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Sunday after Elevation of Holy Cross 2007 Last Sunday I announced that the Elevation of the Precious and Lifegiving Cross is always celebrated on September 14th, and being that it is a working Day we always repeat the special brief Service reminding us of the finding of the Holy Cross by the aged Mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, St. Helena. The bowing down to the floor of the Priest holding a Cross and some twigs of sweet basil, is symbolic of the digging of St. Helena's contingent around the temple of Artemis, built by the Romans, as in the case of all the Holy Places, over all the Shrines of Christianity, to discourage the Christians from worshipping. When St. Helena, over 80 years old pleaded with her son Emperor Constantine to assign to her a contingent for the sole purpose of traveling over mountain ranges to go to Jerusalem to unearth the Holy Cross, there is no doubt that he did so reluctantly trying to protect his Mother. It was her life-long dream and she was adamant of achieving it. She arrives in Jerusalem, but where does one commence to dig. There is no question that Divine Providence was at work. She saw the beautiful Temple of the Goddess Artemis, and approaching it, she was drawn to a certain corner, where there was an overwhelming aroma of sweet basil plants. She reasoned that this was the spot. The symbolic plants proved her premonition. The Holy Cross is unearthed and the throngs pushed forward to touch and kiss it, which of course, posed threats of injuries. It is then, with the help of St. Helena's guards that the Patriarch of Jerusalem Makarios, directed that the Cross be brought on a small mound and be elevated, so the faithful could feast upon it in prayer. The faithful incessantly chanted over and over the "Kyrie eleison" (Lord have mercy), as was done around the Holy Altar minutes ago. This is a most ancient tradition of the Church, but is celebrated only in the Orthodox Churches throughout the world. When one thinks of the manner with which everything happened, and which were primary for the propagation of the Church, there can be no question but that Divine Providence constantly paved the way, in order that we could cruise with ease on the spiritual highway. Up until the year 313 A.D. the Roman Empire had two Emperors, one in the eastern part of the Empire, and the other in the western part. Licinius in the East and Constantine in the west. It developed that one wanted to subdue the other and the conflict arose. The night before the victorious battle of Constantine, even though he was not a baptized Christian he saw a vision of the Cross on a banner with the saying in Latin: "In hoc vincas!" that is "by this Sign conquer." Now he was the sole Emperor. There is no question that St. Helena, a Christian, tremendously influenced her son Constantine's life. As a result, he proclaims the Edict of Milan, granting to all complete freedom of religion. Thus, the cryptoChristians emerged from all their hidden places to worship freely and openly. Our Holy Orthodox Church has not drifted from the ancient traditions, which in fact bring us into immediate contact with the ancient Church, such as the blessing of the 5 loaves, reminiscent of the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 in the wilderness with only 5 loaves of bread and two fish. Also, the tradition of the Churching of mothers, after 40 days of giving birth, reminiscent of our Holy Mother taking the infant Jesus to the Temple to be blessed by the Prophet Symeon. That's why we have to be proud of our Holy Church, and the many traditions She has preserved down through the centuries, to which, as I mentioned, is bonded to the Ancient Church, and which was and is completely unified. When one makes it a point, and I think we all should, to study the Hymnology of this Great Holy Day, he or she will not only be edified in the Faith, but will marvel at the inestimable wealth of our Hymns! Truly the Orthodox Hymnology has no equal, because it does not only praise and glorify God, but is replete with theological and moral teachings, as well as dogmatic truths, based strictly on the Bible. Of course, these hymns are chanted during the Orthros, or Matins, which precedes the Divine Liturgy. Hopefully, we shall be able to pray the Orthros Service, when we shall have the good fortune to occupy our own Building. Just to give you an idea of the depth, and the beauty of our hymns, I bring to you in translation one, which describes the power of the Holy Cross: It states: "The Cross is the preserver of he Universe; the Cross is the comeliness of the Church; the Cross is the power of leaders; the Cross is the support of the beli evers; the Cross is the glory of Angels, and the annihilation of the demons! The Emperor Constantine moved the Capitol of the Roman Empire from old Rome to the City of Byzantium, which separates Europe from Asia. From there, the new Byzantine Empire, covering the then known world could be better governed. The City of Byzantium is renamed Constantinople that is, the City of Constantine. His symbol, which you must have seen was the double headed eagle, facing in opposite directions. The eagle, which has the sharpest vision of all the birds, would virtually see all the happenings in the vast Empire, eastwardly and westwardly. To mark the occasion of the new City, Constantine had erected two enormous columns. One., in honor of his mother, and the other to himself. Spanning the space between the columns, he placed a banner which read: "One is Holy; One is Lord; Jesus Christ, to the Glory of God, the Father." These are the exact words of the Hymn we hear before Holy Communion. (page 36 in our Liturgy books). This manifested his deep belief in God, and he gave it substance when in 330 A.D. he declared Christianity as the official State Religion! Having taken these revolutionary steps at that time, and witnessing the great surge of the new Faith he was tremendously influenced and asked to be baptized. At the Baptism, he forsook the royal crimson robes, preferring to wear the white tunic, in which he was baptized. His humility and piety, chiefly attributed to his mother St. Helena, inspired him to confer upon his mother the high title of Augusta, that is, the Empress of the Byzantine Empire. Her most notable act was the realization of her dream to discover the Holy Cross buried by the ages. The Holy Cross speaks loudly to all of us. It reminds us that while we are sinners, we are more importantly God's creation, Who fashioned us in His Image and Likeness. The Cross also speaks loudly of forgiveness, because we were forgiven, cleansed and saved by the Precious Blood of our Lord, which ran profusely down the Lord's Cross on Golgotha. The Lord's Blood is the Divine Grace given to the Faithful through the Holy Sacraments. The Cross is our greatest symbol. Making the sign of the Cross, we express that, in which we believe. Clutching together the 2 forefingers and the thumb we symbolize the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three distinct Personalities, yet One God. The remaining two fingers clutched in the palm of our hand symbolize Christ the God, and Christ the Man. Thus, with our 5 fingers we express the basic Theology of all Christianity. When we bless ourselves, inwardly we say: "In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." In place of the Antidoron today, which you may take leaving the Church, the Priest will hold the Cross for all to kiss, and he will hand you a twig of the Vasiliko, or sweet basil to take home with you to connect you with St. Helena and consider it a special blessing in your life. + Fr. George Papadeas
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