On September 14, Catholic Christians and parishioners of most of the Eastern churches celebrate one of the 12 great holidays – Exaltation of the Holy Cross of the Lord. It is celebrated in memory of the discovery of the cross on which the Son of God was executed. The term “exaltation” is interpreted as “exaltation” – a rite of glorification of the found shrine.

The history of the Church tells that the establishment of this holiday was influenced by two events: the discovery of the Cross itself, dated to the 4th century, and its return to Jerusalem from the Persian lands in the 7th century. According to legend, the Cross was found on Mount Calvary near Jerusalem in 326 by Queen Helena, the mother of Constantine, who became the first Christian emperor. The shrine lay underground, where the Romans buried bodies and instruments of torture, for almost 300 years. Patriarch Macarius raised the Cross, or rather, its fragment, over the believers who came to Calvary. The piece of wood became not only a symbol of Christ’s suffering and the end of his earthly life, but also a personification of the Church itself, which has suffered so much contempt, wandering, torture and prohibitions. The Cross raised to the sky became a symbol of the victory of the Christian faith, the triumph of faith over persecution, the triumph of God over all enemies.