The Exaltation of the Holy Cross is one of the twelve Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church, celebrated every year on September 14. We commemorate two historical events: the discovery of Christ’s True Cross by St. Helena in Jerusalem in 326 AD, and its recovery from Persian captivity three centuries later.
It’s also a strict fast day. More on that in a moment.
The Story Behind the Feast
In 326, St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, traveled to Jerusalem to find the holy sites of Christ’s Passion. She ordered excavations on Golgotha, the place of the Crucifixion. Workers discovered three crosses buried there, along with the nails and the inscription Pilate had ordered placed above Jesus.
But which cross was Christ’s?
According to Tradition, St. Macarius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, had each cross placed on a dead man being carried to burial. When the body touched the third cross, the man came back to life. That’s why we call it the Life-Giving Cross.
The Cross was then lifted high so the massive crowd could see it and venerate it. The people cried out “Lord, have mercy” again and again as the Patriarch elevated it toward the four directions. That’s the “exaltation” we’re commemorating.
The feast also recalls a later event. In 614, Persian armies sacked Jerusalem and carried off the True Cross as plunder. Emperor Heraclius defeated the Persians in 627, recovered the Cross, and solemnly returned it to Jerusalem on March 21, 630. Both events, the discovery and the recovery, are woven into this September feast.
How We Celebrate It
The Exaltation is a Great Feast of the Lord, which means it gets the full liturgical treatment. We serve Great Vespers the evening before, Matins, and the Divine Liturgy on September 14.
The central moment comes during or after the Liturgy. The priest processes through the church carrying the Cross, often adorned with fresh basil (which tradition says was growing at the site where St. Helena found the Cross). He places it on a table in the center of the nave. Then, while the choir chants the troparion of the feast, he lifts the Cross and lowers it slowly toward each of the four directions, east, west, south, north. The congregation responds “Lord, have mercy” over and over, just as that crowd in Jerusalem did seventeen centuries ago.
Afterward, everyone comes forward to venerate the Cross. You’ll often receive a sprig of basil, blessed during the service.
The troparion you’ll hear throughout the day goes like this: “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.” It’s asking God to protect the Church through the power of the Cross.
Why We “Exalt” the Cross
If you’re coming from a Protestant background, you might wonder why we make such a big deal about a physical object. Isn’t that dangerously close to idolatry?
Here’s what we believe. The Cross isn’t just a reminder of something that happened long ago. It’s the instrument God used to defeat death itself. When Christ died on the Cross and rose from the dead, He transformed that Roman torture device into the source of life for the whole world. We don’t worship the wood, we venerate it because of what God accomplished through it.
Think of it this way. If someone handed you the pen Abraham Lincoln used to sign the Emancipation Proclamation, you’d treat it with reverence. Not because the pen itself is divine, but because of what happened through it. The Cross is like that, except infinitely more so. It’s the trophy of Christ’s victory over sin and death.
When we lift up the Cross and bow before it, we’re uniting ourselves with Christ’s Passion. We’re saying yes to the way of the Cross in our own lives. We’re remembering that our salvation didn’t come cheap.
The Fast
September 14 is a strict fast day, even though it’s a Great Feast. That means no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine, or oil. Some parishes allow wine and oil because it’s a feast, but the Antiochian practice generally observes the full fast until after Vespers.
Why fast on a feast day? Because the Cross is glorious, but it’s also the place where our Lord suffered and died. We can’t celebrate the victory without remembering the cost. The fast keeps us honest about that.
If you work at one of the plants around Beaumont and you’re on day shift September 14, pack a lunch that fits the fast. Peanut butter and jelly works. So does hummus. Your coworkers will probably ask what you’re doing, which gives you a chance to explain.
Come and See
If you’ve never experienced this feast, you should come. There’s something powerful about standing in church with your neighbors, watching the priest lift that Cross high, hearing everyone around you cry out for God’s mercy. It connects you to St. Helena, to that crowd in Jerusalem, to every generation of Christians who’ve venerated the Life-Giving Cross.
The feast runs through September 21, with special hymns each day. But the main celebration is September 14. We’d love to have you at St. Michael for Vespers on the 13th or Liturgy on the 14th.
