Man and Church
The Cross is the glory of angels and the wounding of demons!
Reflections on the Exaltation of the Cross
On September 14, the Orthodox Church celebrates the Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Creating Cross of the Lord. One of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Christian calendar, it commemorates the finding of the True Cross in Jerusalem by the Empress Helen in 326 A.D. In fact, there are several events associated with this date: the finding of the Cross, the dedication of the Church of the Cross on the site of Golgotha, and the return of the True Cross from Persia by the Emperor Heraclius. Let us touch on each.
In 312 A.D., the Emperor Constantine famously beheld a vision of the Cross before the battle of the Milvian Bridge. He became Emperor of the West and issued an edict of toleration for Christians, ending years of brutal persecutions. But it was not until 324 A.D., when he defeated the Eastern Emperor Licinius, that he became undisputed ruler of the entire Roman Empire. It was after this that his mother, St. Helen, carried out her pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
