WE WORSHIP YOUR CROSS, LORD…

On April 2, on the eve of the Week of Great Lent, the All-Night Vigil in the Holy Trinity Church in Balakovo was celebrated by priest Alexander Kuzmenko.

On Saturday of the third week of Great Lent, in all Orthodox churches, during the All-Night Vigil, the Cross is brought out of the altar into the middle of the church, which is worshiped by clergy and parishioners. The veneration of the Cross of the Lord is intended to remind believers that the path to the Resurrection lies precisely through the cross and the salvation of the soul is impossible without a struggle with sins and passions, without sorrows and suffering. The Cross is taken back to the altar on Friday of the fourth week of Great Lent. That is why the whole week is called the Adoration of the Cross.

After the Great Doxology, the priest performed the rite of carrying out the Holy and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord for veneration.

“The Cross is the guardian of the entire universe, the Cross is the beauty of the Church, the Cross is the power of kings, the Cross is the strengthening of believers, the Cross is the glory of angels and the plague of demons.” This is how one of the church hymns explains the meaning of the Cross for the whole world. “With the cane of the Cross, having dipped it in the red ink of Your blood, You, Lord, royally signed for us the forgiveness of sins”- says one of the verses of the holiday.

GREAT SERMON

Today, having carried the Holy Cross into the middle of the church, we remember with reverence and prayer the feat of the Cross of the Savior. It is no coincidence that it is in the middle of Great Lent that the Holy Church directs our gaze to the Cross of the Lord - so that the remembrance of the sufferings of the Savior would give us courage and strength.

Every person in his life is faced with trials, injustice. Each person suffers, one - more, another - less. And very many at the moment of suffering grumble at God, asking: “Well, why, Lord, did I have such a hard fate?”. The remembrance of the Cross should help us understand that if God Himself endured human untruth, envy, slander, beatings, torture, death, if He experienced such cruel suffering, being absolutely innocent and sinless, He drank the bitterest cup that one can drink on this earth, it means that there is a great meaning in suffering. The meaning of the sufferings of the Savior is that they atoned for human sins, His torments on the Cross opened the doors to eternity for us.

That is why it is impossible to grumble at God when we also have to suffer. It is impossible to grumble at the One Who drank the cup of the most grievous suffering. After all, we do not grumble at people who suffer more in this life than we do - we, as they say, will not turn our tongues. Moreover, our thought should not rise up against God, so that we would not offend Him with our murmuring. But on the contrary, as St. Tikhon of Zadonsk said: “We must admit from the heart that God does great mercy on us when he punishes us with the rod of the father, although this is sad for our weak flesh. For whom the Lord loves, he chastens (Heb. 12:6). Therefore, do not grumble, but thank Him for this.”

The Cross of Christ teaches us to accept suffering with humility. Of course, it is impossible to pretend that nothing is happening when life strikes painful blows, but they should not break our will, destroy our personality and life. We must turn everything to good: failures in life, and illnesses, and sorrows that God sends us, remembering that if the Lord deigned to suffer for the sake of saving people, then our sorrows have a saving meaning for us. The strength of a Christian lies primarily in the fact that, trusting in the will of God, trusting the Lord, he is able to steadfastly and without grumbling overcome pain and suffering, and therefore, be internally strong and invincible.

The Savior, looking at us from the Cross, calls everyone, following His example, not to turn away from their own cross, but to bear it in such a way that this cross-bearing opens the doors of salvation for us, makes us stronger, wiser, and spiritually elevated. All this is possible through a Christian attitude towards the cross, one's own sorrows and sufferings. The Lord gives us not only an example, but also strength. When, from the depths of misfortune that has befallen us, we turn our eyes to Him, our fervent prayer, then in response to it, God gives strength to overcome trials, stopping our cross-bearing when it exceeds our strength and capabilities.

May the Lord help us all in the ability to carry our life's cross, become stronger under its weight, rise spiritually, grow in faith, thereby opening the doors of salvation, which are not locked for anyone, for so that we can enter these doors . The Lord took upon Himself the suffering on the cross and a cruel death. By the power of God, may we find strength in carrying our life's cross.

The Life-Giving Cross of the Lord is solemnly brought to the center of the temple - a reminder of the approaching Holy Week and Easter of Christ. After that, the priests and parishioners of the temple make three bows before the cross. When venerating the Cross, the Church sings: “We worship Thy Cross, Master, and glorify Thy holy Resurrection.” This chant is also sung at the Liturgy instead of the Trisagion.

The cross is carried out by believers in order to inspire and strengthen those who are fasting to continue the feat of fasting with a reminder of the sufferings and death of the Lord.

The Holy Cross remains for worship for a week until Friday, when it is brought back to the altar before. Therefore, the third Sunday and the fourth week of Great Lent are called "worshiping the Cross." The beginning of the tradition of worshiping the Cross of the Lord was laid in the time of the first Christians.

Chants: Choir of the Orthodox Brotherhood in the name of the Archangel Michael.
Troparion to the Cross [ ]

Choir of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra and MDA: Rejoice, Life-Giving Cross [ ].

Sermon on Holy Cross Week.
Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh

Source: Library "Metropolitan of Surozh
Anthony"

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Four times a year we celebrate, we worship the life-giving and terrible
Cross of the Lord. Once - during Holy Week, when, reading the Gospels
Passion, we see how the holy Crucifix, the Cross, rises before us
whom the Lord died so that we might receive new life. Celebrate for the second time
we are the day of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, when we remember how the Cross was
found and how people, for the first time after over three centuries, could see that Cross, on
whom the Lord died, to touch him as a shrine, to kiss him with trembling and
love. We also celebrate the origin of the Honest Trees, when the same Cross,
rather, a small particle of it, carried around in an infected with a mortal infection
Constantinople, returned the city to health, to life, to hope, and renewed faith in
Cross, in the mercy and love of the Lord. And today, in the middle of Lent, we worship
the life-giving Cross of the Lord.

Each of these holidays bears the stamp of that time or that meaning,
with which it is done. We stand with horror before the Crucifixion in the Great
Thursday, with amazement and gratitude, we jubilantly make the Exaltation and
Origin of the Honest Trees. With what feeling do we begin today
worship of the Cross of the Lord?

This worship takes place halfway between the start of Lent and Passion
week. What does this cross tell us? This whole period of time tells us about
how Divine grace, Divine love, Divine power can
transform each of us, sanctify each of us, give each one a new life,
eternal life, as happened to thousands and thousands, millions of people before us,
glorified saints and saints unknown to us. The cross tells us now about
immeasurable, about the amazing love of God. After all, God became a man and took on
Himself death for the love of us, that by His death we might be saved from the despair of sin
and from the despair of death. He took everything human upon Himself, except for sin, and bore everything
on His fragile and mighty human shoulders. The cross tells us that we are
so loved by God that the Lord is ready to die, if only we would live, if only we
revived from sinful death. Being so loved, can't we these days
Lent, spiritual spring, really rejoice and rejoice? We can and therefore
yesterday it was sung at the canon - not with such glory as it will be sung on Easter night,
but with a quiet, jubilant hope - the Paschal canon about the Resurrection of the Lord. This
life is not death. The cross is revealed to us now as hope, as confidence in
God's love and in His victory, as the assurance that we are so loved that all
perhaps we can hope for everything. How wonderful it is to know that we are so
roads!

But the Cross speaks to us and gospel reading and about something else. He says that
in order to live this life, this new life, this eternal life, God's
own life, you need to reconsider everything. There are words in the gospel
Christ to us: “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, let him take up the cross
his own, and let him come after me." If anyone wants to follow Me into eternity, into triumph
life, into the realm of love, he must follow Me already now, on earth. A
to follow Christ means to enter into a new life, into a life where God and
my neighbor is dearer to me than my own life, dearer than myself. It starts with
that, having understood the preciousness of God and the preciousness of my neighbor, I
I can really turn away from myself, reject myself, reject myself, saying to myself:
get out of my way, my concern is not about you, there are things more holy, more
beautiful than myself.

And having said this, we take upon ourselves the gradual dying, the gradual rejection
myself. Renunciation of oneself means, in the end, learning to love, and to love,
it means forgetting yourself to the end, not existing for yourself. This is what it means to die
in order to live a different life, which has no boundaries, the depth of which
bottomless. And the cross that we must bear is love, care for our neighbor,
anxiety about him, concern that God's will be done in his life,
those. so that eternal life, eternal joy, jubilation and
triumph.

And the Cross tells us one more thing: that all earthly, our ordinary,
conventional judgments are false. In yesterday's service, a passage was read, a prayer where
It says that Christ was crucified between two thieves. Do you remember,
how one of the robbers reviled Him, and the other, looking at His dying, knowing who
dies, i.e. an innocent man, as he then saw him, turned to him with
prayer for salvation. The first, seeing how human untruth condemned to death
innocent, rejected every human judgment, every false human
justice, and was troubled in spirit, rebelled to the end, and began to blaspheme and
God Himself, Who can allow such an untruth. And the other, seeing that
The innocent perishes, he realized that he was justly condemned, that if the innocent can
perish, then of course, the guilty person deserves punishment and death. And he turned to
this Innocent One, and begged him for mercy and salvation; and this salvation, this grace
God promised him and gave him. Indeed, truly, the penitent thief in the same
day was with his Savior in paradise.

That's what the Cross tells us, that's why we can worship it today
Cross halfway to Easter, not with a wounded soul, not with horror, but with such a bright
hope. But, along with this, why should we spend the last weeks of Lent
thoughtfully, reconsider life once again, pronounce a new judgment on all values
ours, over all our estimates, and enter into the gospel way. So that when we
we will stand on Passion Days before the horror of the Passion of the Cross, we could, together with
Christ to walk this path, and not just be spectators, seized with horror, and
could be with Him in the jubilation of victory and in the horror of worshiping such an incomprehensible
Divine love. Amen!

The third Sunday is called Week of the Cross. Its name comes from the fact that on Saturday evening, according to a special order, veneration of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord which has become for us " tree of life”and opened the entrance to the blessed heavenly Fatherland lost by the primordial man. Remembering the sufferings on the Cross that the Lord endured for the sake of our salvation, we must ourselves be strengthened in spirit and continue our fasting feat with humility and patience.

The History of the Establishment of the Week of the Cross

“On the same day, on the third week of Lent, we celebrate the worship of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross, for the sake of guilt. After all, for the sake of a fourty-day fast, in some way we are crucified, we kill from passions, but the feeling of imam’s grief is despondent and falling. The Honest and Life-Giving Cross is offered, as if resting and affirming us, remembering the passions of our Lord Jesus Christ and consoling. If our God is crucified for us, how much we owe Him for the sake of the work.

... It’s like a long and sharp path passing, and aggravated by labor, if where the tree is blessed and leafy, they rest a little, so now in fasting time and a regrettable path and feat, planted in the midst of the God-bearing father, the Life-Giving Cross, I will weaken and give us peace but the fit and easy to the forework of those who have labored, arranging.
… Before the bitter spring is like the Holy Fourteenth Day, for the sake of contrition and existing to us from the fast of sorrow and sorrow. As if on this Wednesday, the divine Moses put the tree and sweeten it, so God, having led us through the smart Red Sea and the pharaoh, delights sorrow and sorrow with the Life-Giving Tree of the Cross, even from the fourty-day fast. And comforting us, as if we were in the wilderness, until the clever Jerusalem will lead us up with His resurrection "( Lenten triode, synoxarion on the Sunday of the Cross ).

The Gospels do not provide much detail about the cross on which Christ was crucified. The acquisition of the Cross of the Lord took place in 326, when it was found Holy Empress Helena during her pilgrimage to Jerusalem:

... the divine Constantine sent blessed Helen with treasures to find the life-giving cross of the Lord. The Jerusalem Patriarch Macarius met the queen with due honor and together with her searched for the longed-for life-giving tree, being in silence and diligent prayers and fasts. (“Chronography” by Theophanes, year 5817 (324/325))

The history of finding the Cross of the Lord is described by many authors of that time: Ambrose of Milan (c. 340-397), Rufinus (345-410), Socrates Scholastic (c. 380-440), Theodoret of Cyrus (386-457 .), Sulpicius Severus (c. 363-410), Sozomen (c. 400-450).

Finding the Life-Giving Cross by Elena in Jerusalem. Agnolo Gaddi, 1380

For the first time in surviving texts, a detailed history of the acquisition of the Cross appears in Ambrose of Milan in 395. In The Word on the Death of Theodosius, he tells how Empress Elena ordered to dig on Golgotha ​​and found three crosses there. According to the inscription " Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” she found the true Cross and worshiped him. She also found the nails with which the Lord was crucified. All the few indications of historians closest in time to the search boil down to the fact that the crosses were found not far from the Holy Sepulcher, but not in the Sepulcher itself. There was a possibility that all three crosses used in the execution that day could have been buried close to the place of the crucifixion. Sozomen in his work puts forward the following assumption about the possible fate of the Cross after the removal of the body of Jesus Christ from it:

The soldiers, as the story tells, first found Jesus Christ dead on the cross and, having removed Him, gave him away for burial; then, intending to hasten the death of the robbers crucified on both sides of it, they broke their legs, and the crosses themselves were thrown one by one, at random.

Eusebius of Caesarea describes the site as follows:

This salvific cave some atheists and wicked have conceived to hide from the eyes of people, with the insane intention to hide the truth through it. Having used a lot of labor, they brought land from somewhere and filled up the whole place with it. Then, having raised the mound to a certain height, they paved it with stone, and under this high mound they hid the divine cave. Having finished such work, they only had to prepare a strange, truly tomb of souls on the surface of the earth, and they built a gloomy dwelling for dead idols, a hiding place for the demon of voluptuousness Aphrodite, where hateful sacrifices were offered on unclean and vile altars. (Eusebius of Caesarea, Life of Constantine. III, 36)

The place of finding the Cross is located in the aisle of the Finding the Cross of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem, in a former quarry. The place of discovery is marked with a red marble slab with the image of a cross, the slab is surrounded by a metal fence on three sides, and the Cross was kept here for the first time. 22 metal steps lead down from the underground Armenian church of St. Helena to the chapel of the Finding of the Cross, this is the lowest and easternmost point of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher - two floors down from the main level. In the aisle of Finding the Cross, under the ceiling near the descent, there is a window marking the place from which Elena watched the progress of the excavations and threw money to encourage those who worked. This window connects the chapel with the altar of the church of St. Helena. Socrates Scholasticus writes that Empress Helen divided the Life-Giving Cross into two parts: she placed one in a silver vault and left it in Jerusalem, and sent the second to her son Constantine, who placed it in his statue, mounted on a column in the center of Constantine Square. Socrates reports that this information is known to him from the conversations of the inhabitants of Constantinople, that is, it may be unreliable. The part of the Cross that remained in Jerusalem was there for a long time, and the faithful worshiped the honest tree. In 614, Jerusalem was besieged by the Persian ruler Khosra II. After a long siege, the Persians managed to capture the city. The invaders took out the Tree of the Life-Giving Cross, which had been kept in the city since the time it was acquired by Equal-to-the-Apostles Helen. The war continued for many more years. Having united with the Avars and Slavs, the Persian king almost captured Constantinople. Only the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos saved the Byzantine capital. The Persians were defeated. The Cross of the Lord was returned to Jerusalem. Since then, the day of this joyful event has been celebrated annually.

During that period, the order of Lenten church services has not yet been finally established and some changes are constantly being made to it. In particular, he practiced transfer of holidays that happened on the weekdays of Great Lent to Saturday and Sunday. This made it possible not to violate the strictness of the fast on weekdays. The same thing happened with the feast of the Life-Giving Cross. It was decided to celebrate it on the third Sunday of Great Lent.. On the same days, it was customary to begin the preparation of the catechumens, whose sacrament of baptism was scheduled for. It was considered correct to begin instruction in the faith with worship of the Cross of the Lord. This tradition continued until the 13th century, when Jerusalem was conquered by the crusaders. Since then, the further fate of the shrine is unknown. Only individual particles of the Cross are found in some reliquaries.

Divine Liturgy on Holy Cross Week. Troparion and kontakion

On Matins on the Week of the Cross, after the Great Doxology, the priest takes the Cross out of the altar. When singing the troparion "Save 22 gD and people yours ..." The cross relies on the lectern in the center of the temple. “We worship Your Cross, Vladyka…”, the priest proclaims and bows to the ground. After the clergy, they approach the lectern in pairs and all the worshipers, first male, then female, bow and kiss the Cross, while the choir sings special stichera dedicated to the expiatory sufferings of Christ the Savior.

R aduisz life-giving flowers, churches of red paradise2, an imperishable tree, a pleasure that has given us eternal glory. and 4 even demons tgonsutsz poltsy2, and 3 flattering merry ranks, and 3 cumulative 1nіz faithful are celebrating. weapons are invincible, affirmation is indestructible. цRє1мъ victory, with ™lємъ praise2. hrt0 you nhne strti, and 3 wait for us to reach, and 3 great misfortune. (Lenten triode, stichera on Holy Week)

In a similar way, the veneration of the Cross of the Lord is performed two more times a year - on the first day of the Dormition Fast (August 14, New Style), when the “Origin of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord” is celebrated, and on the twelfth feast (September 27, New Style). On the week of the Adoration of the Cross, the fourth week of Great Lent, during the daily service, the veneration of the Cross is also on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, a special rite during the reading of the hours.

Troparion, tone 1.

With the help of 22 gD and people svoS, and 3 bless2 dignified svoE, victory to the power of the Russians on resistance, grant, and 3 svoS save krt0m people.

Kontakion, tone 7.

No one else, the fiery spirit, keeps the gates of the demons. so find the glorious intuition, the tree of death, the mortal sting, and destroy the 3-year-old victory. came more є3si2 sp7se my0y, vopiS existing in ѓde, enter the packs into paradise.

Folk Traditions of the Week of the Cross

In Rus', on Wednesday of the Week of the Cross, it was customary in all peasant houses to bake crosses from unleavened wheat dough according to the number of family members. In the crosses, either a chicken feather was baked, “so that the chickens were led,” or rye grain, “so that bread was born,” or, finally, human hair, “so that the head was easier.” Anyone who came across a cross with one of these items was considered lucky.

On the Wednesday of the week of the Adoration of the Cross, the fast “breaks”, and small children went under the windows to congratulate the hosts on the end of the first half of the fast. In some areas, this custom of congratulations was expressed in a very original form: the congratulatory children were planted, like chickens, under a large basket, from where they sang in thin voices: “ Hello, the owner is a red sun, hello, the hostess is a bright moon, hello, children are bright stars! ... Half of the shit broke, and the other bent". It was customary to douse the simple-hearted congratulatory children with water, and then, as if as a reward for the fear they had suffered, they were given crosses made of dough.

Iconography of the Week of the Cross

As usual, the crucified Christ is depicted on the cross. Below, under the feet of the Savior, a foot is depicted, on the upper part of the cross there is a board with the inscription of the initial letters of Pilate's inscription "Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews" (I.N.Ts.I) or the inscription "Jesus Christ". On large temple images, crucifixes are depicted on both sides of the cross. Holy Mother of God and the Apostle John the Theologian, who, according to the Gospel, stood at the very cross during the execution. The icon "Adoration of the Cross" depicts a cross surrounded by heavenly powers.

Worship of the Cross. Double-sided remote icon. The reverse of the icon is “The Savior Not Made by Hands”. Novgorod, second half of the 12th century. Moscow, GTG

Old Believer icon-case crucifix with selected holidays
Icon of the Crucifixion with the coming. Novgorod, 16th century
Modern Icon Adoration of the Cross

Churches dedicated to the Cross of the Lord

In Jerusalem, on the site where, according to legend, the tree of the Cross grew, a monastery was founded. Monastery of the Holy Cross and its location are mentioned in many traditions and legends. According to one of the legends, the time of the creation of the monastery is the period of the reign of the Byzantine emperor Constantine the Great and his mother Helen, that is, the 4th century AD. e. According to another legend, the monastery was founded in the 5th century. And this event is associated with Tatian, the king of Iberia (Georgia). It is believed that Tatian, king of Iberia (Georgia), made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and decided to build an Iberian monastery west of Jerusalem, on land that Constantine the Great had granted to Mirian, another Iberian king. According to the third legend, the monastery was built during the reign of Emperor Heraclius (610-641). Returning with a victory from the Persian campaign, Heraclius camped at the place where the monastery is now located. This place was revered due to the fact that the Cross tree grew there - the tree from which the Cross of Christ was made. The Holy Cross itself, which Heraclius returned from Persia to the Holy Land, was erected on Golgotha. Heraclius also ordered to build a monastery on the chosen place.

Monastery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem

In the city of Aparan, Aragatsotn region of Armenia, there are Church of the Holy Cross. It was built at the end of the 4th century. In 1877 the temple was restored. Belongs to the Armenian Apostolic Church

Church of the Holy Cross in Aparan, Armenia

Also on the island of Akhtamar (Türkiye) there is an early medieval Armenian Monastery of the Holy Cross. Built in 915-921.

Monastery of the Holy Cross on the island of Akhtamar (Türkiye)

Soulful teaching on the week of the Adoration of the Cross

The Cross of the Lord is a sign of victory over death and the forces of hell, the royal banner of Christ God, preceding His glorious appearance in the Holy Resurrection, as it is said in the Synoxar of the Week of the Cross. The Cross is our shield and weapon in the fight against invisible enemies and our own spiritual and bodily passions and vices; in it we find true spiritual strength and strength when we strive to follow our Savior. Honoring the Cross and the sufferings of the Lord, we shed sorrowful and joyful tears at the same time, in the hope of our inner renewal and resurrection, which would have been impossible without the Great Sacred Sacrifice that took place two thousand years ago on Golgotha.

If the Sinless Lord Himself endured and suffered so much in His Most Pure Flesh for the sake of our salvation, then all the more we, sinful people, defiled by passions and vices, must suffer and endure, humble carnal whims and desires for the sake of purification and enlightenment of the immortal soul.

The Christian religion is a "Crusade" religion, as the apostle Paul says: “For the sake of Christ, it has been given to you not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him”(Phil. 1, 29). AND "We must through many tribulations enter into the Kingdom of God"(Acts 14:22). Carry your own cross, i.e. to crucify bodily lusts and desires is a narrow and narrow way of salvation for every Christian. Worshiping the Holy Cross of the Lord and “looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of the faith, who endured the cross instead of the joy that was set before him”(Heb. 12:2), we are encouraged in spirit and gain courage for achievement, in order to reject self-conceit and pride and patiently follow in the footsteps of the holy fathers, who have left us a worthy image and example to follow. The fact that sorrows and patience are really necessary for inner self-education and spiritual growth is also indicated by many instructive teachings, instructing us on the path of virtue and perfection.

“... Without suffering and inconvenience, it is impossible for anyone to be saved, O my soul. What shall I say to you about the Creator Himself of heaven and earth, of all creation, visible and invisible?! Desiring to save the human race from enslavement to the devil and hellish dungeons, to save our forefather Adam from the curse and crime, God became a man, incarnated from the Holy Spirit. The Father sent His Son - the Word into the Blessed Virgin and was born without a male seed. And the Invisible became visible. And stayed with people. And he accepted reproach, dishonor, spitting and beatings on His most pure face from a mortal person. And he was crucified on the Cross, and struck on the head with a cane, and having tasted vinegar and gall, was pierced in the ribs with a spear, and put to death, and laid in a tomb. And rose again on the third day by His power. O great miracle, surprising both to the angel and to people: the Immortal wanted to die, not wanting to see how the creation of His hands is tormented by the violence of the devil in hellish imprisonment!
Oh, your utmost meekness and inexpressible love of mankind to our impoverishment and orphanhood! Oh, the terrible and marvelous sight of Your longsuffering, O Lord! My mind is terrified and great fear attacks me, and my bones tremble when I speak of this. The Creator of all invisible and visible creation - but from His creation He wanted to suffer, from corruptible man! And the angels are horrified before Him, and all the powers of heaven incessantly glorify their Creator, and all creation sings and serves with fear, while the demons tremble. And so he endures all this, and suffers: not from impotence, not from subordination, but by His will, ours for the sake of salvation, showing us an example of humility and suffering in everything, so that they also suffer, as He suffered, which my soul heard about ” ("Flower Garden" of the Holy Monk Dorotheus ).

At the Sunday Liturgy on the week of the Cross read Gospel of Mark(start 37), in which the Lord speaks of the path of self-denial for the sake of the eternal salvation of the soul. Blissful Theophylact of Bulgaria deeply and instructively reveals to us the meaning of this church gospel Word.

And calling the people together with His disciples, He said to them: Whoever wants to follow Me, deny yourself, and take up your cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his soul will lose it; but whoever loses his soul for the sake of Me and the Gospel, he will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? (Mark 8:34-37)

Evangelist Mark. Hallmark of the Royal Doors

Since Peter rebuked Christ, who wanted to give Himself up to be crucified, Christ calls the people and speaks publicly, directing speech mainly against Peter: “You do not approve of the fact that I take up the cross, but I tell you that neither you nor anyone else you will not be saved unless you die for virtue and truth.” Note that the Lord did not say: “He who does not want to die also die,” but he who does. I, as it were, do not force anyone. I call not for evil, but for good, and therefore whoever does not want is not worthy of this. What does it mean to deny yourself? We will understand this when we learn what it means to reject another someone. Whoever rejects someone else, whether his father, brother, or someone from his household, even though he watched how he was beaten or killed, does not pay attention and does not sympathize, having become a stranger to him. So the Lord commands us, that we, for His sake, despise our body and do not spare it, even if they beat or reproach us. Take up your cross, it is said, that is, a shameful death, for the cross was then revered as an instrument of shameful execution. And since many thieves were also crucified, he adds that with the crucifixion there must be other virtues, for this is signified by the words: and follow me. Since the command to put oneself to death would seem heavy and cruel, the Lord says that, on the contrary, it is very philanthropic, for whoever loses, that is, destroys his soul, but for My sake, and not like a thief executed or a suicide (in this case death will not be for Me), he, he says, will save - he will find his soul, while he who thinks to save his soul will destroy it if he does not stand during the torment. Do not tell Me that this last one will save his life, for even if he gains the whole world, everything is useless. Salvation cannot be bought by any wealth. Otherwise: he who gained the whole world, but destroyed his soul, would have given everything when he was burning in the flame, and thus would have been redeemed. But such a redemption is not possible there. Here the mouths of those who, following Origen, say that the state of souls will change for the better after they are punished in proportion to their sins, are blocked. Yes, they hear that there is no way to give a ransom for the soul and suffer only to the extent necessary, as if to satisfy for sins.

For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. (Mark 8:38)

Inner faith alone is not enough: the confession of the mouth is also required. For as man is twofold, so must sanctification be twofold, that is, the sanctification of the soul through faith and sanctification of the body through confession. So, whoever is ashamed to confess the Crucified by his God, he will also be ashamed, recognize him as an unworthy servant of his, when he comes no longer in a humble form, not in humiliation, in which he appeared here before and for which some are ashamed of him, but in glory and with the host of angels » (Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria, commentary on the Gospel of Mark, ch. 8, 34-38).

The word about the Cross is foolishness for those who are perishing, but for us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18).

It may seem hard and strange for a modern person to listen to edifications about abstinence and “subjugation of the flesh to the spirit”, about various self-restraints and even some (however, moderate and reasonable) exhaustion of the flesh. The Holy Fathers point out that the root of such an opinion and reasoning lies in our voluptuousness and pity for ourselves, our favorite habits, when the Church Charter sets clear limits and norms of behavior in the life of a Christian, and the inner decrepit “I”, according to carnal wisdom, begins to object and ask "why?"

That is, why fasting, prostrations, a long prayer rule? Is there not here a kind of ostentatious ritual action, the so-called "ritual belief", which has a clearly defined external form and is devoid of any internal spiritual content? But only ignorant people can speak and think like that, who themselves have not yet tasted precisely that spiritual, quiet joy that is given to us after trials, after sorrows and deeds that enlighten the eyes of the heart for pure and concentrated prayer. When we bow to the ground, we confess our fall into sin and humility before God, the consciousness of our unworthiness, we remember that we ourselves are dust, and to dust we will return. And when we rise from prostration, it is as if we simultaneously rise in soul to a better and new life, which we find in the observance of Christian commandments. What is difficult to explain in words, a person himself easily understands when he learns the corresponding life experience.

The Cross and Resurrection of the Savior reveal to us the highest heavenly secrets, incomprehensible to any learned philosophy, because they teach not earthly sciences, but the true path of virtue, which alone leads to the Eternal Heavenly Fatherland. For, as the holy fathers say: “There are many so-called wisdoms on earth, but all on earth will remain. Wisdom is deeper than all - to save one's soul, because it raises the soul to heaven in the Kingdom of Heaven and places it before God ”(“ Flower Garden ”by the monk Dorotheus). The strength and wisdom of Christianity is the Cross of the Lord, worshiping which we hope to reach the day of Easter, where we will find a worthy reward for the endured ascetic labors and hardships.

In addition to the general guidance for fasting and repentance, Holy Fortecost also gives special guidance in the sacred remembrances associated with certain days of Fortecost. In its first half, it encourages the feat of fasting and repentance, mainly by showing the high dignity of the feat, and from the fourth week - the Adoration of the Cross - it strengthens the believers in the feat with high examples of asceticism and patience.

THE FIRST WEEK AND THE FIRST WEEK OF GREAT LENT

The first week is distinguished by the special severity of the fast, for it is most fitting to have the greatest zeal for the exploits of piety at the beginning of the exploits. In accordance with this, in the first week he performs divine services longer than in the following days. On the first two days of Lent, for those who can, a meal is not supplied at all.

From Monday to Thursday, the Great Canon of the saint is read at Great Compline. Numerous images of fasting and repentance are collected and presented in the canon, many examples from the Old and New Testaments are given in relation to the moral state of the soul of a sinner who mourns over his sins. The canon is called great, both by the many thoughts and memories contained in it, and by the number of troparions contained in it (about 250, while in ordinary canons there are about 30 of them). Compline of the first four days of the first week is called the "Little Stand" in contrast to the "Andreev or Mary's Stand" on the 5th week and the Great Stand on Great Heel.

These Compline are also called "mephimons" (Greek - "with us"), because at these Compline the song "God is with us" is sung. The outward difference of the Great Canon of the saint from other canons is that it has all 9 cantos (including also 2 cantos), and the refrain "Have mercy on me, God, have mercy on me" is attached to each troparion. On Wednesday and Thursday, several troparia are added to the penitential canon in honor of Reverend Mary Egyptian, ascended from a deep fall to high piety. Subsequently, troparia were added to this canon in honor of its creator, the saint.

On Monday or Tuesday of the first week, after Matins or after hours, a priest in an stole reads to his parishioners in the church “Prayers at the beginning of the Lent of Holy Forty Days,” set forth in the Treasury.

At Matins on Saturday, a canon in honor of St. Theodore, compiled by John, Metropolitan of Euchait, is sung.

If on Monday of the first week the Meeting of the Lord, a temple feast or the Finding of the head of John the Baptist happens, then their service is performed on Forgiveness Sunday.

If the Finding of the head of John the Baptist and the temple feast happen between Tuesday and Friday of the first week, then the service of the Forerunner is performed either on Forgiveness Sunday or on Saturday of the 1st week of Lent, and the church on Saturday of the first week.

The first Week of Great Lent is also called the Week of Orthodoxy, according to the triumph of Orthodoxy, which takes place on this day, established in Greece in the first half of the 9th century in memory of the triumph of Orthodox Church over all the heresies that revolted, and especially over the last of them - the iconoclast, condemned at the VII Ecumenical Council in 787. On this Week, a special service is celebrated, called the rite of Orthodoxy. This order was compiled in the middle of the 9th century by Saint Methodius, Patriarch of Constantinople.

From Greece, the rite of the Triumph of Orthodoxy passed into Russian. The victory of Orthodoxy in the Greek Church itself was originally celebrated on the first Week of Great Lent. Thus, the basis for the celebration on this day of the triumph of Orthodoxy has deep historical roots. With this triumph, he bestows high consolation on those who pass through the feat of fasting, showing proof of the living communion of each of us in faith and life with the entire Church, and lays the foundation for prayerful intercession for all before God. The triumph of Orthodoxy affirms and strengthens believers in the right faith, which has been continuously and invariably preserved from the time of the apostles and has to be preserved in purity until the end of the world according to the promise of the Lord ().

SECOND WEEK AND SECOND WEEK OF GREAT LENT

On Saturday of the second week, as well as on Saturdays of the 3rd and 4th weeks of Lent, a funeral service is performed. The features of the service this Saturday are as follows:

At Great Compline (Friday evening) on ​​the first Trisagion - the troparia of the day: "Apostles, martyrs and prophets." In the 3rd part of Compline, after the canon and the third Trisagion, there is a kontakion "Rest with the saints."

At Matins, instead of "God is the Lord" - "Alleluia" and the troparia "Apostles, martyrs and prophets." Then 16 kathisma with the usual "glories", a sedal and a litany at the end, and 17 kathisma ("Immaculate"), divided into two articles. Chorus to the first article: "Blessed be Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy justification," and to the second: "Save me, save me." Between the articles is a litany for the dead.

At the end of 17 kathismas, troparia for the Immaculate are immediately sung: “Holy Faces” with the refrain: “Blessed be Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy justification”, after which there is a funeral litany and saddle: “Peace, our Savior”; then, according to the 50th psalm - the canon (without reading the prayer: "Save, O God, Thy people").

Canons at Matins are sung to the temple, according to the Menaion and Triodion. Starting from the 6th ode, when the quatrain begins, the canon is left to the temple. The troparions of the canons (of all songs) are read in conjunction with the verses of Holy Scripture. Songs from the Holy Scriptures are chanted before the troparia of the canons, starting from the 6th song and up to the irmos. The end of Matins is the same as that of a regular (not Lenten) Saturday Matins.

On all Fridays of Holy Lent at Compline, as well as on all Saturdays and Sundays at morning and evening services, great prostrations are not due until Vespers on Sunday, that is, until evening.

The second week and the second Week of Great Lent are called the week and the Week of light-giving fasts, during which he prays to the Lord for the grace-filled illumination of the fasting and penitent. In the divine service of this week and this Week, lamenting the sinful state of man, he points to fasting as a means to grace-filled inner illumination, prompting Christians to new feats of fasting.

The Orthodox teaching about fasting as a means to grace-filled illumination is revealed with special force in the second Week - the Week of the saint, the Archbishop of Thessalonite (XIV century). Saint Gregory, being a great ascetic of Mount Athos, is also known as the defender of Orthodoxy and the exposer of the heresy of Barlaam, a Calabrian monk who rejected the Orthodox teaching about the blessed Light that illuminates inner man and sometimes opening visibly (for example, on Tabor and Sinai). Varlaam did not allow the possibility of achieving such insight through prayer, fasting, and other deeds of self-sacrifice. At the Council in Constantinople convened to judge these issues in 1341, the saint, called the son of the Divine Light, denounced the heretics and defended the doctrine of the Divine Light, uncreated, everlasting, with which the Lord shone on Tabor and with which the ascetics who have reached the heights of holiness through prayer and fasting are illumined .

The church service in honor of the saint and his life were compiled in the 14th century by the Patriarch of Constantinople (1362–1365), and the canon by the Patriarch of Constantinople (15th century).

THIRD WEEK OF GREAT LENT (CROSS)

The Feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem belongs to the Twelve Feasts, but has neither a fore-feast nor an after-feast, as it is surrounded by the days of Lent and Passion Week.

The Feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem does not have pre-feast days, as days with a special and more solemn service, however, the service of the entire previous week of Vaii, starting from Monday, in many stichera and troparia is dedicated to the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem and, thus, the entire week preceding the feast serves preparing the faithful for the feast itself.

All the following of the service in the Week of Vaii is performed according to Triodion, except for the case when the Annunciation or a temple holiday falls on this day, in which case the services of these holidays are combined.

The features of the worship of the Week of Vaii are as follows:

On the Week of Vaii, two troparions are sung: the first is “Common Sunday” (see above - on Lazarus Saturday); second (ch. 4):

Buried in Thee by Baptism, Christ our God, let us be blessed with immortal life by Thy Resurrection, and we hymnly call: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord.

After the polyeleos, the magnificence is sung: “We magnify Thee, O Christ the Life-giver, Hosanna in the highest, and we cry to Thee: Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord.”

The troparions "Angelic Cathedral" are not sung.

The degrees are sung not in ordinary, but in the fourth voice, 1 antiphon "From my youth." Prokimen and the Gospel - only for the holiday.

After the Gospel, “Seeing the Resurrection of Christ” is not sung, but Psalm 50 is immediately read and the vai is consecrated. During the reading of Psalm 50, the priest with the deacon perform a three-time incense around the vay. After Psalm 50, the deacon proclaims: "Let us pray to the Lord." Chorus: "Lord, have mercy."

The priest reads a prayer for the blessing of the vay: "Lord our God." After reading the prayer, the priest sprinkles the vay three times, saying: “This vay is sanctified by the grace of the Most Holy Spirit by sprinkling this sacred water, in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (three times). Choir: Amen. And stichera are sung according to the 50th psalm to "Glory, and now." When the worshipers approach the Gospel and the icon, they are given a vay; with branches and lit candles, they stand during the singing of the canon, thus depicting the initial meeting of the Lord at His entry into Jerusalem.

The use of branches and candles dates back to ancient times, as the saints, Ambrose, Proclus and other fathers of the Church testify to this. The green branches serve as signs of victory over death and the Resurrection of Christ, for the fronds (or willows) are the branches of a newly blossomed tree. The lamps held by the prayers at the willows signify the greatness and lordship of the triumph of the Resurrection of the Lord and the unfading light of the blessed Resurrection for eternal life.

We don’t sing “The Most Honorable Cherub” on the 9th song, but we sing the irmos of the 9th song of the canon; the deacon sings the initial words of the irmos: “God is the Lord, and appear to us,” the singers continue: “Create a feast, and come rejoicing, let us magnify Christ, with fronds and branches, calling with songs: blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord our Savior.”

At the end of the All-Night Vigil and the Liturgy, there is a dismissal of the feast: “Whoever is willing to sit on a donkey’s foal, for our salvation, Christ, our true God.”

The liturgy is performed by the saint. Instead of pictorial psalms, the antiphons of the feast are sung. Input: "Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord." At the entrance - troparia and kontakion of the holiday. The meritorious - irmos 9 songs without refrain: "God is the Lord, and appear to us, make a holiday."

Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday are the transition from Lent to Holy Week.

If the Annunciation happens on the Week of Vaii, then on the “Lord, I have called”, on the litia and on the sticheron, the stichera are sung to the holiday and Vaii. After the prokeimenon "The Lord reigns" eight proverbs are read: 5 - the Annunciation and 3 - Vaii. At the blessing of the loaves, the troparion of the Annunciation is sung - twice and Vay - once (also on "God is the Lord").

After the polyeleos - the magnificence of the Annunciation, the prokeimenon and the Gospel of Vaii. After the consecration of Vaii - the stichera of Vaii.

Canon of the feast and Vaii (with irmos of both canons). On the 9th song - the refrain of the feast of the Annunciation, and to the troparia of the 9th song of the canon Vay the usual refrain: "Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee."

At the Liturgy of the saint, pictures are sung. input. Prokeimenon, Apostle and the Gospel of the feast and Vaii. Worshiper Vaii. Participated in the holiday and Vay.

If the great and indescribable mercy of God is the Cross of the Lord. In it is all our hope (St. Feofan, Zatv. Vyshensky, 81, 65)

On Saturday morning, during the all-night vigil, the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord will be solemnly carried into the center of the temple - as a remembrance of the approaching Holy Week and Easter. After that, the clergy and parishioners of the temple will make three prostrations before the cross. During worship, the troparion is sung: We bow to Your Cross, Master, and we glorify Your Holy Resurrection". He is sung throughout the week and at the Liturgy instead of the Trisagion.

The Life-Giving Cross rests on a lectern in the center of the church throughout the fourth week of Great Lent until Friday, when it is brought back into the altar before the Liturgy.

According to the Charter of the Church, four venerations are to be performed during Holy Cross Week: on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Sunday, there is worship of the Cross only in the morning (after the removal of the Cross), on Monday and Wednesday it is performed at the first hour, and on Friday "after the leave of the clock."

Typikon in Greek, 1685 edition

Wednesday of the Week of the Cross is called Mid-Lent because it is the middle of Great Lent. The liturgical Charter emphasizes that this day is not a holiday:

Lenten Wednesday, at the meal, it is not worthy to be allowed for oil and wine, as if there is more a day of weeping, and not joy

In former times, from the middle of Lent, the preparation of the catechumens began, who were going to be baptized on Pascha. It was appropriate to begin such preparation with the worship of the Cross. Starting from Wednesday, at each Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, after the litany of the catechumens, another litany will be added - about those "preparing for enlightenment" - about those who were going to receive Holy Baptism soon. Then, after the deacon's call, "Elitsa to enlightenment, come out!" they left the temple, they were not allowed to stay for the liturgy of the faithful.

In Rus' they used to say "the middle of a fast - crosses cookies". On Mid-Midday and other days of the Week of the Cross, biscuits in the form of crosses were baked in the houses. Usually crosses were made symmetrical, equilateral, with four rays. To do this, two equal strips of dough were placed one on top of the other crosswise or the rolled dough was cut into “crosses” using a mold; The middle-cross cookies were also baked in the form of round cakes, on which the image of the cross was applied. The children went around the house singing special cross songs, for which they were presented with cookies.