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The Exultation of the Glorious Cross
September Fourteen

This feast marks the end of the Maronite liturgical year. The Exaltation of the Cross commemorates the finding of the relics of the Cross by St. Helen. Before 337 A.D., this event was attributed to the first Christian Roman Emperor, Constantine, who built basilicas at Calvary and the Holy Sepulcher. His mother, St. Helen, who built churches on the sites of the Nativity and of the Ascension, earned so great an admiration of our ancestors that, by the latter part of the century, they gave her credit for finding the Cross.

Christian Roman Emperor Constantine and his mother St. Helen with the Glorious Cross.
Chapel No. 28 at Göreme in Cappadocia.
Photo from les Eglises Rupestres de Cappadoce (Paris, 1925)

The Exultation of the Glorious Cross

"On this day, Queen Helen took pride in establishing the feast of the exaltation of the cross. On this day, King Constantine, with all faithful kings, was shaken with joy and pride. ...this day, we celebrate the feast of the saving cross, which redeemed us through suffering." (Sedro)(1)

Two feasts celebrate the Cross in a major way: Great Friday of the Crucifixion and The Exultation of the Glorious Cross. The Great Sunday of Resurrection also incorporates the Cross in a significant way. (2) Because each feast celebrates some aspect of our salvation history, the Cross' function is central to each commemoration.

The importance of Cross to the Holy Mysteries is clearly demonstrated by the many references to the Cross and its attributes throughout the other times of the liturgical year. To impart to the worshipers the appropriate spiritual attitude, the liturgy applies both teaching devices and petition in the Introductory Prayers, the Hoosoyo, and the Service of the Word.

The mention of the Cross is less frequent in the anaphoras and Communion Rite. As will be shown below, the anaphoras do not often use the word "cross", the "altar-cross" of Great Friday, but rather refer to the saving event of sacrifice re-enacted on the altar-table and to the attributes and accomplishments of the Cross in establishing and securing the Holy Mysteries.

Great Friday of the Crucifixion: Adoration of the Cross

"O cross, come and tell us what is your power. For nations worship you from the ends of the earth. You became an altar on Golgotha, and God's Son was crucified on you. Blood and water flowed from Him for the forgiveness of the world". (Qolo)(3)

The blood and water flowing from Jesus' side particular the institution of the Eucharist and underscore the symbiosis between the Cross and the Holy Mysteries.

Incarnation

The Incarnation, according to St. Ephrem, is the central event of Syriac spirituality because God, the One who cannot be contained, became contained within the limitations of a human body. By His nature, God cannot be grasped by the human mind. (4) Yet, He chose to become limited, small and accessible so that He could be bound, scourged and killed. (5)

FULL TEXT

Thank you for this very edifying posting. Fr. Antonio's acount of anointing the Druse reminds me of the accounts in William Dalrymple's "From the Holy Mountain" (a must read book for information on the region, incidentally) about Moslems coming to pray before icons of the Blessed Mother and being anointed with the oil from the lamps burning before them (or even drinking it), asking for things like children, or health of animals, etc., and then coming back later to give thanks. It was a good lesson to me about how things are not all black and white over there (a lesson reinforced by our pilgrimage to the Holy Land right before the fighting started, this Summer).

Apolytikion in the First Tone

Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance, granting our rulers to prevail over adversaries, and protecting Your commonwealth by Your Cross.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone

Lifted up on the Cross by Your free will, Christ God, grant mercies to the new commonwealth that bears Your name. Gladden our faithful rulers by Your power, giving them victories over their adversaries. May Your alliance be for them a weapon for peace, an invincible standard.

Synaxarion:

Saint Helen, the mother of Saint Constantine the Great, when she was already advanced in years, undertook, in her great piety, the hardships of a journey to Jerusalem in search of the cross, about the year 325. A temple to Aphrodite had been raised up by the Emperor Hadrian upon Golgotha, to defile and cover with oblivion the place where the saving Passion had been suffered. The venerable Helen had the statue of Aphrodite destroyed, and the earth removed, revealing the Tomb of our Lord, and three crosses. Of these, it was believed that one must be that of our Lord, the other two of the thieves crucified with Him; but Saint Helen was at a loss which one might be the Wood of our salvation. At the inspiration of Saint Macarius, Archbishop of Jerusalem, a lady of Jerusalem, who was already at the point of death from a certain disease, was brought to touch the crosses, and as soon as she came near to the Cross of our Lord, she was made perfectly whole. Consequently, the precious Cross was lifted on high by Archbishop Macarius of Jerusalem; as he stood on the ambo, and when the people beheld it, they cried out, "Lord have mercy." It should be noted that after its discovery, a portion of the venerable Cross was taken to Constantinople as a blessing. The rest was left in Jerusalem in the magnificent church built by Saint Helen, until the year 614. At that time, the Persians plundered Palestine and took the Cross to their own country (see Jan. 22, Saint Anastasius the Persian). Late, in the year 628, Emperor Heraclius set out on a military campaign, retrieved the Cross, and after bringing it to Constantinople, himself escorted it back to Jerusalem, where he restored it to its place.

Rest from labour. A Fast is observed today, whatever day of the week it may be.