Recently, the feast of the Ex altation of the Cross of the Lord has become increasingly popular, because it is considered one of the most important among the twelve main holidays of the Orthodox Church. It is celebrated on September 27th. Ancient traditions are revered by the younger generation more and more, so this article will consider not only the main signs of such a holiday, but also its history and meaning. In any case, before celebrating anything, it is worth understanding where it came from and how it was treated in antiquity.
First memory of the holiday
The Day of the Ex altation of the Holy Cross, according to legend, arose precisely when the Cross was found by Queen Elena Equal-to-the-Apostles. This is where Jesus Christ was crucified. All this happened at the request of the Equal-to-the-Apostles King Constantine, who planned to start building temples of God in various sacred Christian places in Palestine. The place was not chosen by chance, because it was here that the Lord Jesus Christ was born, suffered and resurrected.
Search for the Cross of Christ
Find the Cross to Queen Elena (and she had toTsar Constantine's mother) was not as easy as it might seem. First, she went to Jerusalem. Since the enemies of Christ buried the Cross in the ground, she made a lot of effort to find a person who could tell her where he was buried. Only the old Jew Judas did it.
It turned out that the Cross was thrown into a cave, littered with various debris, and a pagan temple was built on that place. Therefore, Elena ordered that this temple be destroyed and that she be given access to the cave.
After her order was carried out, it turned out that in the cave itself there are three crosses, and it is not known which one is exactly what is needed.
How was the real Cross discovered?
The Orthodox feast of the Ex altation of the Holy Cross would not be possible now if Empress Elena was not a wise woman and did not take the advice of the Jerusalem Patriarch Macarius.
To determine which cross is the Cross of the Savior, each of them was brought in turn to a terminally ill woman. When the first two crosses were laid, no miracle happened, but after the third one she became completely he althy.
About the same time, a funeral procession was passing by the place where these events unfolded. In order to finally make sure of the correctness of the choice, Queen Elena ordered that crosses be laid on the deceased in turn. The miracle happened again - after the third cross, the dead came to life.
Just like thisIn this way, everyone learned about which particular cross is the Cross of the Lord, and they found it again in 326.
People's reaction to the Cross of the Lord
After everyone was convinced of the life-giving power of the real Cross of the Lord, Tsarina Elena, as well as Patriarch Macarius, bowed to him and kissed him, immediately after them the people around them did it.
It is in this place that the history of the feast of the Ex altation of the Cross of the Lord originates. Many Christians arrived at the scene, and each of them wanted to venerate the shrine, but purely physically it was impossible, as it would take too much time. That is why the Jerusalem patriarch stood on a small hill and raised the Cross several times, that is, erected it. When the people saw the Cross of the Savior, everyone immediately bowed and exclaimed: “Lord, have mercy!”
It was thanks to a kind of ingenuity that Queen Elena nevertheless delivered part of the real Cross to Tsar Constantine, and it was decided to leave the other part in Jerusalem.
In the future, it was on the site of these events that a very extensive Cathedral of the Ex altation of the Holy Cross was built, where the second part of the precious Cross is kept to this day. Temples were also built in Bethlehem, on the Mount of Olives, in Fevron near the Oak of Mamri.
Feast of the Ex altation of the Holy Cross - features
Its main feature is that it is significantly different in its nature of celebration from all other similar Orthodox celebrations. Usuallyholy and great feasts are days of mourning over the Divine Sufferer, and this one is considered a day of joy. It is the joy of all the consequences of His suffering and the fruits of redemption.
It is in honor of redemption, which manifests itself in the person of the main tool, guide, and also a sign, that the Ex altation of the Cross of the Lord is celebrated. What date this happens, everyone should remember - September 27.
It is believed that the Cross of the Lord is the glory of Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is not Christ Himself who is ex alted in order that the Cross may be glorified, but the Cross in order that Christ may be glorified.
Meaning of the Cross for Christians
Many argue that through the Cross we have received many different blessings. We were able to learn piety and comprehended all the virtue of chastity. We also learned the power of the nature of the Lord and his truth, through the same Cross we know the power of love, and we also do not refuse to die for each other. Thanks to the same Cross, we were able to despise all the blessings of the world, while expecting them in the future, accepting everything imaginary as visible. This is exactly what the "Word on the Ex altation" is saying, the author of which is Basil of Seleucia or John Chrysostom.
From the very beginning, after the Cross was discovered, it showed its miraculous power, helping to heal serious illnesses, bites from deadly poisonous animals and neutralize the effects of poisons.
If you do not take into account the mysterious and mystical meaning of the Cross for the presentChristian, it also has a purely moral significance. When we look at the suffering of our Savior, our cross-bearing does not seem so hard. That is, the Cross serves as support in difficult life situations, helping to show one's courage and not be afraid of close proximity to death.
This Orthodox holiday (Ex altation of the Cross of the Lord) is of great importance for Christians in view of the fact that in their souls there has long been prepared ground for this. This triumph only multiplied the people's love for the Cross many times over, gradually becoming more and more solemn. It is the Cross that becomes a symbol that allows you to fight various invisible enemies and thus save your immortal soul.
Importance will take on the Ex altation
As you probably already guess, there are many interesting facts that are directly related to the feast of the Ex altation of the Holy Cross. Signs in the celebration itself play a crucial role. There are so many of them that some of them have not survived to this day, and they have been forgotten forever. But there are also customs that even now continue to be performed and devote a lot of time and attention to this.
September 27 is considered the third Osenin, so in ancient times on this day everyone painted crosses on the doors of their houses, on mats or on lintels. Matitsa is a thick beam in the form of a log, which was cut across the building itself. Crosses were drawn with garlic, charcoal, used in thesepurposes and chalk. More surprisingly, sometimes crosses were painted with the blood of animals that were sacrificed. Some simply carved the cross with a knife on a suitable surface.
Pet Safety First
Many also tried to protect their cows or horses from various intrigues of evil spirits. To do this, they made special small wooden crosses and put them in the manger. Those who did not have such an opportunity, they acted somewhat differently. Rowan twigs were crossed and placed in the manger as well. Rowan has long been considered a symbol of bright light, which is able to scare away all evil spirits.
Such an Orthodox holiday (Ex altation of the Holy Cross) in itself is considered the final day of Indian summer. This is the third and most recent meeting of autumn.
Coming winter
It was on the day of this celebration that winter reminded everyone of itself. Autumn became a full-fledged mistress, and therefore the villagers increasingly thought about the approaching cold weather, snowstorms and frosts that await them. That is why sayings of this type were so popular: “A fur coat stretches for a caftan on the Ex altation!” or “The ex altation of the caftan will fall, put on a fur coat!”
It should also be remembered that the feast of the Ex altation of the Holy Cross is fasting, so it was important to observe all the necessary food restrictions. Those who do everything properly will be forgiven of all seven sins.
It's amazing that for their faults on this dayeven the animals paid. For example, it was believed that if a snake bites someone, then it will not be able to survive the winter. This belief was based on the fact that everyone was sure of the existence of the mysterious place Iriy, where not only birds, but also snakes survived the winter. That is, the guilty snake will not be able to crawl away and will simply freeze soon.
Cabbage - what is it?
The Ex altation of the Holy Cross used to be called even "cabbage". This is evidenced by many different once quite popular sayings that have not been forgotten to this day. In particular, this applies to such proverbs as “Ex altation is a cabbage, it’s time to chop cabbage!” or no less eloquent “Without bread, a peasant will not be full, without cabbage - cabbage soup does not live!” Such expressions indicate that cabbage was quite popular in terms of cooking various dishes from it.
Cabbage girls were also called fun parties that were held not only in villages, but also in big cities. On this day, everyone dressed up in festive clothes and went to visit each other. Then it was called "chopping cabbage".
Features of cabbage soup
This series of large autumn parties was especially loved by young people, because they were expected no less than Maslenitsa, and all this celebration dragged on for about two weeks. When guests came to the house, beer was always served to them, as well as sweet honey and all kinds of treats. What kind of snacks were offered to guests was decided only in accordance with the we alth of the hosts.
That's rightThe Ex altation of the Holy Cross was celebrated. Signs also said that during this celebration, young guys picked up brides for themselves. By the way, the parties of single guys were called “Kapusten evenings” and all the girls tried to get there, because they knew that grooms would already be waiting for them there. It was the brides who were also called "kapustnitsa". Already late in the evening, general festivities were organized, which then often led to weddings on Pokrova. This is how the feast of the Ex altation of the Holy Cross for some young people became the beginning of family life.
How to please the groom and much more - signs on the Ex altation
The most important sign that absolutely all the girls used is that before the evenings it is necessary to read a special spell seven times. It is such a spell that will make the girl as attractive as possible in the eyes of the guy she likes. Only if such a sign is fulfilled will she be able to succeed in the celebration.
On the day of the celebration, you can’t go to the forest, because then the bear must equip his lair, but the legendary goblin must inspect his kingdom, and you can’t interfere with this. Due to the fact that the goblin counts animals, a person who accidentally catches his eye can also be counted. But after that, he will never be able to leave the forest and return home.
It is on September 27 that the birds fly south, and whoever sees them will be able to make any wish, which then will surely come true. Exceptamong other things, true hostesses always cleaned the house for a holiday, because in this way they drove out all evil spirits and damage.
An interesting fact is that no new business can be started on Vozdvizhenye, because they are already doomed to failure.
By the way, there are also some signs about cabbage. For example, this concerns the fact that before sowing it, the seeds must be held a little in your hands so that swede does not grow instead of cabbage. At the same time, it was believed that if cabbage was planted on Thursday, then worms would drain it all, and it would be unusable.
Weather signs for Vozdvizheniya
The flight of geese indicates a small or high flood. That is, if they fly low, then a small flood awaits us, and if high, a high one.
Signs of such a holiday as the Ex altation of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord also testify that if you saw cranes, then pay attention to their flight. If they fly slowly, at the same time high enough and cooing, then a warm autumn will await us.
If the north wind blows on the day of the celebration, then next year there will be a warm summer. The western one indicates bad weather.
If you notice a peculiar circle around the moon that has a red color, then this is a sign of dry as well as clear weather.
As you have already noticed, the history of the holiday and its most important signs are quite interesting. Some of them can be observed even today, especially the weather forecast. In connection with the restoration of many ancient traditions of ourancestors in many cities, you can see such a structure as the Cathedral of the Ex altation of the Holy Cross (Omsk, Moscow, Moscow Region, Nizhny Novgorod and many others).
