evermore justified are the words of one modern theologian who notes a quite widespread tendency today: "Pilgrims go to monasteries not for Communion, but for 'sand from graves." But this, quite, unfortunately, is nothing other than a sign of a man's spiritual illness.

(To be continued)

_________________________________

"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostomos

+++

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

The Miraculous Power of Orthodox Holy Objects

Greatmartyr Euphemia the All-praised

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

THE MIRACULOUS POWER OF ORTHODOX HOLY OBJECTS
By Andrei Muzolph

Q. Andrei, are there many wonderworking (miracle-working) icons in the Church? Is such a designation appropriate? And how can we explain it?

A. To answer your question, we first need to define what is an icon. An icon is a window into the heavenly realm. They're important for believers because they depict the Kingdom of God, "come with power" (St. Mark 9:1) because besides God and the Angels, icons depict the Saints as well--that is, those people who pleased God by their virtues life. The Saints are people just like we are; the only thing that distinguishes them from us is that they have already attained to that that for which we are yet striving, and which is the main purpose for life of every man--theosis (deification). Therefore, icons serve to remind man about the necessity of striving for God, to that Archetype, according to Which we all were created, but Which we later eclipsed by our sins.

Regarding the miraculous nature of certain icons, it should be clarified that no icon is miraculous in and of itself. There is only one source of miracles in this world--the Lord, Who by His ineffable love sends us His mercy and grace. Thus, Saint Theophan the Recluse writes: "Some icons are miraculous because it so pleases God, but the power is not in the icons, or in the people turning to them, but the mercy of God." A miracle is precisely a manifestation of God's mercy towards us sinful people. The Lord creates miracles anywhere, anytime, and through anything. But in the thoughts of the Holy Fathers, because the grace of God is most often manifested in response to prayer, in response to our turning to our Creator, then miracles, accordingly, most often happen in those places where there is such prayer; that is, in Churches: during the Divine Services, in the Mysteries (Sacraments) of the Church, and before holy icons, holy relics, etc.

During prayer, we open our hearts before God, and in response, the Lord sends us His saving grace, healing, and transfiguring us internally. God alone, and no one else is the source of this grace, however, as man is a creature both spiritual and bodily, grace reveals itself also through visible, physical realities: Holy icons, holy relics, holy water. Orthodox Christianity, as opposed to dualistic concepts, never considered matter evil. God created everything "very good," and therefore, according to the holy Apostle Paul, not only men will attain theosis (deification), but creation itself, in the end, will be freed from the power of corruption (Roman 8:12). Christianity doesn't call man, like many religion-philosophical systems, to wholly detach from matter, but quite the contrary--it uses matter in the work of man's salvation. God saves man as a material creation, not without participation in this matter.

That's why we can say that every icon is miraculous, above all witnessing to the true miracle--the miracle of the possibility of man communing with God.

Q. One of the most amazing Orthodox miracles is the incorrupt relics of the Saints. What are holy relics? When did the veneration of icons arise? Do we know whose relics were the first to be venerated?

A. As we already said, Christianity highly values human nature. Clear proof of this is the tradition of venerating the holy relics of Saints. The holy Fathers point out that the main reason for the veneration of holy relics in the Church of Christ is the Incarnation. The Son of God, having assumed human nature in all its fullness in the Incarnation, excluding sin, shows thereby its importance and dignity. The holy Apostle Paul calls upon Christians to glorify God not only in soul, but in our bodies, which are also God's creation and the temple of the Holy Spirit (cf., 1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and therefore even death is incapable of depriving man of this prerogative.

Saint John of Damascus, speaking about the veneration of holy relics, writes, "The Lord Christ gave us saving sources: the relics of Saints, pouring out diverse blessings, exuding the sweet smell of myrrh...Under the Law, anyone coming into contact with the dead becomes unclean (cf., Numbers 19:11); but they are not dead. For since that time that He Who is Life itself, the Reason for Life, was numbered among the dead, we don't call dead those who have reposed in the hope or resurrection and with faith in Him...Through holy relics, demons are repelled, the infirm are healed, the blind see the light, lepers are cleansed, temptations and woes cease, and every good and perfect gift descends from above, from the Father of Lights (St. James 1:17) through them for those who ask with undoubting faith.

Regarding the practice of venerating holy relics, we should note that in the Old Testament there is already mention of the miraculous remains old departed Saints. 4 Kings speak about how touching the bones of the Prophet Elisha revived the dead (cf. 4 Kings 13:21).

Additionally, we see in the Gospels an indication of the post-mortem veneration of the bodies(relics) of the Saints: after Herod beheaded the holy Prophet and Forerunner of the Lord John, the disciples of the Prophet took his body and reverently buried it. Such was also done with the body of the first Christian martyr, the holy Archdeacon Stefanos (Stephen).

We also know from Church History that the first ancient evidence of the veneration of the holy relics of Saints dates to the middle of the second century, taken from the life of Hieromartyr Polycarpos (Polycarp) of Smyrna. His life says that the Hieromartyr was burned at the stake, the Christians of Smyrna lovingly gathered his remains and kept them "in a fitting place."

Q. What are myrrh-streaming relics? How are they stored? Where are the most famous ones?

A. Myrrh-streaming holy relics whose holiness is more so confirmed by external manifestations--streams of myrrh. So, periodically a special viscous liquid, myrrh, emanates from them, possessing a powerful, pleasant aroma.

The most famous myrrh-streaming holy relics are in the Far Caves of the Kiev Caves Lavra, belonging to unknown God-pleasers. The origin of only one of them is reliably known--the Hieromartyr Clement, Pope of Rome, who suffered at the beginning of the second century in Chersonesus (now a district of Sevastopol). In either 988 or 989 A.D., a piece of his holy relics was translated by the order of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir to Kiev and subsequently ended up in the Caves Lavra.

(To be continued)

_____________________________

"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostomos

+++

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

September 14 - The Feast of the Exaltation of the Precious Holy Cross

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

+

ON SEPTEMBER 14TH OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH COMMEMORATES THE FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE PRECIOUS CROSS OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST
(A Fast is observed today, whatever day of the week it may be.)

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 wast 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 Thy sovereign might our most Orthodox hierarchs, and vouchsafe them victory over every false teaching; as Thy help in war they possess the weapon of peace, the trophy invincible.

+

The holy day of the Elevation and Exaltation of the Cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is, as it were, the national holiday of the Eastern Roman Empire similar to the Fourth of July in our country. The Holy and Precious Cross, the official emblem of the Empire which was placed on all public buildings and uniforms, was officially on this day by the bishops and priests. They blessed the Four Directions (Corners) of the Universe with the Cross (as you the celebrant priest do on this Holy Feast-Day), while the faithful Orthodox Christians chant "Kyrie eleison!" ("Lord have Mercy!"). As you all know there is a solemn procession of the Holy Cross on this day and at the end, the priest offers blessed basil to all.

The Feast has enormous significance and it a day of fasting and prayer. It is on this day especially that we, Orthodox Christians, renew our total allegiance to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and we are reminded that our salvation comes not by our efforts or of any earthly sacrifice but by the Only True lasting victory of the Crucifixion, the Supreme Sacrifice of our Savior. It is His Cross that saves and not our cross. 

When we elevate the Cross and bow down before it in veneration and worship to God, we proclaim openly that we belong to the Heavenly Kingdom "not of this world," and that our only true and enduring citizenship with the righteous in the "city of God" (Ephesians 2:19; Hebrews 11:10; Rev. 21:22).

The first Old Testament Reading of the Great Vespers of the feast day speaks of the "tree" which changes the bitter water into sweetness--the symbol of the Tree of the Cross (Exodus 15:22-22; 16:1):

"So Moses brought up the children of Israel from the Red Sea, and brought them into the wilderness of Sur, and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water to drink. And they came to Merrha, and could not of Merrha, for it was bitter; therefore he named the name of that place, bitterness. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And Moses cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, and he cast it into the water, and the water was sweetened..." (Exodus 15: 22-25).

 Again the reference is to the Cross of Christ which is, as the Epistle Lesson of the day proclaims, "to those who are called...the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 18:25).

"Before the Cross, we bow down in worship, O Master, and Thy Holy Resurrection, we glorify" (Hymn of the Exaltation and Veneration of before the Cross).

This central hymn of the Elevation of the Holy Cross which lasts for eight days in the Church is chanted many times. It replaces the Thrice-Holy of the Divine Liturgy. The normal Antiphons are also replaced by special verses from the Psalms which have a direct reference to Christ's Crucifixion on the Cross (Psalms 22; 74; 99). At the Orthros, in the Gospel Lesson from Saint John, , Christ says that when He is elevated on the Cross He will draw all men to Himself (St. John 12:28-36). This long Gospel Lesson at the Divine Liturgy is the passion account from this same Gospel. If we are to be saved we must first embrace the passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Therefore, at the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Orthodox Christians pledge their firm and sincere rededication to the crucified Son of God and offer their complete obedience to Him by and through the worship of the His Holy hands and feet nailed to the Life-Giving Cross. This is the meaning of this Holy Feast-Day of fasting, prayer, and repentance in the Church today.

For me of course, it is the celebration of my ordination into the Holy Priesthood which took place at the Saint John the Baptist church in Athens, Greece on September 14, 1969. Fifty years later I continue to serve with all my heart Our Savior at the parish of Saint Andrew at South Bend, Indiana. As the sinner and unworthy servant of God, I thank Him for His unconditional love, for His guidance, for His compassion and forgiveness, for His protection of me, Presbytera Elaine, our children Demetri, Mariam, Nicole, and Stefan. He blessed us with four priceless grandchildren, Kristof (Christophoros), George, John, and Michael. Also, our son-in-law Roland and our daughter-in-law Andrea.

THANKS, BE TO GOD!

Chronia Polla to all of you.

With sincere agape in Christ our Savior,

+Father George

Historical Account of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Precious Cross

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

+

HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE PRECIOUS CROSS

In a third war fought by Constantine the Great with the Scythians along the River Danube, the weapon of salvation appeared in the heavens (sky), bringing victory as it had before. Thus, he became convinced of the power of Christ, Who was crucified upon the Cross. Believing in Him as the Only True God, he was baptized together with his praiseworthy mother Helen, who was full of love for God. It was Helen whom he sent to Jerusalem with great riches to search for the Precious and Holy Cross.

When she arrived in Jerusalem, Helen visited the holy places and cleansed them from the defilement of idolatry, and she brought to light the holy relics of various Saints. At that time the Patriarch was Macarius. He received the Empress with fitting honor. The blessed Empress Helen, hoping to find the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, which had been hidden by the Jews, summoned the Jews of the city and demanded that they show her the place where the Precious Cross of the Lord was hidden. When they began to protest that they knew nothing, Empress Helen threatened them with death. They then pointed out an old man named Judas and said, "This man is able to show you that for which you seek. He is the son of a respected Prophet."

Questioned for a long time, Judas refused to reveal the location of the Cross. However, when the Empress had him cast into a deep pit (in which he remained for some time), he promised to speak. He directed them to a place where there was a great mound covered over with dirt and stones, upon which the Roman Emperor Hadrian had built a pagan temple to the goddess Venus, setting up her image there. Judas affirmed that the Cross of the Lord was hidden in this place.

Empress Helen commanded that the temple of the idols be destroyed and that the dirt and stones be dug up and scattered. As her orders were being carried out, Patriarch Macarius went to pray at the spot, when to his amazement a fragrant odor filled the air. Just then, the Lord's Sepulchre and the Place of the Skull (Golgotha) were found toward the east, and near them, three crosses were uncovered, and later the precious nails were found as well. All were uncertain as to which of the crosses was the Cross of the Lord. At that moment a corpse was being carried by to be buried. Patriarch Macarius commanded those who bore the dead to holt, and he had the crosses placed one after the other on the corpse. When the Cross of Christ was placed on him, the dead man immediately arose, resurrected by the Divine power of the Cross of the Lord.

Empress Helen joyfully took the Precious Cross and bowed down before it and kissed (venerated) it as did all the members of the Imperial retinue accompanying her. Many of those present were unable to see and to kiss the Holy Cross at that time because of the throng of people, and they begged that they might at least see it from a distance. Then the Patriarch of Jerusalem Macarius, standing on an elevated place, lifted up the precious Cross, showing it to all the people, who cried out, "Kyrie Eleison!" ("Lord have mercy!") And this was the origin of the Feast of the Elevation and Exaltation of the Precious Cross.

Empress Helen kept a portion of the Precious Wood and the holy nails for herself. Placing the remaining portion of the Cross in a silver reliquary, she committed it to Patriarch Macarius to be preserved for future generations. Then Judas and a multitude of Jews believed and were baptized. Judas was named Kyriakos in Holy Baptism and subsequently became Patriarch of Jerusalem, suffering for Christ under the pagan Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate.

The holy Empress Helen commanded that churches be built at the holy places in Jerusalem. First, she ordered that the Church of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ be erected over the place where Christ's Holy Sepulchre is to be found and where the Precious Cross was discovered. She then directed that a church be built at Gethsemane where the grave of the Most Holy Theotokos is located and where her Honorable Dormition (Koimisis) took place. She built 18 other churches, and then, having embellished them with every adornment, she departed for Byzantium, taking with her a portion of the Holy Wood of the Life-Giving Cross and the Holy Nails with which Christ's body was affixed to the Tree. The blessed Emperor Constantine placed the Life-Giving Wood in a golden reliquary and fastened one of the holy nails upon his helmet (Gregory, Bishop of Tours, In Praise of the Martyrs, Ch. 6. Saint Gregory lived about the year 560 A.D.). Another, according to the testimony of Saint Ambrose, was cast into the Adriatic Sea to calm a storm, and the third and the fourth the Emperor had fashioned into a bit for the bridle of his horse, that the words of the Prophet Zacharias might be fulfilled: "In that day there shall be upon the bridle of the king's horse, Holiness to the Lord Almighty" (Zacharias, Ch. 14). [Source: The Great Collection of The Lives of the Saints)

(To be continued)

_______________________________

DIVINE SERVICES ON SEPTEMBER 14TH:

Orthros (Matins) at 9:00 a.m.
Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.

Please note: The holy procession of the Cross will take place Sunday as well, the distribution of the blessed basil (vasilikos) to the faithful.

____________________________

"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostomos

+++

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George