THE FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS (SEPT. 14TH)

A Generic Foil-Stamped Slavonic Icon for the Feast of the Exultation of the Most Holy Cross

Edited by Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West) 

On this day, beloved in Christ, we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, a solemn and radiant commemoration that unites history, theology, and the mystery of salvation. For it was upon the Tree of the Cross that the Savior of the world stretched out His hands, reconciling heaven and earth. As the Apostle declares: “God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:14).

The historical memory of this feast traces back to AD 326, when the holy Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, journeyed to Jerusalem and discovered the True Cross of Christ buried beneath the place of the Crucifixion. From that time onward, the Cross was lifted up, exalted before the faithful as both the weapon of victory and the throne of divine humility. In the year AD 629, when Emperor Heraclius recovered the Holy Cross from the Persians, he entered Jerusalem barefoot, carrying it upon his shoulders to the Church of the Resurrection. The Church’s liturgy preserves this moment of triumph not as earthly conquest but as mystical victory, for “the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25).

The Cross of Christ Surveyed by God the Father in a 13th Century French Medieval Manuscript 

The Elevation and Beautification of the Holy Cross According to another 13th Century Medieval Latin Manuscript 

The East Syriac Cross Icon, Inscribed from Babylon to Chang-An, China, Seoul, Korea, to Kerala, India

Another Western Manuscript Icon of St. Helen Discovering the Most Holy Cross

The Fathers spoke often of this mystery. St. John Chrysostom calls the Cross “the trophy of victory over demons, the sword against sin, the sword with which Christ struck down death.” St. Ephrem the Syrian sings: “The wood of the Cross has opened Paradise; the cherub has sheathed his sword, seeing the weapon of life that has slain death.” And St. Gregory the Great teaches that the Cross is “the ladder of humility by which the faithful ascend to heaven.”

Culturally, the Cross became the universal sign of Christian identity, traced upon the brow in baptism, lifted before armies, placed upon churches, and worn over the heart. It is the axis mundi, the mystical center of creation, in which the vertical beam unites heaven and earth, and the horizontal beam reconciles man to his neighbor. In the words of St. Maximos the Confessor, the Cross is “the mystery of the Logos inscribed in creation,” showing forth that all things hold together in Christ (Colossians 1:17).

Yet the feast is not only historical but liturgical and mystical. In the Exaltation, the Cross is lifted high, not to glorify suffering in itself, but to reveal that suffering transfigured by love becomes the gateway to resurrection. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Thus the Church, in every age, takes up the Cross anew, not as a relic of the past but as the present power of God for salvation.

Today, as we bow before the wood of the Cross, we do not worship the tree itself, but Him who hung upon it. We exalt the Cross because in it heaven and earth are reconciled, the gates of Paradise are opened, and the curse of Adam is undone. In the Cross we behold the glory of the Crucified Lord, who, being lifted up from the earth, draws all men unto Himself (John 12:32).

HYMNS OF THE SEASON

TROPARION (Tone 1)

O Lord, save Thy people,

and bless Thine inheritance.

Grant victory to Orthodox Christians

over their adversaries,

and by the power of Thy Cross

preserve Thy habitation.

KONTAKION (Tone 4)

As Thou wast voluntarily lifted upon the Cross for our sake,

grant mercy to those who are called by Thy Name, O Christ God;

make all Orthodox Christians glad by Thy power,

granting them victories over their adversaries,

by bestowing on them the invincible trophy, Thy weapon of peace.

EASTERN HYMNS FROM THE VENERATION OF THE CROSS

Before Thy Cross, we bow down in worship, O Master,

and Thy holy Resurrection we glorify.

EXALTATION HYMN (Sung during the rite of the Elevation of the Cross)

We magnify Thee, O Christ, the Giver of life,

and we honor Thy holy Cross,

by which Thou hast saved us from slavery to the enemy.

STICHERA FROM VESPERS

Come, all you faithful,

let us worship the life-creating tree,

on which Christ the King of glory

voluntarily stretched out His hands,

raising us up to our former blessedness,

whom the enemy had despoiled of old

through pleasure, making us exiles from God.

Come, all you faithful,

let us bow down before the tree,

through which we are counted worthy

to crush the heads of invisible enemies.

Come, all you nations,

let us exalt in hymns the Cross of the Lord.

ANCIENT WESTERN COLLECT

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the Cross that He might draw the whole world unto Himself: Mercifully grant that we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have grace to take up our own cross daily, and so follow Him in the way that leadeth to life everlasting; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

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