Exaltation of the Holy Cross

The Feast of the Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross is one of the twelve Great Feasts of the Church, and is celebrated on September 14. It commemorates the finding of the True Cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by Saint Helen, and also celebrates how an instrument of a shameful death ultimately became an instrument of salvation and eternal life. The commemoration and ceremonies of this day are closely parallel to the Feasts of the Veneration of the Cross (third Sunday of Great Lent) and the Procession of the Cross (August 1).

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OUR MATERIAL

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Sneak peek:

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TEACHING THE LESSON

By combining our material with a few of our favorite external resources, a lesson on the Exaltation of the Holy Cross could go as follows:

• Present the story by reading one of the following books:
  – St. Helen and the Holy Cross by Potamitis Publishing
  – The Queen and the Cross by by Cornelia Bilinsky (Author), Rebecca Stuhff (Illustrator).
• Reinforce the story by acting it out using our printable paper puppets.
• Explain the icon and work on our icon worksheet.
• Listen to and then chant the troparion (see Background section below).
• Play one of our digital games to help learn the first verse of the troparion.
• Finish with either:
  – One of the fun activities suggested in the September Feast Guide found at the “Ascetic Life of Motherhood” blog.
  – A simplified version of our Basil planting project.

* PLEASE NOTE: We do not receive any financial compensation from the external links we mention on our website. We are only sharing resources that we love and use ourselves.

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BACKGROUND

The story

The discovery of the Life-Creating Cross occurred in the early 4th century, AD 325. The Emperor Constantine sent his pious elderly mother, Saint Helen, to Jerusalem, with a letter for the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Saint Macarius. She was searching for the site of the Holy Sepulchre and of the Cross of Christ. After a long investigation, Saint Helen discovered the precious Cross.

According to tradition, she reached the site by following the scent of sweet basil (Vasilikos, royal, belonging to a King), an aromatic plant that had grown over the spot where the Cross was buried. The Cross was found together with the crosses of the two thieves who were crucified with our Lord, and Saint Helen could not tell which of the three crosses was the True Cross of Christ. Patriarch Macarius touched a dying woman with each of the three crosses. Nothing happened with the first two crosses. When he touched her with the third cross, she was healed immediately. Thus, the True Cross of Christ was identified. In another version of the story, a dead man was resurrected when St. Macarius placed the Holy Cross on his body.

Patriarch Macarius climbed on the pulpit and lifted up the Cross. Saint Helen, her court, and the large crowd who had gathered venerated the Cross crying out “Lord have mercy”. In this way, the celebration of the Exaltation of the Cross was established.

Also commemorated on that day is another historical event that occurred almost three centuries later: in AD 628 another pious Byzantine Emperor, Heraclius, defeated the Persians who had captured the Precious Cross and the Patriarch of Jerusalem for fourteen years. After the retake of the Precious Cross, Emperor Heraclius and Patriarch Zacharias of Jerusalem had another glorious procession for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

The celebration

On the day of the Feast, a special service is held. The Cross, standing on a field of sweet basil sprigs, is taken in solemn procession through the church while the Troparion (hymn) of the Feast is being chanted. The priest then takes the Cross and offers petitions facing the four directions of the compass. This represents the universal nature of the life-giving sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross. The priest raises and lowers the cross, and the people respond by chanting “Lord have mercy”. At the end of the service, the people venerate the cross and receive sprigs of basil from the priest.

The day of the Feast is similar to Holy Friday with a strict fast. The Gospel readings refer to the Lord’s Passion.

In anticipation of the Feast of the Holy Cross, it is a tradition to plant sweet basil, sometime during the previous spring, so that by the Feast of the Holy Cross the plant will have enough sprigs to bring over to the church for blessing.

Another tradition with the blessed basil sprigs is to prepare leavening (prozymi) in order to make the prosphoron (see also Preparing the Gifts) and homemade bread.

The Icon

19th century Russian icon, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

In the center of the icon we can see St Macarius, on the pulpit, holding the True Cross of Christ ‘with fear and trembling’. On the right, and at a lower level, there is the Empress Saint Helen facing the Cross and motioning in petition. A smaller or larger group of clergy and lay people is also shown, depending on the icon. They are all attending the magnificent event. In some variations of the icon, on the left side, there is also the glorious Church of the Resurrection, constructed ten years later. In other variations, on the right side of the icon, we can see the miraculously resurrected man in his bed.

Troparion of the Feast (Tone 1)

O Lord, save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance. Grant victories to the Orthodox Christians over their adversaries; and by virtue of Thy Cross, preserve Thy habitation.

Kontakion of the Feast (Tone 4)

As Thou wast voluntarily crucified for our sake, grant mercy to those who are called by Thy Name; 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.

AUDIO RECORDINGS

• Troparion of the Elevation of the Holy Cross, audio recording by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
• Troparion of the Holy Cross for children (English, Arabic and Greek), music video by Kh. Gigi Baba-Shadid:

EXPLORE FURTHER

The Exaltation of the Cross – Exploring the Feasts of the Orthodox Christian Church, video by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America:

• The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, online article by the Orthodox Church in America.
• The Elevation of the Venerable and Life-Giving Cross, online article by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
• Constantine and Helen – equal to the Apostles, Greek Orthodox Church of America.
• Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Greek Orthodox Church of America.

Special thanks to the Department of Religious Education of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America for allowing us to embed their video into our web page.

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

We have prepared printable activities and fun interactive ideas both for the Exaltation and the Veneration of the Holy Cross. We suggest exploring both these pages on our web site, as they contain helpful material that can be used to teach any lesson on the Cross of our Lord. Click HERE to go to our Veneration of the Holy Cross page for more Holy Cross teaching resources.

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BASIL PLANTING PROJECT

This is a long-term project we created for the summer, to take the children from the feast of St. Helen in May to the Elevation of the Cross in September. It is, however, a useful resource to explore for any time of the year, whenever one wants to work on the theme of the Holy Cross.

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Scrapbooking paper used in the paper puppets: 

• The Paper Studio – Eclectic Remix 12″x12″
• The Paper Studio – The Basics 12″x12″
• Recollections multi-patterned paper pad 12″x12
• DCWV – Double Sided Cardstock Stack 12″x12″
• Colorbök – Spray Paint Cardstock 12″x12″
• Jane Davies – Collage Papers
• Pebbles – Front Porch 12″x12″